San José Museum of Art FY25 Annual Report

AT A GLANCE

in 2 Bay Area LGBTQIA+ marches

community partners (organization)

teachers reached through SJMA’s education’s Sketchbook email newsletter

DIRECTOR'S LETTER

2024–25 WAS A SPECTACULAR YEAR AT THE MUSEUM, AND I’M PARTICULARLY PROUD OF WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED AS A TEAM.

Experimentation, innovation, transformation, and metamorphosis are essential concepts connected both to the tech industry, and to the work of the visionary artists celebrated at SJMA. Our talented team explores and nurtures these concepts in our inclusive education programs, which serve over 20,000 youth per year, at the Museum and in schools throughout the South Bay. We are proud to be the primary art museum experience for many students across this region.

The fall 2024 exhibition season launched with the exhibition Calder: at home, among friends, displaying exquisite small works from the permanent collection along with a companion exhibition featuring four artists, who won the Calder Prize.

SJMA co-presented the fifth exhibition in the Visualizing Abolition series with UC Santa Cruz, Seeing through Stone, accompanied by a catalog and robust public programs and performances at SJMA and

UCSC Institute of Arts and Sciences, all emblematic of our borderless reach.

Transformation was a hallmark of Beta Space: Patty Chang and David Kelley, continuing SJMA’s long-standing series inviting artists to take a risk, explore a new idea, and connect to innovation and community. The exhibition was accompanied by a new public program offering observation-based, scientific inquiry presented by Studio Arts Educator Shelby Hendricks

Kambui Olujimi: North Star prompted us to imagine a universe without gravity in a new audiovisual installation along with site-specific murals and paintings.

SJMA’s Annual Gala and Auction brought hundreds of Silicon Valley’s leaders to the glittering Circle of Palms to celebrate the Museum and honor artist Chitra Ganesh, and Visionary Award winner Glenda Dorchak. Music by DJ Chale Brown and performances by breakdancer Vicki “La Vix” Chang and her dance crew, Elephant Graveyard, highlighted the creativity of San José. The dazzling Gala co-chairs Tammy Kiely and Nadia Ahmad led a lively program and successful night, yielding over $1.1 million to support SJMA’s exhibitions and arts education programs.

SJMA is a gathering space, not only for our local community but also for our colleagues on a national level. SJMA is an active partner with the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs’ Climate Art Program and hosted the first day of the 2024 Climate Art Symposium at the Museum in October. In autumn we hosted the United States Presidential Committee on the Arts and Humanities and the convening of the Contemporary Art Museum Directors (CAMD), bringing new national attention to the work of our stellar team.

In March 2025, SJMA opened Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection, offering the public unprecedented access to San José’s only Museum-based publicly held art collection. These landmark galleries celebrate ten years of ambitious acquisitions of the most transformative contemporary artists, side by side with favorite earlier works.

Connecting and serving the community leads to meeting our community outside of the Museum’s building. We participated in cultural and community festivals such as Lunar New Year, Dia de los Muertos, Mosaic Festival, and Viva Calle SJ, and tabled at Downtown San José’s Farmer’s Market, and participated in both the San Francisco and the Silicon Valley Pride Parades.

In June I concluded ten years with the Museum and left SJMA in the hands of our talented staff and Board of Trustees. None of the many accomplishments detailed in this report could have been achieved without the significant support of our members and donors, to whom we are forever grateful.

CALDER: AT HOME, AMONG FRIENDS

September 6, 2024–August 3, 2025

DURING A PROLIFIC CAREER OF NEARLY SIX DECADES, FROM EARLY WIRE PORTRAITS TO GROUNDBREAKING MOBILES TO LATER MONUMENTAL PUBLIC SCULPTURES, CALDER’S ARTWORK EPITOMIZED THE OPTIMISTIC SPIRIT OF MODERN AMERICA.

His rigorous inventiveness was a state of mind and way of being in the world that contained equal parts dynamism and precision. That innovative spirit was echoed in his own home through the ingenious household objects and jewelry that he made throughout his life.

Drawing on the Museum collection, Calder: at home, among friends celebrates this art historical giant through his intimate objects and gestures, created abundantly and bestowed generously. These smaller works were just as vital to him as monumental public works, though they were often intended for personal use or close friends or relatives. The long-term installation features such works as Big Red (1957), a mobile which Calder gave to his sister to hang in her home while she recovered from an operation; unique jewelry pieces such as a “JG” brooch for Janet Gray Hayes, the artist’s niece and former mayor of San José; and a gouache that Calder gifted to the artist

Louise Nevelson. A consummate innovator, Calder’s small-scale objects in this installation speak to a more intimate side of the artist, as he existed at home and among friends.

SUPPORT

Calder: at home, among friends is made possible by the SJMA Exhibitions Fund, with major support from Doris and Alan Burgess, Elaine Cardinale, and Rick and Evelyn Neely; and additional support from the Farrington Historical Foundation.

RELATED PROGRAMMING

9.6.2024: First Friday + Opening Celebration

3.28.2025: Gallery Talk: Calder: at home, among friends

STILL IN MOTION

September 6, 2024–August 3, 2025

SINCE 2005, THE CALDER FOUNDATION HAS AWARDED THE CALDER PRIZE TO CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS WHOSE INNOVATIVE EARLY WORKS DEMONSTRATE THEIR POTENTIAL TO SHIFT HOW WE THINK OF ART TODAY.

