Content Magazine

Content Magazine
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Conversations with the South Bay's Creatives. editor@content-magazine.com

  1. Sep 2

    Episode #150 | Kiana Jackson

    Episode #150 | Kiana Jackson Founded in 2018 by Chef Jacquelyn “Jackie” Jackson and her family, Jackie’s Place grew from a home dining table into a South Bay institution. Their authentic soul food and traditional barbecue began as a catering service and eventually led to the opening of their first storefront, Baby Jackie’s, in San Jose Japantown. As the enterprise scaled, Chef Jackie’s daughter, Kiana Jackson, and the entire family operated all-hands-on-deck—with roles spanning executive operations, kitchen leadership, mixology, and pitmaster duties. In 2025, the family expanded downtown with a second location in the SoFA District on South First Street. Operating in the neighborhood brought Jackson into close alignment with neighboring Black-owned businesses, including Nirvana Soul, Ashy Aromas, and Sainte Claire Market. These neighborly connections laid the groundwork for Soul Street, a collective formed to highlight, centralize, and celebrate Black ownership and cultural presence in the SoFA District. In this conversation, Jackson talks about transitioning from corporate event management to the family business, how her time in Atlanta shaped her vision for Black-owned corridors, and the collaborative work behind Soul Street and From Ivory to Onyx in downtown San Jose. Soul Street presents From Ivory to Onyx, on Sunday, September 6, 5–10p on South First Street, featuring a collaborative five-course meal prepared by Chef Jackie, Jalen, Chephew, Ware, and Chef Leilani with pairings from The Continental, live painting by Tyler Gordon, Derrick Bell, and Akeem Raheem, and live music benefiting local scholarships. Tickets and additional details are available at soulstreetsj.com. Website: jackiesplacesj.com | soulstreetsj.com Instagram: jackiesplacesj | soulstreetsj

  2. Aug 4

    Episode #149 - Arabela Espinoza

    Episode #149 | Arabela Espinoza Arabela Espinoza got her start with a camera in an elementary school after-school program on the East Side of San Jose. After studying advertising at San Jose State University, contributing to Content Magazine, and co-founding the commercial creative agency Weekend Creative, Espinoza built a career around product photography and art direction. Following the closure of her agency, her work has turned inward, stepping away from commercial sets to focus on family memory, attachment, and loss through hand-stitched childhood archive photos. In this conversation, Espinoza talks about moving from high school portraiture to editorial work, running a commercial creative agency, and shifting into personal, conceptual art. Espinoza was featured as the artist in residence for the August 2026 edition of The Haberdasher Shows, presenting her mixed-media exhibition at Haberdasher in downtown San Jose as part of the official San José Jazz Summer Fest Pre-Party. Website: arabelaespinoza.com | weekend-creative.com Instagram: arabelaespinoza | weekendcreative

  3. Jun 3

    Episode #148 – Rayos Magos

    Episode #148 – Rayos MagosRayos Magos grew up on the west side of San Jose, utilizing art as a natural way to navigate the world. He initially studied journalism at SF State before pivoting to earn degrees in psychology and working on the front lines of community mental health. In April 2021, he left his counseling career to pursue art full-time—a psychological lens that remains foundational to his work. Today, his practice has expanded into complex, large-scale mixed-media textiles, canvas manipulation, and embroidery, drawing from family archives to examine identity, contemporary Chicano culture, and Mesoamerican mythology.In parallel with his studio practice, Magos teaches and leads workshops for “Home Is Where the Art Is,” a program developed by housing nonprofit HomeFirst. Working within transitional housing units, Magos uses expressive arts to help residents break through creative baggage. These workshops culminate in a formal gallery exhibition and art auction, with 100% of the proceeds returned directly to the resident creators to build financial autonomy and human connection.In this conversation, Magos traces his journey from childhood sketching and neighborhood graffiti to slinging prints in Mexico City and hustling as an artist, now working between Toronto, Canada, and San Jose.Rayos Magos:Website: rayos-magos.square.siteInstagram: @rayos_magosHomeFirst:Website: homefirstscc.orgInstagram: @homefirstservices_scc

    Episode #148 – Rayos Magos

  4. May 27

    Miguel Novelo | INFRAMUNDO

    Miguel Novelo | INFRAMUNDO “It’s about all these little connection points that create the bigger picture... Maybe that’s what art can do.” Born and raised in Yucatán, Mexico, Novelo utilizes interactive video and spatialized sound to explore human experience and our relationship with technology. Narrated by Novelo, this feature—paired with his feature in Summer 2026 Content Magazine Issue 18.3, "Perform"—documents the setup and concepts behind INFRAMUNDO, his 2026 solo exhibition at ICA San Jose, and installation designed to encourage audiences to imagine leaving their body behind. Learn More & Connect: Read Miguel's feature in Issue 18.3: bit.ly/183MiguelNovelo ICA San José Exhibition: bit.ly/2026INFRAMUNDOArtist Website: miguelnovelo.com Instagram: @xmiguelnovelo Video by Daniel Garcia, @thecultivator

