Both the Hammer Theatre Center and the Civic Auditorium in downtown San Jose were bathed in red lighting Tuesday night, and if that sounds like the kind of thing you’d do in an emergency, you got the message.

They were among more than 1,500 venues across the country that participated in #RedAlert Restart, an attention-getting effort to urge Congress to support shuttered live entertainment venues by passing a relief measure called the Restart Act.

“All of us in the entertainment and event industries have been severely affected by the coronavirus; those of us that depend on the indoor gathering of peoples seem to be the first affected and it looks like we will last to be able to resume indoor gatherings safely,” said Chris Burrill, executive director of the Hammer Theatre Center. “Our participation in the initiative was meant to bring visibility to this condition and it is our hope that our great governments can recognize this condition and offer fiscal and logistically assistance as possible.”

And it’s important to note this effort isn’t about reopening theaters to give people a show to see or a place to go. The Hammer, which is owned by the city and operated by San Jose State University, employs nearly 60 people as ushers, bartenders, custodians, stage hands and more — and they’e all currently out of a job. Now, add in the Team San Jose employees who worked at the Civic, the Center for the Performing Arts, the Montgomery and the California, not to mention venues like San Jose Stage, City Lights Theater Company, Tabard Theatre, the Ritz and 3Below Theaters.

It’s no wonder everyone’s seeing red.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: The San Jose Downtown Association launched a new campaign, #dtsjopen, to get more visitors back as restaurants offer outdoor dining and other businesses like salons and barbershops are reopening. But it’s even more encouraging to see creative ideas popping up in downtown San Jose to bring people together in a safe but social way.

The monthly South First Fridays art walk has been on hiatus since March because of COVID-19 restrictions, but this Friday a new event called “The Outsider” will go a long way toward filling that void. Hosted by South First Fridays, Kaleid Gallery and Anno Domini, the new event will feature artists and other creatives showing off what they’ve been working on. Developer Urban Community has donated the use of the spacious parking lot on South First Street across from the California Theatre to host the event, which runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and requires masks to attend.

Meanwhile, LvL Up chef and co-owner David Ramsay, along with Shawn Frye and Kennedy Jacobi, have been putting together some fun events on Friday and Saturday nights in the parking lot next to the arcade bar’s downtown San Jose location on South Second Street. That’s included a pop-up bistro by 2 Coast Catering called “Ze Dirty Bird,” socially distanced games, and this Saturday night is expected to include a movie projected on the building wall.

“We’re an oasis in a dead zone,” Ramsay says. “We’re trying to get this area reactivated, give people a place to go where they can socialize in a safe environment.”

WINS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Two San Jose teenagers, Adarsh­ Ambati and Ishan Goyal, are among 17 young environmental activists from around the world honored this year by Action for Nature as an International Young Eco-Hero, awarded to young people who come up with creative ideas for tackling environmental challenges.