Still in Motion features the work of several Calder Prize awardees —Tara Donovan, Jill Magid, Tomás Saraceno, and Aki Sasamoto— who are pushing the limits of sculpture through materials and references that speak uniquely to the contemporary moment. The exhibition is presented concurrently with Calder: at home, among friends and is staged fifteen years after the San José Museum of Art’s exhibition Calder: Color in Motion, which explored Alexander Calder’s masterful and innovative transformations of form. Still in Motion honors the artist’s legacy as it continues to inspire artistic practice today.

First Friday + Opening Celebration

KAMBUI OLUJIMI: NORTH STAR

November 1, 2024–June 1, 2025

WHAT DOES THE BLACK BODY LOOK LIKE WHEN IT IS FREED FROM THE GRAVITY OF WHITE SUPREMACY?

Kambui Olujimi: North Star is an immersive exhibition featuring Kambui Olujimi’s inquiry into the liberatory possibilities of weightlessness as an alternative to the structuring forces of anti-Black racism, a concept he has explored since 2019. Olujimi’s projects, which often use elements drawn from history and everyday life, implicate viewers by asking them to reconceive what is possible.

North Star brings together a selection of works that includes large-scale watercolor and ink paintings, a site-specific mural, a film, and a new audiovisual installation. Together these works collectively imagine the new relationships we might chart between our bodies, the self, the planet, and the universe once deeply entrenched forces are destabilized and replaced by boundless possibility.

SUPPORT

Kambui Olujimi: North Star is made possible by the SJMA Exhibitions Fund, with lead support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

RELATED PROGRAMMING

11.1.2024: First Friday + Opening Celebration

2.28.2025: Gallery Talk: Kambui Olujimi

4.26.2025: Art 101: Rotoscoping Animation

5.16.2025: Creative Minds: Kambui Olujimi

BETA SPACE: PATTY CHANG AND DAVID KELLEY

November 1, 2024–June 1, 2025

BETA SPACE: PATTY CHANG AND DAVID KELLEY

PREMIERES A MULTIMEDIA EXPLORATION OF THE DYNAMIC ENTANGLEMENTS AMONG HUMANS, ANIMALS, MINERALS, AND MACHINES.

Using deep-sea mining as a point of departure, Patty Chang and David Kelley’s project encourages us to think expansively and critically about the loops—of scientific discovery, resource extraction, and technological development—that connect us with places uninhabited by humans. Chang and Kelley’s project holds together these loops

to facilitate a broad conversation about how we relate to such sites as we navigate multiple climate crises.

Drawing on the forms of shipwrecks and whale falls, the artists’ multimedia installation weaves together footage and objects related to the International Seabed Authority’s recent and ongoing convenings in Kingston, Jamaica; the HMS Challenger collections at natural history museums in London and Oxford; and scientific specimens from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

This exhibition is the eighth iteration of the Museum’s “Beta Space” series, an ongoing program that

commissions artists to experiment with and share new ideas, materials, and modes of working.

SUPPORT

Beta Space: Patty Chang and David Kelley is made possible by the SJMA

Exhibitions Fund, with major support from Kimberly and Patrick Lin, and generous support from Wanda Kownacki.

RELATED PROGRAMMING

11.1.2024: First Friday + Opening Celebration 11.17 and 12.15.2024: Walk with a Naturalist

1.19, 2.16, 3.16, 4.10, and 5.18.2025: Walk with a Naturalist

4.25.2025: Gallery Talk: Beta Space

TENDING AND DREAMING: STORIES FROM THE COLLECTION

March 7–Ongoing

TENDING AND DREAMING: STORIES FROM THE COLLECTION LAUNCHES THE FIRST DEDICATED COLLECTION GALLERIES AT THE MUSEUM.

Providing unprecedented access to core works in San José’s only publicly held art collection, Tending and Dreaming invites a deeper sense of community pride in the collection.

Initiated in 1973 under the guidance of San José artists, SJMA’s collection has grown to reflect our international point of convergence, where dynamic cultural diversity and high-tech industries mix in California soil. SJMA’s collection galleries position artists as storytellers to imagine the Museum as a space where culture and meaning are actively made and always in process. Organized into thematic groupings, Tending and Dreaming offers poetic starting points for engaging with ideas woven through the works of almost fifty artists from the Bay Area and beyond, including Ruth Asawa, Martha Atienza, Shilpa Gupta, Yolanda López, and Elias Sime, among many others.

SUPPORT

Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection is made possible by the SJMA Exhibitions Fund, with lead support from Toby and Barry Fernald; major support from Doris and Alan Burgess, the Lipman Family Foundation, and Evelyn and Rick Neely; generous support from the Farrington Historical Foundation, Geraldine and Marco Magarelli, Suzette Mahr, McManis Faulkner, Ann Marie Mix, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, C. Christine Nichols, Marge and Ken Nissly, Rita and Kent Norton, Dennis Rohan, and Elizabeth and Byron Ryono; additional support from Daniela Barone and Matt Reiferson, Elaine Cardinale, Glenda and Gary Dorchak, Diane Jonte-Pace, Cheryl and Bruce Kiddoo, and Marsha and Jon Witkin; and other support from donors to the Campaign for Collection.

