SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - April 23, 2008) - Homeless teens and at-risk young adults at
Bill Wilson Center, a non-profit, community-based agency that provides
counseling and support services to youth and families in Santa Clara
County, will work with professional artists to develop new media artwork
for the 2nd Biennial 01SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge, June 4-8, in
downtown San Jose. Festival organizer ZER01 and Visionary Festival sponsor
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced today that all creative works will be
displayed on a new "San Jose Culture Network" of digital signs powered by
the Cisco Digital Media System technology at the San Jose McEnery
Convention Center and several other locations throughout San Jose.
The young artists, ranging in age from 14 to 24, have already started
attending weekly hands-on workshops staffed by new media artists and will
continue their training through June 8. As part of the new "San Jose
Culture Network," their artwork will be showcased across more than 20 large
screen LCD displays using the Cisco Digital Media System's Digital Signage
solution, which will allow for the easy management and publishing of the
young artists' compelling content.
The Cisco project, developed with artist Dorit Cypis, ZER01 and Bill Wilson
Center, is called We-C. The goal of We-C is to engage young adults in
transitional life situations to critically look at themselves and consider
how they want to be "seen" by the public, to whom they are often invisible.
The artists-in-training will work in a wide array of new media art and
creative media formats, including digital still cameras, live music,
poetry, and the performing arts.
"Cisco has a deep and lasting commitment to use technology innovation,
employee participation, and strategic social investments to build stronger
and healthier communities," says Sandra Wheatley Smerdon, Community
Relations at Cisco. "Working with ZER01 and We-C, we are using our digital
signage technology to enrich the Festival and possibly bring hope into the
lives of these teens and young adults. Through We-C, we aim to call
attention to the issues facing the young adult homeless population in Santa
Clara County and to illustrate the power of the human network to connect a
part of the community that is often not visible." According to a Santa
Clara County homeless survey in 2005, up to 1,800 people aged 25 or younger
sleep on county streets on any given night.
"The young people we work with at Bill Wilson Center have lots of
opportunities to discuss and analyze what has happened to them in their
young lives," said Sparky Harlan, Bill Wilson Center's Executive Director.
"But rarely, if ever, do they have the opportunity to use different forms
of artistic expression to articulate who they are and who they want to be.
ZER01 and Cisco are providing them with an amazing opportunity."
We-C will be part of the 01SJ Festival, North America's largest festival of
digital arts, which is expected to attract 20,000 visitors, and feature
more than 100 works from world-renowned artists and performers at the
intersection of contemporary art, technology and pop culture. There are
currently plans for the "San Jose Culture Network" powered by the Cisco
Digital Media System to establish a permanent presence at the convention
center and at other spots in downtown San Jose after the Festival ends.
For more information about the Cisco Digital Media System, please go to
http://www.cisco.com/go/dms.
About Bill Wilson Center
Bill Wilson Center provides housing, education, support, and life skills to
the youth and families in Santa Clara County. We also support youth and
families in achieving long-term success through counseling, mentoring, and
building connections to the community. We take a "no-fail" approach to help
ensure success. For more information please visit www.billwilsoncenter.org.
About 01SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge
This Festival, which debuted in San Jose in 2006 under the aegis of its
parent organization ZER01, will be held every other year. The five-day
digital art festival, to be held June 4-8, will incorporate multimedia
exhibitions, films, concerts and performances throughout downtown parks,
public streets, museums, theaters and clubs. From a hip hop, multi-media
meditation on Antarctica to robot art, from conversations with artificial
intelligence to operatic performances of Google headlines about the
environment, from avant-garde cinema to new musical forms -- more than 100
works will be featured at 01SJ. Festival venues will include the San Jose
Museum of Art, San Jose City Hall Rotunda, The Tech Museum of Innovation,
the San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, and the San Jose Convention
Center. Major Festival sponsors are the City of San Jose, Cisco Systems and
Adobe Systems.
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Contact Information: Contacts:
Doniece Sandoval
ZER01
Doniece@zero1.org
(415) 846-4988
Steve Kaufman
GlobalFluency
skaufman@globalfluency.com
(650) 433-4145