To all the wonderful people who donated to the preservation of Empire Seven Studios (E7S):
This has been a LOOOONG overdue message. We want to thank you for the tremendous support and dedication to the arts in San Jose.
It’s been six years since we launched our Go Fund Me campaign. Although we only achieved 2.5% of our overall goal, we remained resilient and learned that we have a community that cares. It was bittersweet losing our original brick and mortar location, however we have learned a wealth of knowledge and life experience in the process.
The original building was once a safe haven for apathetic youths, a place for culminating and showcasing lifestyles from countercultures in the most authentic and genuine way that an artist can freely express.
Unfortunately, the dreams we wished for in our Go Fund Me campaign fell through. Affordable space for lowbrow art venues is clearly a thing of the past. While looking for a new space, we narrowed it down to three other potential gallery venues. We will spare you the disappointing details, but in short, they all offered us unfair lease agreements. Ultimately, we walked away to avoid repeating a similar ending to what we did in the original E7S.
The irony of where we landed is not lost on us. Our displacement happened to make way for 97 new luxury apartments developed by LandForge Developers. Derek Allen, Neal Yung, and Colin Eckles reached out to discuss the possibility of having E7S provide art consultation on the project. Once we received the “this land has been sold” letter from our former landlord, we received a voice message from Derek. However, it took us one month to return his call. We had two options: listen to what the possibilities could be, or walk away and watch the neighborhood change forever without providing any input, especially after all the work E7S had done in this community.
The decision to collaborate with the very developers that originally displaced us created a partnership that would take five years from start to finish. While all this was happening, we were still actively looking for potential new spaces, and that’s where the irony sets in. With the real estate available in town, there were no places that offered a sustainable location for us.
Empire Seven Studios is very proud of the wealth of knowledge we gained during this period in our history: from losing the original space to rebuilding on the same 525 North 7th Street location, to working with developers who understood the importance of our community and our contributions to the arts in San Jose and beyond. Consulting with the developers during the early stages of our building’s design and construction created a unique opportunity to include artists' needs as an integral part of the site instead of as an afterthought. For example, exterior walls were smoothed down to provide an optimal painting surface for murals. Ten thousand square feet of outdoor space with murals, benches, a sculpture, and a space to activate outdoor markets were designed with the arts in mind. Brokering real estate deals and negotiating affordable rent was not an easy feat with a project of this scale, but we made it happen.
We are very excited and happy to share with you that this was the best option for the future of E7S. Thank you for your patience, your dedication, and for believing in us. We are looking forward to seeing familiar and new faces come together to enjoy the space for years to come.
Sincerely,
Juan Carlos Araujo & Jennifer Ahn