RELATED PROGRAMMING

3.7.2025 First Friday + Opening Celebration

KORET GALLERY: ART LEARNING LAB

Ongoing

ART LEARNING LAB IS A DEDICATED EXHIBITION SPACE

INSPIRED BY SOWING CREATIVITY, THE MUSEUM’S AWARD-WINNING STEAM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART, AND MATH) EDUCATION PROGRAM.

Featuring a diverse selection of work from the permanent collection, the Art Learning Lab reveals how artists engage cross-disciplinary concepts in their approach to art-making. Through interactive play and experimentation, visitors are encouraged to draw their own connections between individual creative exploration and the ideas, tools, and techniques used in the artwork on display.

SUPPORT

Education programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by lead support from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; major support from the Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation; generous support from Lucia Cha, Priscilla Chou, Koret Foundation, California Arts Council, KPMG, Worth and Andy Ludwick, and Daphne and Stuart Wells; and additional support from the City of San José and Rosemarie and Barry Mirkin.

Visualizing Abolition

SEEING THROUGH STONE

April 26, 2024–January 5, 2025

SEEING THROUGH STONE BRINGS TOGETHER ARTWORK BY CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE THAT ENGAGES PRISONS, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM.

The exhibition highlights artists who provide a vision and model of abolition in practice. Working across prison borders throughout the initiative, in collaboration with current and formerly incarcerated people, as well as those without lived experience of incarceration, the project empowers artists to shift the narratives linking prisons to justice—and

contributes to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining actively creating a future free of prisons. This multi-sited exhibition is co-organized with the Institute of the Arts and Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is part of the ongoing Visualizing Abolition series.

SUPPORT

Seeing through Stone is made possible by the Mellon Foundation and the SJMA Exhibitions Fund, with lead support from the Myra Reinhard Family Foundation and additional support from the de Souza Bransten Family.

EXHIBITION CATALOG

The Seeing through Stone catalog was co-published by the San José Museum of Art and the Institute of the Arts and Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. It was edited by Gina Dent, professor of Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, and Legal Studies at UC Santa Cruz; Lauren Schell Dickens, SJMA chief curator; and Rachel Nelson, director and chief curator of IAS. 244 pages, softback, color. Available in the Museum Store or online.

CHRISTINA FERNANDEZ: MULTIPLE EXPOSURES

June 7–September 22, 2024 THIS LANDMARK EXHIBITION PRESENTS THE WORK OF CHRISTINA FERNANDEZ, WHOSE PHOTOGRAPHS AND INSTALLATIONS EXPLORE MIGRATION, LABOR, GENDER, AND HER MEXICAN AMERICAN IDENTITY.

Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures surveys over three decades of the artist’s most important photographic series and installations. Combining aesthetic inquiry with political commitments, Fernandez’s conceptual practice invites us to reconsider history, borders, and the lives that cross and inhabit both.

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.

SUPPORT

The UCR ARTS presentation of Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures was made possible by grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Support for the publication was provided by AltaMed Health Services and Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund. Chon Noriega, distinguished professor of film, television, and digital media at UCLA, was curatorial advisor. Exhibition design concepts were provided by HvADesign, New York. The UCR ARTS presentation was made possible by

grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Support for the publication was provided by AltaMed Health Services and Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

The San José Museum of Art’s presentation of Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures is made possible in part by lead support from the National Endowment for the Arts and by the SJMA Exhibitions Fund, with generous support from Mr. Cole Harrell and Dr. Tai-Heng Cheng, Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese, and McManis Faulkner.

RELATED PROGRAMMING

8.30.2024: Creative Minds: Christina Fernandez and Rosanna Alvarez

COMMUNITY DAYS

SJMA'S COMMUNITY DAYS CELEBRATE THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY OF THE REGION, FOSTERING HUMAN CONNECTIONS AND NURTURING A SENSE OF BELONGING FOR ALL.

Held annually for Día de los Muertos and Lunar New Year, Community Days offer families a full day of free art activities, cultural demonstrations, and live performances.

For Día de los Muertos, families enjoyed a musical performance by Lincoln High Mariachi, decorated sugar skulls, created calavera portraits, and learned about ojos de Dios—weaving with traditional techniques.

Program partners included the San Jose Multicultural Artist Guild, the League of Women Voters, Teatro Vision, and Santa Clara County Children and Family Services.

For Lunar New Year, visitors celebrated the Year of the Snake by making firework skyline table toppers, felt dumplings, and finger puppets. Families enjoyed live performances including a poetry reading by Brandon Luu and a fashion show presented by the Ao Dai Festival. Partners included New Ballet, Open Space Authority, and Teatro Vision.

COMMUNITY DAY PROGRAMMING

11.2.2024: Día de los Muertos

1.25.2025: Lunar New Year ↖ Image caption

Image caption

CITYDANCE

PRESENTED ON THE CIRCLE OF PALMS BY THE CITY OF SAN JOSÉ OFFICE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, EL CAFECITO BY MEZCAL, SAN JOSÉ DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION, AND VALLEY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, CITYDANCE IS AN EVENING OF DANCING, LIVE MUSIC, SOCIALIZING, AND MORE.