  5. May 19

    Episode #147 - Jasmine Bridges

    Episode #147 - Jasmine Bridges South Bay native Jasmine Bridges has been known to dive headfirst into creative outlets. Early on, she did theater in primary school, later picked up a camera, and even performed competitively in Bachata and Latin Dance during college. Seeking a change of scenery and a "nomadic lifestyle," she left the Bay Area after her time at West Valley College to continue studying communications at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. After graduating, Jasmine worked in higher education management at the university’s College of Natural Sciences. There, she fell in love with student mentorship, managing interns, and supporting faculty by anticipating the small, human details that keep a large operation running smoothly. Despite building a deeply rooted community in the desert, a persistent pull toward home eventually brought her back to San Jose. Returning required an intentional effort to reconnect, leading her out to local creative hubs like the Goodtime Bar run club, local galleries, and regional photography meetups. Now as Production Manager for Content, Bridges brings her background in photography, communications, operations management, and community-building to help shape the magazine. In this conversation, Bridges traces her journey from childhood theater and doll photoshoots to managing college departments in Phoenix, and explains how her return to the South Bay inspired a renewed dedication to storytelling and uplifting local artists. Website: jazziebphotography.mypixieset.com Instagram: @jazziebphotography Learn More: ⁠content-magazine.com⁠

    Episode #147 - Jasmine Bridges

  6. Apr 22

    Episode #146 | Shannon Mirabelli-Lopez

    Episode #146 | Shannon Mirabelli-Lopez Shannon Mirabelli-Lopez grew up in the East Bay punk scene of the ’80s and ’90s. Starting off managing local bands, she handled distribution for Primus and worked on music videos for Green Day and INXS. That background, along with degrees in Anthropology and Visual Culture: Costume Studies, led her to two decades among elite New York City art institutions, where she moved from a junior role into a 12-year tenure at the Costume Institute at the Met, followed by leadership positions at Pratt and Parsons. In this conversation, Shannon traces her journey from punk shows and music videos to the Met, shares her reasons for leaving the "rarefied" air of New York City and returning home to the Bay Area, and explains why schools like Cilker are crucial in changing the landscape of art and design. As Dean of the Cilker School of Art and Design at West Valley College, Shannon is focused on democratizing arts education, from state-of-the-art makerspaces to tuition-free access. 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the Cilker School’s founding and the 5th year of the Cilker Art + Design EXPO. Learn More: westvalley.edu/schools/art-design/ Instagram: @wvccilkersoad | @contentmag

    Episode #146 | Shannon Mirabelli-Lopez

  7. Mar 31

    Episode #145 | Rose Sellery: Ripple Effect Art Festival

    Episode #145 | Rose Sellery: Ripple Effect Art Festival Rose Sellery is a Santa Cruz-based multidisciplinary artist whose work uses the language of fashion to explore themes related to women’s lives and societal expectations. She grew up in Venice, California, at her parents' ceramic studio, located across the alley from a brothel, where crayons, paper, and clay were her toys. As she got older, she managed the family’s ceramics factory in downtown Los Angeles, learning how creativity, labor, and scale intersect. A relationship eventually pulled her north to Santa Cruz just before the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Rose spent years helping her husband with custom fine-art woodworking in Santa Cruz, but as his practice moved deeper into solitary carving, she felt the pull to rediscover her own path. She enrolled at Cabrillo College, studying welding and jewelry, and quickly fell in love with the meticulous work, but the stories she wanted to tell kept outgrowing that format. Free from the constraints of precious metals and gemstones, she began experimenting with whatever materials best served the story: wire, bone, plastics, pearls, seed pods, hair.  Parallel to her studio work, she has become a key community builder, helping shape projects such as fashionART Santa Cruz, PiVot: The Art of Fashion, FashionTeens Santa Cruz, and her latest countywide project, Ripple Effect Arts Festival. Ripple Effect is an 11-day, multi-venue celebration that brings together more than a hundred performances, exhibitions, and hands-on arts experiences across Santa Cruz County, inviting the public not just to see art but to participate in it and feel its impact ripple through the community. In this conversation, Rose shares how an unconventional childhood shaped her eye, how her work explores the quiet labor of being “seen,” and the origin and intent behind Ripple Effect Arts Festival. rippleartsfestsantacruz.org rosesellery.com  Instagram: @rose_sellery Instagram: @rippleartsfestsantacruz

    Episode #145 | Rose Sellery: Ripple Effect Art Festival

  8. Mar 10

    Episode #144 - John W. Kim

    Episode #144 - John W. Kim Filmmaker John W. Kim joins the podcast to discuss his twenty-year journey in independent cinema and the founding of his production house, Civilized Beast. With a background in honors literature and an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Kim’s work—including his latest feature film, Reunion—focuses on authentic representation and the "stubbornness" required to create original stories in a corporate landscape. In this conversation, Kim reflects on his Palo Alto roots, the influence of 1970s cinema, and his realization that the "line" for opportunity wasn't moving for everyone. From his "Machiavellian plan" to write his way into the industry to the world premiere of his new film at Cinequest, Kim offers an informative look at the reality of being a "civilized beast" in the world of film. Explore John’s portfolio and ongoing projects on Instagram at @jkinstant and on the web at johnwkim.com Follow the journey of his latest feature on Instagram at @reunion.movie and on the web at reunionfilm.net

    Episode #144 - John W. Kim
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About

Conversations with the South Bay's Creatives. editor@content-magazine.com

Information

  • Creator
    Content Magazine
  • Years Active
    2009 - 2026
  • Episodes
    216
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Content Magazine
  • Show Website
    Content Magazine