San José Museum of Art

SJMA is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition "Calder: at home, among friends” opening on Friday, September 6. Drawn primarily from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition highlights the intimate side of the innovative and revered artist, featuring works and small objects that filled his home and were shared with close family and friends. “Calder: at home, among friends” features 28 works by Alexander Calder including mobiles, works on paper, and a selection of recent gifts of handcrafted jewelry, personal adornments, and household objects. 

SJMA mourns the loss of Bill Viola, a visionary new media artist whose pioneering work "made video art ask the biggest, most universal questions."   Viola's video installation "Memoria" (2000) was last on view in SJMA's exhibition, "Almost Human: Digital Art from the Collection." In the video, a ghostly image of a man's face is projected onto a silk screen, slowly manifesting and disintegrating on an endless loop. The work itself was an exploration of the artist's ideas of presence and absence. With Viola's "Memoria," it comforts us to know that even in his absence—and through his art—his presence is still felt. Quote: Jonathan Jones. "Bill Viola made video art ask the biggest, most universal questions," "The Guardian." July 15, 2024. https://lnkd.in/gAq949Zf. Images: Bill Viola performing "The Talking Drum" (1979), Buffalo, New York, July 1982. © Bill Viola. Photograph © Kira Perov, courtesy Bill Viola Studio. Video still from Bill Viola, "Memoria," 2000. Projection on silk, 24 x 30 x 60 inches. San José Museum of Art. Museum purchase with funds contributed by Ann Marie and Averill Mix and from the Lipman Family Foundation, 2001.17. © Bill Viola.

#WarholGrantee: We're excited to announce that Assistant Curator Juan Omar Rodriguez received a Curatorial Research Fellowship Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts (@warholfoundation)! 🥳 For his curatorial research, Juan Omar will forge an intergenerational and transnational network of artists, curators, and scholars to explore the intersections of cultural production and queer politics in contemporary art, from the West Coast to Latin America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Using cruising as a point of departure, this research project will examine interrelated questions of visibility and perception, architecture, public space, non-normative desire, nationalism, imperialism, globalization, migration, diaspora, and power. In accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, the mission of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is the advancement of the visual arts. The foundation manages a dynamic grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy through creative and responsible licensing policies and extensive scholarly research for ongoing catalogue raisonné projects. To date, the foundation has given nearly $300 million in cash grants to over 1,000 arts organizations around the country and abroad and has donated 52,786 works of art to 322 institutions worldwide. Image: Juan Omar Rodriguez, assistant curator. Photo by Liza Voll Photography.

For over a decade, Bay Area museums have marched together in the San Francisco Pride Parade. Museums with Pride celebrate LGTBQIA voices in arts, culture, and science. Yesterday, San José Museum of Art continued the tradition, marching with @aaaculturecomplex @asianartmuseum @bayareadiscoverymuseum @calacademy @computerhistory @creativitykids @deyoungmuseum @exploratorium @_filoli @legionofhonor @jewseum @letterformarchive @museumofcraftanddesign @moadsf @oaklandmuseumca @sfbotanicalgarden @sfmoma @wdfmuseum @thetechinteractiv #MuseumsWithPride #SanFranciscoPride #SFPride #Pride #Pride2024

SJMA has an exciting opportunity for a part-time Museum Experience Representative (MER)! Come and be a part of a small team of creative and dedicated museum front-line staff who facilitate Museum engagement and promote a positive visitor experience while learning and sharing about art!  Click the link below to learn more about the position. https://lnkd.in/gmGcBwyp

For the 2023–24 school year, SJMA's Let's Look at Art (LLAA) docents provided a total of 24,394 student experiences across Santa Clara County! Thank you to the dedicated team of volunteers for providing free art presentations in the South Bay region. Read more about their accomplishments with the link below. Let's Look at Art presentations occur during the school year and lead to exciting processes of discovery for students in Santa Clara County. Using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) that support the Common Core State Standards, a trained docent leads a free 30–45 minute art presentation for your classroom. All art selections are carefully researched and presented with a specific set of curriculum objectives and represent the cultural diversity of the Bay Area. Learn more about the program at https://lnkd.in/g-nsUReA https://lnkd.in/gGpMyuSh

#ICYMI: San José City Council proclaimed June 12 as Filipino Independence Day! SJMA and Chopsticks Alley Art was at the Filipino Flag raising ceremony at City Hall, presented by the Bayanihan Fil-Am Festival (BFF)

Thank you, Rangefinder, for including "Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures" on this summer's US Photo Exhibits Road Trip! Cruise to SJMA and see this hotly anticipated landmark exhibition presenting the work of Christina Fernandez, whose photographs and installations explore migration, labor, gender, and her Mexican American identity. On view now through September 22, 2024. https://lnkd.in/eduvZzMg

Today, SJMA recognized the vital service and contributions of the Museum's dedicated family of volunteers! This year in 2024, we celebrate and thank the following volunteers for their years of service: In the Museum Store, we thank Pat Caporal (Anderson), 15 years. For Let's Look at Art, we thank Suman Ganapathy, 5 years; Mary Perry, 5 years; Louise Persson, 5 years; Sherry Tsai, 5 years; Lotte Van De Wall, 5 years; Karen Harrington, 10 years; Beth Herner, 10 years; Susan Curtin, 10 years; Lisa Gallo, 10 years; and Cathy Fraser, 15 years. For the Docent Council, we thank Lisa Gallo, 10 years; Ellen Tafeen, 10 years; and Jeanne Torre, 30 years.

We got the grant! SJMA received a Grants for Arts Projects award of $60,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)! This grant will support SJMA's presentation of "Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures," opening June 7, 2024. This landmark exhibition presents the work of Christina Fernandez, whose photographs and installations explore migration, labor, gender, and her Mexican American identity. Learn more about the exhibition at sjmusart.org/exposures. "Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures" is organized by UCR ARTS and is curated by Joanna Szupinska, senior curator at the California Museum of Photography. The presentation of this exhibition at SJMA is organized by Juan Omar Rodriguez, assistant curator. Image: Christina Fernandez, "Lavanderia #1," 2002. Archival pigment print, 30 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Luisotti, Los Angeles.