The event and Museum galleries are open and free to the public. This year featured the dance styles of Bollywood, Waacking and Vogue, Line dancing, and African American dance. Over 1,000 people came together to dance with one another as well as visit the Museum as part of this four-evening partnership.

SUPPORT

CityDance is presented by City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs, San José Museum of Art, and el Cafecito by Mezcal in partnership with the San José Downtown Association.

CITYDANCE PROGRAMMING

7.18.2024: Bollywood

8.15.2024: Waacking and Vogue

9.19.2024: Country Line dancing

6.19.2025: Juneteenth—African American music and dance

↑ Visitors enjoy dance lessons with live music in the Circle of Palms.

FEEDBACK HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

KELLY AKASHI VISITOR

In ‘Seeing Through Stone,’ artists imagine a world without prisons, SF Chronicle Datebook

July 15, 2024

"The Akashi exhibition was amazing. I love love how the Museum shows works from young, emerging artists who are local to California and also diverse."

MUSEUM EXPERIENCE REPRESENTATIVES

Your Guide to Visual Art in the Bay Area This Fall, KQED

August 29, 2024

“While I was in lobby, a family came into the Museum because their son had received a Family Pass, and they were passing by on a beautiful day. The son was very excited and kept telling his parents all about the Museum as he had been here before on a field trip, even asking if the studio/gallery teacher "lived in the Museum." It was sweet and cheered me up, and at the end of their visit, while I was eating lunch outside, I overheard the son say their trip was great!”

Museum Highlights: Still in Motion, SF/Arts

September 1, 2024

Motion in Art: Alexander Calder’s Art and Legacy Showcased, Metro Silicon Valley

September 11, 2024

In San José, Calder’s Twists on Everyday Objects Continue to Inspire, KQED

September 12, 2024

San José Museum of Art Introduces Dedicated Permanent Collection Galleries, Forbes

March 6, 2025

"A guest … was very moved by the rafa esparza piece. We talked about all the references to the artists’ culture that seemed to resonate with the guest, but we mainly focused on the image of the grandmother…they had been enjoying the other works in the gallery but was then immediately drawn in by the grandmother's smile....The guest said that the entire Museum visit was worth it just to see this painting, and I saw them go back to Evergreen multiple times before they left to see the painting."

Follow Kambui Olujimi’s ‘North Star’ into SJMA, Metro Silicon Valley

May 21, 2025

"A group of guests came in asking if we take EBT, and were excited when I checked them in. One woman was moved to tears, explaining that she was so happy to finally be able to see art again."

San José Museum of Art explores Alexander Calder with two new exhibits, Mercury News

September 6, 2024

FIRST FRIDAYS

SJMA’S FIRST FRIDAY PROGRAM OFFERS FREE ADMISSION, OPEN GALLERIES, AND LIVE PERFORMANCES BY LOCAL ARTISTS.

From 6–9pm on the First Friday of each month, SJMA is free and activated by a dynamic program of performances by local artists. The varied program is presented as part of SJMA’s commitment to be a community gathering space, to contribute to the activation of downtown San José, and to center artists.

Partners and artists in FY25 include Vincent Aire, Mark Arroyo, Auracle Ash, Robyn D. Banks, Sean Bass, Black Aurora, Phoebe C with William Bohrer and Jonathan Franaszek, Esperanza Cabrales, Julie Cardenas, Chopsticks Alley Art, Citizens Jazz led by Carol Chung, City Lights Theater Company, Jared Cruz, Pau D’Arco, Brian Fitzgerald, Francis Experience with Jonathan Francisco Borca, History San José, Jasper Redwood, Japanese American Citizens League Silicon Valley, José Jiménez, Kalypso, Joe Leonard, Miguel “Frunkyman” Levya, Lysn, Mosaic America, New Ballet, Thien An Nguyen, Poetry Corner with Zainab Hussain, Prof Eros, Jasper Redwood, San Jose Jazz, Silicon Valley Pride, SJMA's

Let's Look at Art docents, Society of Heart's Delight, Tori Tia, and Esther Young.

SUPPORT

San José Museum of Art First Fridays are made possible in part by major support from the Jay Paul Company.

FIRST FRIDAY PROGRAMMING

7.5.2024: First Friday

8.2.2024: Pau D’Arco: Canciones Nuevas y Viejas de America Latina

9.6.2024: Opening Celebration Calder and Still in Motion

10.4.2024: New Ballet Season Preview

11.1.2024: Opening Celebration Kambui Olujimi and Beta Space

12.6.2025: Celebrate the Holidays with Pride

1.3.2025: Community Game Night

2.7.2025: On the Shoulders of Giants: Celebrating Black History Month

3.7.2025: Opening Celebration of Tending and Dreaming

4.4.2025: Hip Hop(e) and Healing

5.2.2025: Fingerstyle Elegance: An evening with Thien An Nguyen

6.6.2025: First Friday with Phoebe C

↑ Lysn and Prof Eros perform at First Friday.

ART 101

ART 101 WORKSHOPS OFFER ADULT PARTICIPANTS GUIDED ART MAKING

INSTRUCTION IN SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES AND ARE OFTEN INSPIRED BY EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW.

In FY25, City of San José Creative Ambassador Deborah Kennedy led a broadside making and poetry writing class that tied into Earth Day. Artist and SJMA Educator Emma Brand led a rotoscoping animation class that drew inspiration from Kambui Olujimi: North Star.

