Colorful art, cold beer add life to San Jose’s new Creekside district

It s been a couple of years since Google and Jamestown activated a stretch of downtown San Jose near SAP Center with its Creekside Socials block parties with music art and food trucks Events have been held there ever since but there wasn t much else to draw people back there That should be changing thanks to the opening this week of a massive art corridor and an -square foot beer garden operated by Hapa s Brewing Company Both occupy lots between Barack Obama Boulevard and South Montgomery Street south of SAP Center People stopped at the beer garden Friday afternoon the first day it was open Particular were just enjoying an afternoon brew listening to tunes or playing cornhole while others were stopping by on their way to the San Jose Sharks NHL Draft viewing party at SAP Center You can easily see this becoming a regular pre-event hangout as the beer garden is open to p m every day but Monday The new Hapa's Brewing Company beer garden at Creekside is surrounded by The Buzz an art installation led by Art is Luv and concept artist Charmin Roundtree and featuring artwork by Nicole Dixon Carmen McNall Rayos Magos and Ian Johnson Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group Visitors lounge at the Hapa's at Creekside beer garden on Friday June the first day it was open in downtown San Jose Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group A Butterfly Wings hazy IPA from Hapa's Brewing Company poured at their new beer garden It opened Friday June in the Creekside area of downtown which has been activated the past two years by Google and their partner Jamestown Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group Flora and Fauna is an art installation around the fence at the Lot at Creekside created by father-daughter artist company Alyssarhaye and Francisco Graciano that features steel cutouts depicting plants native to the San Jose area Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group A rendering of a campaign button for former San Jose Mayor Norman Mineta is part of Innovates an artistic tour through key pieces of San Jose history that was created by Ricardo Cortez for the Creekside Art Corridor Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group An artistic rendering of a token for San Jose's th century electric streetcar is part of Ricardo Cortez's Innovates art installation at the Creekside Art Corridor which had an opening reception Thursday June Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group Show Caption of The new Hapa's Brewing Company beer garden at Creekside is surrounded by The Buzz an art installation led by Art is Luv and concept artist Charmin Roundtree and featuring artwork by Nicole Dixon Carmen McNall Rayos Magos and Ian Johnson Sal Pizarro Bay Area News Group Expand And if you re there you re already experiencing the Creekside Art Corridor The Hapa s beer garden is enclosed by one of the installations The Buzz which was led by Art is Luv and concept artist Charmin Roundtree The installation surrounds the area with large birch plywood panels decorated with cutouts of beer bottles as well as artwork created by artists Nicole Dixon Carmen McNall Rayos Magos and Ian Johnson Flora and Fauna at The Lot at Creekside was created by San Jose father-daughter artist squad Alyssarhaye and Francisco Graciano They used big steel cutouts to depict plants native to the area including the California fuschia along with birds and grasses They re bright and colorful providing a nice contrast to the largely industrial area near Diridon Station By incorporating local flowers animals and themes related to the Guadalupe River trail we aim to accentuate the vibrancy of a natural ecosystem that reflects the heart and soul of San Jose history Alyssarhaye Graciano reported in an artist s report History is also at the core of the third installation which may be my favorite Innovates the work of San Jose artist Ricardo Cortez transforms a stretch of fence along South Montgomery Street surrounding the lot where the Stephen s Meat Dancing Pig sign used to be A sharp graphic designer with a love of San Jose s heritage Cortez created a series of pieces that illustrate crucial people places and movements from the city s past He starts back with the Peralta Adobe and touches on everything from lowriders and Eggo waffles to the creation of the hard drive and the pioneering candidacies of former mayors Norman Mineta and Janet Gray Hayes Both San Jose State and the San Jose Sharks get shout outs and yes the Dancing Pig is up there too This artwork is inspired by the rich multifaceted identity of San Jose Cortez declared I needed to create an educational journey using historical references to point viewers toward understanding our city s progression Related Articles Below Theaters is proud to welcome you to downtown San Alex Music memories fill the air at San Jose Jazz benefit event Robots abound at the new Alamo Drafthouse movie theater in Mountain View San Jose calls off a popular July fireworks show for safety concerns Guys stroll Santana Row in heels for YWCA s Walk a Mile in Their Shoes The city s progression is a key point there since the entire Creekside area was meant to be part of Google s sweeping Downtown West project It s looking less and less like that will happen in the grand form originally approved back in but Creekside may turn out to be a really good if temporary substitute Between the beer garden the art corridor studio space for Local Color and Good Karma Bikes this might just just blossom into another funky art district downtown BEYOND THE BOOKS When you think of libraries you presumably think of the things you can check out like books and DVDs But the San Jose Residents Library does a lot more than that It in recent days received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to launch a transformative two-year activities initiative to expand its programs for English as a Second Language ESL learners and college and career readiness programs The San Jose Population Library was one of just libraries nationwide and the only one in the Bay Area to receive the grant ORCHARD FAIR Apricots nature and equipment will come together again July for the Los Altos History Museum s Apricot STEM Fair The daylong event at the museum s courtyard and the Los Altos Heritage Orchard next door features programs and games that are based around Science Mechanism Engineering and Math concepts that are still rooted in agriculture Christina Zhao the museum s tuition and volunteer coordinator stated We hope to connect the past with the future by honoring our collective memory of the Valley of Heart s Delight At the same time we re encouraging exploration and innovation in what we now call Silicon Valley Admission is at the door but it s free for museum members and kids and under There ll be apricot-inspired food to buy too Get more details at losaltoshistory org ApricotSTEM THREE DECADES OF CLUELESS If you find it hard to believe that its been years since the movie Clueless added as if to everybody s vocabulary star Alicia Silverstone is right there with you The actress who played Cher in the coming-of-age hit informed on Instagram posted on Instagram that she ll be in San Jose on July to celebrate the movie s milestone with a screening and a conversation at the San Jose Civic Auditorium Tickets are available at www sanjosetheaters org