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 explore modern and contemporary art. It's located in downtown San Jose, California, in the United States. The museum first opened its doors in 1969. It has a special collection that focuses on art from the West Coast of the U.S., especially from the 1900s and 2000s. You can find it right next to Plaza de César Chávez at Circle of Palms Plaza. SJMA is part of a group of museums called North American Reciprocal Museums and has won several awards for its work.
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About the Museum
The San José Museum of Art is a big helper for art education in Santa Clara County. It teaches art to over 45,000 kids every year! The museum's main collection features contemporary art. This means art made in our time. Most of it is by artists from the U.S. West Coast. They are also adding more art from countries around the Pacific Ocean.
The collection has more than 2,600 pieces of art. These artworks are made in many different ways. You can see sculptures, paintings, prints, digital art, photographs, and drawings.
Museum History
How SJMA Started
The art museum began in 1969. It was first called the Civic Art Gallery. A group of artists and community members started it. Ann Marie Mix and Susan Hammer were two of the main people who helped get it going. They wanted to save an old building that was going to be torn down. Their goal was to turn it into a community art gallery. At first, it was called a "gallery" because it didn't have its own permanent art collection yet.
In 1974, the gallery got a new name. It became known as the San Jose Museum of Art.
Growing the Collection
The museum teamed up with the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1994. This partnership helped bring new ideas and art to San Jose. Information about art shows was printed in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. This showed how many different cultures lived in San Jose back then.
By 1997, the museum had collected about one thousand pieces of modern art. Most of these were works on paper.
Susan Krane was the museum's executive director from 2008 to 2017. She helped the collection grow even bigger and more important. Susan Sayre Batton took over as executive director in April 2017. By 2019, after 50 years of being open, SJMA had a permanent collection of 2,600 art objects.
Museum Building and Design
The Historic Wing
The museum has an old part called the "historic wing." It is 33,000 square feet in size. This part was designed by a government architect named Willoughby J. Edbrooke. It was built in 1892 using sandstone from a local quarry. The building was first used as San Jose's main post office. It is a great example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture. The original tall steeple and clock tower were damaged in the big earthquake of 1906.
From 1937 to 1969, the historic wing 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 was named a California Historical Landmark. In 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Modern Addition
A new part of the museum, called the "New Wing," opened in 1991. This modern addition is 45,000 square feet. It was designed by architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. This new wing holds most of the museum's exhibition spaces.
In the late 1990s, the San Jose Museum of Art had a major upgrade. This included making the building stronger against earthquakes. The inside of the building was also changed to work better as a modern art gallery. In 1997, the museum reopened after the historic wing had been remodeled for two and a half years.
Art Collections
The San Jose Museum of Art's permanent collection has grown a lot. As of 2019, it had 2,600 art objects.
The museum has added works by interesting artists. For example, senior curator Lauren Schell Dickens helped the museum get art by Ian Cheng. He is a California artist who creates live computer simulations. They also acquired art by Hito Steyerl, a German artist who works with moving images.
The museum also has several pieces by the painter Hung Liu. She was a Chinese-born artist and a professor at Mills College in Oakland.
In 2016, the museum added many new works to its collection. These were from artists like Robert Arneson, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Luis Cruz Azaceta, Lesley Dill, George Grosz, George Herms, Italo Scanga, and Fritz Scholder.
In 2018, SJMA got new artworks for its permanent collection. These included sculptures by Louise Nevelson and Alexander Calder. They also added works from American artists Andrea Bowers, Russell Crotty, Morris Graves, Lara Schnitger, and Terry Winters. Plus, they acquired art from the Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum.
Exciting Exhibitions
The San Jose Museum of Art has hosted many cool art shows. Under the leadership of Susan Krane, they had major exhibitions for artists like Leo Villareal in 2010. In 2016, they featured shows by Richard Misrach, Guillermo Galindo, and Tabaimo.
In 2018, the museum showed a big solo exhibition of photos by Vietnamese photographer Dinh Q. Lê. Later that year, SJMA held a show called Other Walks, Other Lines. This exhibition featured international artists who explored "where we walk, but how and why." It included art from Dutch artist Lara Schnitger and a special artwork 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. There were also big exhibitions by artists Rina Banerjee and Pae White.
Awards and Recognition
The San Jose Museum of Art has won many awards for its great work.
In 2007, the museum received the special MUSE award. This award is given by the Media & Technology Committee of the American Alliance of Museums. SJMA won for its "Artist of the Week" podcast.
In 2009, the museum won another MUSE award. This time it was for its video called Road Trip. This fun video showed a traveler visiting a quirky landmark and sending a postcard to SJMA. It was made to promote an exhibition and encourage people to visit the museum.
In 2017, the museum received the Superintendent's Award for Excellence in Museum Education. This was for their "Sowing Creativity" education program. The California Association of Museums gave them this award.
Also in 2017, the museum won first prize in a design competition. This was for the materials made for the Tabaimo: Her Room exhibition.
In 2018, SJMA received the Vietnamese American Cultural Center Award. This was for their work in the community. The same year, they got a Cornerstone of the Arts Award from the City of San Jose. This was for the mural Sophie Holding the World Together. The mural was created by El Mac with The Propeller Group. It shows youth immigration activist Sophie Cruz. The San Jose Museum of Art helped make this mural happen.
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)