ART 101 PROGRAMMING

10.13.2024: Earth Day Broadside and Poetry Project

4.26.2025: Rotoscoping Animation

↑ Participants learn the technique of rotoscope animation.

GALLERY TALKS

LEAD BY A CURATOR OR EDUCATOR, GALLERY TALKS OFFER VISITORS SPECIALIZED INSIGHTS INTO EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW.

In FY25, SJMA introduced a new gallery talk series, titled Walk with a Naturalist, which offered an observation-based, scientific inquiry into Beta Space: Patty Chang and David Kelly.

GALLERY TALK PROGRAMMING

11.17 and 12.15.2024: Walk with a Naturalist

1.19, 2.16, 3.16, 4.5, and 5.18.2025: Walk with a Naturalist

2.28.2025: Kambui Olujimi: North Star

3.28.2025: Calder: at home, among friends

4.25.2025: Beta Space: Patty Chang and David Kelly

↑ Visitors enjoy an observation-based, scientific inquiry into Beta Space: Patty Chang and David Kelley.

DOCENT COUNCIL VOLUNTEERS

ACTIVE

Daniel L Camarena

Lisa Dearborn

Lisa Gallo

Thu-An Hanley

Tricia Hill

Hilary Kim

ASSOCIATE

Daniela Barone

Francine Craven

Geraldine Martinez-Magarelli

Astrid Mazin

SUSTAINING

Michael Arellano

Lauren Buchholz

Sandra Churchill

Dolores Fajardo

Peter Fargo

Lorraine Fitch

Cathleen Fortune

Kim Harris

Karen Huitric

Michaela Landrok

ON LEAVE

Monica Rojano-Moguel

Carol Whelan

Sara Mintz

LT Nguyen

Amelie Pak

Sujata Tibrewala

Barbara Weiss

Miho Poelman

Ellen Tafeen

Jeanne Torre

Lisa Lubliner

Suzette Mahr

Shauna Mika

Ann Marie Mix

Evelyn Neely

Susanne Offensend

Leah Read

Elizabeth Ryono

Bob Strain

CREATIVE MINDS

CREATIVE MINDS—SJMA’S PREMIER ARTIST TALK SERIES—ALLOWS AUDIENCES A CHANCE TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM ARTISTS ABOUT THEIR PROCESS AND PRACTICE.

SJMA hosted two Creative Minds programs in FY25. In conjunction with Christina Fernadez: Multiple Exposures, artist Christina Fernandez and writer, educator, and co-founder of Eastside Magazine Rosanna Alvarez, spoke with Assistant Curator Juan Omar Rodriguez about their approaches to storytelling from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.

In conjunction with Kambui Olujimi: North Star, artist Kambui Olujimi was in conversation with Chief Curator Lauren Schell Dickens about the many ways the exhibition asked audiences to imagine new relationships to our bodies, the self, the planet, and the universe.

CREATIVE MINDS PROGRAMMING

8.30.2024: Christina Fernandez and Rosanna Alvarez

5.16.2025: Kambui Olujimi

↑ Assistant Curator Juan Omar Rodriguez led a conversation with artist Christina Fernandez and Rosanna Alvarez.

NEW AUDIO GUIDE

THE MUSEUM NOW OFFERS A FREE DIGITAL GUIDE!

The guide is available on Bloomberg Connects, an arts and culture app that features additional content, including audio and video insights on exhibitions and artworks from artists, curators, and educators. It also includes accessibility features such as screen reader support and an interactive map.

↑ Museum visitor using her phone to learn more about an artwork through our free audio guide.

↗ Family participating in a hands-on activity at Vive Calle 2024.

OFF-SITE

SAN JOSÉ MUSEUM OF ART STRIVES TO BE A BORDERLESS MUSEUM—ESSENTIAL TO CREATIVE LIFE THROUGHOUT THE DIVERSE COMMUNITIES OF SAN JOSÉ AND SILICON VALLEY.

In FY25, SJMA offered hand-on art activities at Adobe Family Day, Robert Randal Elementary, Paleta Fiesta—Back to School, Mosaic Festival, Moon Festival, Viva Calle, and participated reguarly at the downtown San José Farmer's Market. Additionally, SJMA led the Museums with Pride contingency—comprised of local museums—in the San Francisco Pride Parade and the Silicon Valley Pride parade. This year, San Francisco Pride's theme was "Queer Joy is Resistance" and the Museums with Pride contingency won the title of Absolutely Joyful Marching Contingent.

EQUITY TASK FORCE

THE MUSEUM’S CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL EQUITY TASK FORCE (ETF) INTEGRATES AN EQUITY-FOCUSED AND VALUES-ALIGNED APPROACH ACROSS ALL ASPECTS OF THE MUSEUM’S OPERATIONS.

The ETF convenes regularly to oversee equity pilot initiatives—staff-driven experiments that generate new insights, ideas, and methods aimed at further embedding equity within the Museum’s work.

