San Jose Museum of Art facts for kids
San Jose Museum of Art in 2008
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| Established | 1969 |
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| Location | 110 South Market Street, San Jose, California 95113 United States  |
| Type | Art museum |
| Accreditation | American Association of Museums |
| Collections | contemporary and modern art |
| Collection size | 2,600 (2019) |
| Architect | Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (1991 addition) |
| Public transit access | Santa Clara station (VTA) San Jose Diridon station |
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Civic Art Gallery
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| Location | San Jose, California |
| Built | 1892 |
| Architect | Willoughby J. Edbrooke |
| Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 73000453 |
| Added to NRHP | January 29, 1973 |
The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is a cool place to see modern and contemporary art. It is located in downtown San Jose, California, in the United States. The museum started in 1969. It has a large collection of art, especially by artists from the West Coast from the 1900s and 2000s. You can find it near Circle of Palms Plaza and Plaza de César Chávez. The SJMA has won many awards for its work.
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About the Museum
The San José Museum of Art is the biggest art education provider in Santa Clara County. It helps over 45,000 children learn about art every year. The museum's main collection focuses on modern art by artists from the West Coast. It is also starting to collect more art from the Pacific Rim area.
The collection has more than 2,600 artworks. These include many different types of art like sculptures, paintings, prints, digital art, photographs, and drawings.
Museum History
The art museum first opened in 1969. It was called the Civic Art Gallery back then. A group of artists and community members, including Ann Marie Mix and Susan Hammer, helped start it. They wanted to save an old building that was going to be torn down. They turned it into a place for art. At first, it was called a "gallery" because it didn't have many artworks yet.
In 1974, the museum changed its name to the San Jose Museum of Art.
In 1994, the museum started working with the Whitney Museum of American Art. They printed information about their art shows in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. This showed how many different cultures lived in San Jose in the 1990s.
By 1997, the museum had about 1,000 pieces of modern art. Most of these were works on paper.
Susan Krane was the executive director from 2008 to 2017. She helped the museum's collection grow even bigger and more important. Susan Sayre Batton took over as director in 2017. By 2019, after 50 years, the SJMA had collected 2,600 artworks.
Museum Building and Design
The museum has an old part and a new part. The historic part is about 33,000 square feet. It was designed by a government architect named Willoughby J. Edbrooke. This building was made from local sandstone in 1892. It was first built to be the main post office for San Jose. It is a great example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture.
The original tall tower and clock were damaged in the 1906 earthquake. From 1937 to 1969, this old building was the city's library. Then, a group of community members and art teachers from San Jose State University turned it into the Civic Art Gallery. In 1972, the building became a California Historical Landmark. In 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
A new part of the museum, called the "New Wing," opened in 1991. It is about 45,000 square feet. This part was designed by architects from Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. It holds most of the museum's exhibition spaces.
In the late 1990s, the San Jose Museum of Art had a big project to make the building stronger against earthquakes. During this time, the inside of the building was changed to work better as a modern art gallery. In 1997, the museum reopened after the old part of the building was remodeled for two and a half years.
Art Collections
The San Jose Museum of Art's permanent collection has grown a lot. By 2019, it had 2,600 art objects.
The museum has added works by artists like Ian Cheng and Hito Steyerl. It also has several pieces by the painter Hung Liu. She is a Chinese-born artist and a professor of art.
In 2016, the museum added art from many artists, including Robert Arneson, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, and Lesley Dill.
In 2018, the SJMA got new artworks for its collection. These included sculptures by Louise Nevelson and Alexander Calder. They also added works by American artists like Andrea Bowers and Morris Graves, and by Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum.
Art Exhibitions
The San Jose Museum of Art has held many important art shows. In 2010, they had a major exhibition for artist Leo Villareal. In 2016, they featured artists like Richard Misrach and Tabaimo.
In 2018, the museum showed a large exhibition of photos by Vietnamese photographer Dinh Q. Lê. Later that year, SJMA had a show called Other Walks, Other Lines. This exhibition featured artists from around the world who looked at how and why we walk. It included art from Dutch artist Lara Schnitger and a special piece made for the museum by Philippine artist Lordy Rodriguez.
In 2019, the San Jose Museum of Art focused on "visionary women artists." They had shows by Jay DeFeo and Catherine Wagner. They also featured big exhibitions by artists Rina Banerjee and Pae White.
Awards and Recognition
The San Jose Museum of Art has won several awards for its great work.
In 2007, the museum received a special MUSE award. This was for its "Artist of the Week" podcast. It won in the "Extended Experience" category.
In 2009, the museum won another MUSE award. This time it was for a video called Road Trip, also known as the "Giant Artichoke video." The video showed a traveler visiting a fun landmark and sending a postcard to the SJMA. This project helped promote an exhibition and connected people online with the museum.
In 2017, the museum won an award for its "Sowing Creativity" education program. This award came from the California Association of Museums.
That same year, the museum won first prize for its materials related to the Tabaimo: Her Room exhibition.
In 2018, SJMA received the Vietnamese American Cultural Center Award for its community work. In the same year, it won a "Cornerstone of the Arts Award" from the City of San Jose. This was for a mural called Sophie Holding the World Together. The mural shows a young immigration activist named Sophie Cruz. The museum helped create this mural with other groups.
See also
- The Tech Museum of Innovation
- Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
- Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA)
- San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)
