By Demone Carter
The recently released Silicon Valley Pain Index, a project of San José State’s Institute of Human Rights, puts a statistically fine point on the bleak situation we see and feel around us. According to the 2024 iteration of this report, Silicon Valley ranks first among major American cities in societal pain. The Pain Index notes that San José is the nation’s #1 most expensive large city, with average monthly expenses at $3,504. The amount a household needs to make to buy a house in the San José metro area is $468,252, making it the least affordable metro area in the nation.
Simply stated: living here hurts.
This pain is often multiplied for creatives working at the margins of our local economy, especially BIPOC-led/serving artists and arts organizations. Artists and culture bearers are living increasingly precarious lives in an under-resourced arts ecosystem, where health care and retirement savings are rare and precious commodities.
So what do we, as the Silicon Valley arts community, have to offer in this moment?
Vision
As artists, we are not just creators, we are warriors of imagination. We have the power to envision a more free and just world than the one we currently live in. We are the holders of stories untold and the creators of new ones. We play a unique role in breaking the curse of white supremacy, patriarchy, and myriad other forms of interlocking oppression. Our art is not just a reflection of society, it is a catalyst for change.
Recognizing the urgency of our situation, we, a coalition of BIPOC-led/serving independent artists and arts organizations, organized ourselves under the banner of Cultural New Deal Silicon Valley (CNDSv). The Cultural New Deal is a national movement sparked by creatives to work collectively for racial justice and cultural equity.
After several years of collaborating as a group, we recognized the need for a tool to evaluate the strengths and challenges of our local arts sector. We wanted to analyze the systems and processes impacting our work and create a space to share our vision for the future.
On Thursday, October 10, we will release the inaugural Cultural New Deal Silicon Valley: State of the Arts. This report is informed by interviews with several Executive Directors from Silicon Valley’s leading multicultural arts organizations, and focus group feedback from collective visioning sessions with 20+ local artists and arts administrators. This iteration of State of the Arts looks at how local philanthropy helps and hurts our arts ecosystem and makes visionary recommendations for moving forward. This is not just a report release; it’s a call to action. We hope this inaugural process starts a dialogue among those invested in a thriving arts sector.
To this end, we invite you to the CNDSv State of the Arts launch party at The School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza on Thursday, October 10 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. This free event will feature food, entertainment, and a presentation about this year’s report findings. We hope the entire community can join us in this exercise of community power and voice.
Demone Carter is an award-winning Hip-Hop artist, podcaster, creative catalyst, and non-profit leader who fosters inclusion within San José’s arts and cultural ecosystem. Currently, he is the Director of Communications and Special Events for Sacred Heart Community Service, where he leads the organization’s efforts to change the narrative about poverty in Silicon Valley.