↗ Image caption

MEMBERS

Gemma Armas,

ETF Chair since December 2024

S. Sayre Batton

Daniel Becker

Tova Cheng

Nidhi Gandhi,

ETF Open Session Coordinator

Ara Garcia

Daniel Jimenez

Sam Joseph

Natalie Sánchez Lewin,

ETF Chair through December 2024

Frederick Liang,

ETF Communications Coordinator

EQUITY PILOTS

IN FY25, A NEW RESEARCH-BASED PILOT EXPLORED HOW SJMA CAN BETTER LEARN ABOUT AND IDENTIFY STAFF COMFORT LEVELS AND RESOURCE NEEDS AROUND ACKNOWLEDGING GENDER BEYOND THE BINARY.

It aimed to understand experiences with gender inclusivity, effective pronoun use, and support for non-binary colleagues.

The findings will help strengthen SJMA's internal culture and guide more inclusive practices across staff, visitors, artists, and partners. In November the pilot team organized a successful Friendsgiving event that brought staff from across the Institution together to share dishes from different cultural backgrounds.

Karen Rapp

EQUITY BOOK CLUB

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

SJMA IS COMMITTED TO CARING FOR THE PLANET AS IT CARES FOR ITS VISITORS, ITS COLLECTION, AND ITS COMMUNITY.

At the San José Museum of Art (SJMA) we recognize the urgency of the current climate crisis and are committed to minimizing our impact on climate change. We are taking steps at both the individual and the institutional level to continually reduce the environmental impact of our work. The Museum’s interdepartmental Green Team meets quarterly to review the Museum’s environmental commitments, share learnings, and implement new efforts. Key examples of these efforts in action include:

• SJMA is an active partner with the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs’ Climate Art Program and hosted day 1 of the 2024 Climate Art Symposium at the Museum on October 11, 2024.

• Tending and Dreaming dedicates 50% of the Museum’s gallery space to permanent collection work, reducing the number of walls that get built each year, and reducing the carbon footprint of artwork traveling.

• Additionally, all of the text panels in the exhibition are on Falconboard—a 100% recyclable and biodegradable material and are printed with biodegradable ink.

• This year’s Kids Summer Art Camp

featured 2 weeks of teaching art with sustainable materials.

• We have relaxed temperature and humidity requirements in the galleries in alignment with the Bizot Green protocol, now adopted by the American Association of Museum Directors.

• SJMA has an established practice of recycling across the Institution and encourages our visitors to do the same.

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ACCESSIBILITY THROUGH ADMISSION

IN ALIGNMENT WITH SJMA’S CORE VALUE OF INCLUSION, THE MUSEUM PRIORITIZES MAKING ADMISSION ACCESSIBLE TO ALL REGARDLESS OF FINANCIAL ABILITY.

SJMA is always free for youth, students, and teachers.

Additional strategic partnerships supporting this commitment include:

Blue Star Museums

Active military personnel receive free admission— including up to 5 family members—from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

Discover and Go

Library cardholders can check out up to four passes at many libraries throughout San José and the Bay Area.

Family

Pass

Every student that participates in SJMA's education programs receives a family pass that that grants free admission to up to 8 adult family members.

Museums for All

EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cardholders receive free admission for up to four people.

Museums on Us

Visitors who present an active Bank of America®, Merrill® (formerly Merrill Lynch®) or Bank of America Private Bank® (formerly U.S. Trust®) branded debit or credit card—with an ID receive free admission to the Museum on the first full weekend of each month.

↑ Museum visitors immersed in the exhibition Tending and Dreaming.

LET’S LOOK AT ART

LET'S LOOK AT ART PRESENTATIONS ARE OFFERED 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 free, in-classroom art presentations. Art selections are

carefully researched, presented with a specific set of curriculum objectives, and represent the cultural diversity of the Bay Area. During the 2024–25 school year, over 878 presentations were given.

Each student that participates receives a Family Pass to visit the Museum with up to 8 adult family members. Over 1,797 visitors came to the Museum using these family passes from LLAA in FY25.

LET'S LOOK AT ART DOCENTS

ACTIVE

Kathy Benedict

Elizabeth Bonnet

Eve Brasfield

Joseph Coha

Giada Conte

Linda Cortinas

Lisa Dearborn

Debbie Earl

Kristina Eng

Harriet Erbes

Toby Fernald

Cathy Fraser

Lisa Gallo

Suman Ganapathy

Muskaan Grewal

Beth Herner

Tricial Hill

SUSTAINING

Interested in learning more about how to join the LLAA team and bring art experiences to students in your community? Visit the Let’s Look at Art page to apply!

SUPPORT

Let’s Look at Art is made possible by major support from Sally Lucas, and generous support from Worth and Andy Ludwick.

↖ Let's Look at Art trainees holding art prints from the program curriculum.

Colleen Jansen

Linda Klein

Marcia Klein

Karen Lantz

Laurel Lee

Lisa Lewis

Jennifer MacGougan

Loyce Mandella

Amy Mears

Tony Misch

Char Nagayama

Barb Nelson

Lia Nguyen

Colleen Papalias

Mary Perry

Louise Persson

Sergei Posnov

Alka Pradhan

Pamela Ryalls-Boyd

Elizabeth Seiden

Liz Summerhayes

Sherry Tsai

Lotte Van de Walle

Debbie Watson

Kim Worrall

Carol Wynne

Liliya Yakymechko

Christina Zhao

Melinda Anderson

Marilyn August

Carol Bower

Christy Cali

Bing Chen

Susan Curtin

Char Devich

Nancy Dunne

Lorrie Fitch

Jody Foster

Linda Gallo

Linda Goldberg

Joan Gorham

Karen Harrington

Julia Hartman

Dave Himmelblau

Julia Jacobsen

Jean Kellett

Carole Kilik

Andrea Lee

Nancy Mathews

Rosemarie Mirkin

Linda Pfeiffer

Amy Rapport

Carrie Ross

Joan Sharrock

Diana Taylor

Emily Thaeler

Martha Weber

S OWING CREATIVITY

SOWING CREATIVITY IS A CLASSROOM-BASED, CROSS-CURRICULAR ART PROGRAM FOR K–12 STUDENTS LED BY SJMA’S PROFESSIONAL TEACHING ARTISTS.

