Content magazine founder Daniel Garcia made an interesting confession at his retirement party Thursday night: When he gave himself the title “The Cultivator” instead of publisher or editor, he was thinking in very different terms than what we normally associate with media.
“I was trying to be a priest,” said Garcia, who has been a church pastor. He was trying to bridge the gap between God and man, he told the crowd at the San Jose Museum of Art, and let people know they have purpose, worth and talent. “And you can just share those and bless the community and be great neighbors.”
Garcia certainly spread that message over more than 70 issues of Content, the magazine he launched in print in 2012 with his wife, Sarah Garcia. It has served as an arts journal for San Jose and the surrounding region, putting the spotlight on creative people — including some like athletes and chefs who might not be thought of as traditional “artists” — through profiles and portraits.
Content magazine founder Daniel Garcia, center, holds a commendation from Santa Clara County, with former SV Creates CEO Connie Martinez, left, and current SV Creates CEO Alexandra Urbanowski at the San Jose Museum of Art on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
It’ll continue to do so, too. Garcia made it clear that Thursday night’s celebration was neither a funeral for Content nor a divorce from it. Throughout this year, Garcia has been passing the baton to David Valdespino, Jr., the magazine’s new executive editor. Garcia, 63, says he won’t be going away, either, returning a bit to his roots as a photographer and taking on a new role in a few months as a first-time grandparent.
Artists and arts supporters — many who had worked on or been featured in Content over the years — packed the Museum of Art for the tribute. Former Silicon Valley Creates CEO Connie Martinez and former SV Creates board member Mark Waxman talked about how Content became part of the nonprofit arts organization in 2015 — eventually becoming one of the cornerstones in its work to foster creativity throughout Santa Clara County.
“What Daniel has done for this community is be able to bring it a sense of pride and identity and network the community together so it feels like a united arts community with all the different fabric and tapestry that it is,” said Alexandra Urbanowski, the current CEO of SV Creates. Content’s magazine pick-up parties — Thursday’s event doubled as a pick-up party for issue 18.4 — have brought people together for more than a decade now, and its reach has expanded into social media and podcasts.
“It’s this whole web of things that stems from the print magazine which is the aesthetic, but it’s much more than that now,” Urbanowski said.
Sarah Garcia said the definition of “cultivator” is someone who deliberately grows something over time and believes its the best word to describe what her husband of 28 years has done with Content.
“He started this magazine in part because he wanted to create a city that people would be proud to stay in and not feel like they needed to go to San Francisco or Oakland or L.A., not that there’s anything wrong with those places,” she said. “But the people who are from here want to stay here and to be recognized for their talent.”
SUMMER SWAN SONGS: We can all feel that summer’s starting to slip away once again. Some welcome the return of autumn and other’s don’t, but the seasons are going to change no matter what. And that also means the Levitt Pavilion summer series at San Jose’s St. James Park are coming to an end.
But they’re not going out quietly, presenting the brass-driven Latin funk music of Los Calderones this Sunday, with the opening entertainment — salsa dance lessons — starting at 4:30 p.m. The series closes Sept. 6 with the smooth sounds of Peach Tree Rascals, a band with its roots in San Jose.
By the way, I’m told next summer’s concerts will move to a different corner in St. James Park as construction is expected to begin on the permanent Levitt Pavilion stage.
Levitt’s not entirely done for the year, as the Levitt on Location series has brought music to Lake Cunningham Park this summer as well. Hella Doubtful and Fire Peach played the Fridays at the Lake event Aug. 28, and the Sept. 25 edition will feature the Discos Resaca Collective, a women-led Cumbia group, and the Selena tribute band, Conjuntos Trullio. Go to www.levittsanjose.org for more information.
ALL ABOARD: The Los Altos History Museum’s 15th annual Train Day is this Sunday, and visitors can check out steam and electric model trains on display by AGRS Live Steam Group, Diablo Pacific Short Line, and Joan Hodnett and Chris Cross of the Golden State Toy Train Operating Society. There’ll also be classic train films running in the museum’s Geschke Gallery and you can get a good look at the train-themed float that runs in the Los Altos Festival of Lights parade, a tradition since 1977.
So what do trains have to do with Los Altos history? Plenty. Southern Pacific Railroad sold surplus land it had bought for its western route through the valley to a developer who built the houses that became the town of Los Altos. And that Southern Pacific Railroad track became Foothill Expressway after passenger rail service ended in 1964.
Train Day runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and tickets are $10 a person, with admission free for museum members and kids 12 and under. Go to losaltoshistory.org/TrainDay2026 for more details.
FILM FOR THOUGHT: The San Jose Peace & Justice Center is screening a documentary movie this Sunday at Grace Baptist Church in San Jose that explores the U.S. military’s role as an environmental polluter. “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” will show at 6:30 p.m. at the church at 484 E. San Fernando St. A donation of $10-$20 is suggested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. People could be turned away for lack of seats, though, so you should RSVP at givebutter.com/earths_enemy.