On Saturday, Sept.17 Stockton’s Empresso Coffeehouse hosted YOU., an event to showcase local artists, photographers, musicians and clothing vendors.
“YOU., was us trying to unify all forms of creativity,” said event planner, Alejandra Sanchez.
The event was put together in a short time period by Sanchez and a few others who joined in on the idea, including Julian Carvajal who was also a vendor at YOU.
“We knew the crowd would be here or could or could even go to other places on the mile,” said Sanchez.
She strategically chose to hold the event during Stockton’s Beer Week, which kicked off on Sept. 16. The goal was to unify all art forms and to bring the community together. Stockton did not disappoint.
The coffeehouse was crowded the entire night during the event hours of 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
There were children and adults of all ages there to support the event, their friends and family.
Everyone is either enjoying the live music from local bands such as Pine and Palm, Aeden and Edith playing while others shopped, browsed, drank coffee and enjoyed specialty beer.
“I came to support my best friend and to see all the talent that Stockton has to offer,” said Melisa Espino.
The event featured clothing brands such as Elevate, Lines & Scribbles, Zeus Collegiate, Tienda de Luna, Notice and Arson, which are all based out of Stockton
The Golden Hour Project displayed photos as well as other local photographers.
Artists such as Sokly Sea, Jade Alexandria and Andrea Perez previewed art work throughout Empresso.
“Almost everyone is young and I like that young people are trying to get out there and working really hard to start businesses,” said Espino.
Participants were young and just beginning their brands. YOU. is a way to start getting their names and brands out to the community.
“We started this idea this summer. We wanted to spread fashion in Stockton,” said Ysabelle “Izzy” Obieta, co-founder of Arson clothing and local photographer.
With the short amount of time working on designs, Obieta and Summer Pettit, co-founder of Arson, plan on having more shirts and sweatshirts out for the fall and winter months that they will be selling online along with their current merchandise.
“Arson stands for lighting the fire inside of you, of self-empowerment. It’s a reminder to bring your all,” said Pettit.
YOU. is the first event of its kind with the intention of supporting local talent. There was no charge to get in and enjoy the event either. There were flyers at Empresso and social media exposure that helped spread word of the event.
“After the first day there was already 150 plus people saying they were attending on Facebook … so we knew it was going to be a good turnout but this is bigger than we expected,” said Sanchez.
She added that YOU. will not be a one-time event.
There are plans to inspire and bring creative minds in the city together more often.
C
urrently there are plans for a winter event to be held at a larger venue to hold more participants and varieties of talent.
According to Sanchez the goal is to host an event four times a year, for every season all at different venues.
With every event the event planners look forward to bringing a larger audience and bringing the Stockton community together.