Through multi-week, hands-on experiences in drawing, painting, and sculpture, students build skills while exploring math, science, language arts, and more. Lessons integrate California Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards, emphasizing design thinking, creative problem-solving, and active discussions inspired

FIELD TRIPS

4,426 STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND CHAPERONES VISITED

SJMA THROUGH OUR FIELD TRIP PROGRAM, INCLUDING 1,848 STUDENTS FROM TITLE I SCHOOLS.

The Museum is committed to reducing barriers to visit and offers free field trips to students in Title I schools. SJMA’s inquiry-driven tours support the Museum’s community pledge to

by the cross-disciplinary nature of contemporary art.

Sowing Creativity includes free group visits for participating classrooms. In FY25, SJMA reached over 1,800 students through 80 residency programs in 12 Santa Clara County schools, with 1,339 students from Title I schools.

SUPPORT

Sowing Creativity is made possible by lead support from the Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation; and by generous support from KPMG and Daphne and Stuart Wells.

↖ A student and his art that he created as part of the Sowing Creativity program.

inspire creativity, visionary inquiry, and critical thinking by centering on students’ unique perspectives.

Two-Part Art, SJMA’s premiere field trip program includes a hands-on art-making activity inspired by the work on view.

SUPPORT

Two-Part Art is made possible by major support from California Arts Council, a state agency.

← Students enter the Museum for a school field trip.

KIDS SUMMER ART CAMP

CAMPERS GAIN BEHIND-THE-SCENES ACCESS TO THE MUSEUM’S EXHIBITIONS, LEARN ABOUT EXHIBITION DESIGN, EXPERIMENT WITH ARTISTIC PROCESSES, AND PARTICIPATE IN A STUDENT EXHIBITION.

These weekly camps offer in-depth art experiences, led by SJMA’s teaching artists and inspired by current exhibitions. Campers learn how to look at, talk about, create, and display art. Each week-long camp is offered for kids ages 6–8, 9–11, and 12–14. Culminating at the end of every camp is an art exhibition and reception, in which families and caregivers are invited to celebrate the artistic achievements of each participant. 226 students participated in Kids Summer Art Camp in FY25. A limited number of scholarships cover full camp tuition, all art supplies, and camp t-shirts.

SUPPORT

Kids Summer Art Camp scholarships are made possible through a Safe Summer Initiatives Grant from the City of San José.

DR. JERRY HIURA AWARD

THE DR. JERRY HIURA NEXT GEN VISUAL ARTIST AWARD HONORS THE PASSIONS OF FORMER SJMA BOARD MEMBER AND ARTS ADVOCATE DR JERRY HIURA THROUGH A SCHOLARSHIP THAT CELEBRATES YOUNG VISIONARY ARTISTS AND SUPPORTS THEIR ARTISTIC PRACTICE AND GOALS AS THEY PURSUE HIGHER EDUCATION.

The scholarship is open to high school students in Santa Clara County. This year, 90 students reflected on the theme, Compassion in Action—how caring for their community, friends, and themselves has positively influenced their lives. Through visual art they explored the power of empathy and kindness, and how these qualities drive them forward. First place went to Amy with Blossom in the Crescent Moon (LOST), second place went to Quinn’s Eye Am Compassion, and the third-place winner was Sofia with Threads of Mine.

↖ Campers participate in guided in-gallery activities.

↗ Dr. Jerry Hiura Next Gen Visual Artist Award winners.

ART LEARNING LABS

Community Constellation

For Kambui Olujimi: North Star visitors were invited to engage in an interactive poetry space. This activity encouraged participants to create original poems inspired by the artworks on display. Using provided prompts or their own ideas, individuals reflected on personal emotions, thoughts, and interpretations connected to the themes of the exhibition. The poetry space served as a creative outlet for visitors to respond to the art and explore their own perspectives through writing.

↑ View of activity located in the North gallery.

Tending and Dreaming Story Board

The Tending and Dreaming Story Board invites visitors to contribute personal reflections and creative responses inspired by their experience in the collection galleries. Designed to highlight artists as storytellers and the Museum as a space of evolving culture and meaning, the digital message board provides a platform for participants to share stories, images, and ideas. Guided by prompts on themes such as connection to place, identity, belonging, and creativity, visitors reflect on their own lives and perspectives while engaging with the artworks around them.

↑ View of activity located in the Plaza gallery.

Block Garden

SJMA visitors explore the magic of Roy De Forest’s Off the Patagonian Coast using our fun 3D-printed block set available in Koret Gallery: Art Learning Lab exhibition.

Each block draws inspiration from the shapes in the original artwork.

Art Learning Lab Journals

The Art Learning Lab journal was developed to enrich visitor engagement and encourage student and family participation. Distributed both on-site and at outreach events, it is now in its fourth edition, with a fifth forthcoming.

Through interactive activities, the journal invites visitors to engage with current exhibitions and reflect on timely themes. It provides space for note-taking and personal reflection, helping visitors connect artworks to their own lives and broader social contexts. To date, over 7,000 copies have been distributed.

↑ Selection of Art Learning Lab Journals.

COLLECTION KIOSK

In conjunction with Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection, the online collection page was redesigned and streamlined to encourage searchability and discovery by featuring new content, a "currently on view" section, and a "browse all" function.

Explore the Collection online!

FY25 ACQUISITIONS

THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF OUR DONORS, SJMA ACQUIRED 7 ARTWORKS BY 6 ARTISTS IN FY25, WHICH ENRICH THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTION BY ADDRESSING TIMELY CULTURAL, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL ISSUES.

MOATH AL-ALWI

↓ Untitled (GIANT), 2017

Cardboard, rope, fabric, plastic, and acrylic paint

27 × 31 × 6 ½ inches

Museum purchase with funds provided by the Lipman Acquisitions Fund, 2025.02. © Moath Al-Alwi.

Moath al-Alwi’s artistic practice is indelibly shaped by his surroundings in Guantánamo Bay Naval Detention Center, where he was detained without charges from 2002 until January 2025. Untitled (GIANT) was permitted to leave Guantánamo before legal parameters shifted to treat all artworks and their descriptions as classified materials. Untitled (GIANT) was made during a period in Guantánamo’s administration when art classes were allowed. Some materials were provided by an instructor with al-Alwi finding additional materials. Carved eagle's wings stand proudly on the prow as the artist’s symbol of himself and an attestation of the emancipatory possibility of artmaking for the artist.

ALEXANDER CALDER

Acrobats, 1964

Five gouaches on paper

16 × 14 inches, each

Gift of Peter and Beverly Lipman, 2024.07.02a-e.

© 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

↓ Alphabet (Children’s page), 1943

Ink on paper

22 ½ × 30 inches

Gift of Peter and Beverly Lipman, 2024.07.01.

© 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Best known for his mobiles and massive public sculptures, Calder also created numerous drawings that imitate the style of his sculptural forms, from the wiry lines of his acrobats to the flat planes of his mobiles. Calder drafted Alphabet (Children’s page) for a centerfold in the April 1943 issue of View Magazine, published by Charles Henri Ford to promote surrealist art in the United States. In 1963, as the editor of the magazine Art in America, Jean Lipman commissioned Calder’s drawings of acrobats.

JOSH KLINE

↓ Mid-Career Artist, 2024

Acrylic-based photopolymer resin, urethane foam with shellac-based color sealer, epoxy resin, UV protective coating, museum wax, and polyethylene bag 22 ½ × 22 × 53 ¼ inches

Josh Kline's Mid-Career Artist is a life-size 3D scan of the Philadelphia-born Filipino artist. Kline looks at how emergent technologies are being used to change human life. His sculptural, video, and installation-based work often utilizes the very technologies that he scrutinizes—digitization, image manipulation, 3D-printing, or productivity-enhancing substances—aiming them back at themselves, with frequently darkly humorous results. At its core, Kline’s prescient practice is focused on work and class, exploring how today’s most urgent social and political issues—climate change, automation, disease, and the weakening of democracy—impact the people who make up the labor force.

PAUL PFEIFFER

↗ Caryatid (Pacquiao), 2023

Single-channel digital video loop on transparent color television monitor

13 × 13 ½ × 15 inches

Museum purchase with funds provided by the Collection Committee, 2024.06.

© Paul Pfeiffer.

Since the 1990s, Paul Pfeiffer has made groundbreaking work in video, sculpture, and photography, using digital technologies and new media that dissect the role mass media plays in shaping consciousness. In Caryatid (Pacquaio), a small tabletop monitor shows a moving image of the Filipino boxer Manny Pacquaio being punched in slow motion. By removing the attacking boxer, the focus is on the lush and brutal sequences of the impact, as the body twists and recoils under invisible blows. This detailed study presents a counter to the heroic sports narratives focused on the triumphant victor.

LUCAS SAMARAS

Head #302, 1983

Ink wash

34 × 28 inches

Gift of Peter and Beverly Lipman, 2024.07.03.

© Lucas Samaras.

Lucas Samaras’ practice focuses on the body, self-representation, and autobiography. Head #302 is one of a series of over 300 black and white ink wash depictions of skulls Samaras made over the course of 1983, and part of a larger opus of works exploring the head as a foundational form, one that when abstracted can take on potent symbolism and expressive meanings.

PAE WHITE

← Animals for Sale, 2003 Snakeskin, paper and thread

36 × 12 inches

Gift of C. Christine Nichols in honor of Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director, San José Museum of Art, 2017-2025, with thanks for her guidance of SJMA, 2025.03.

Pae White looks to the natural world—flocks of birds, schools of fish, drifting clouds—to produce sculptures without volume and to find order in chaos, freeze-framing the elusive through geometry. She has experimented with different materials: paper, glass, mirror, stainless steel, and most recently electroplated steel cut and silkscreened at a factory that produces metal business cards. Animals for Sale (2003) is an early mobile by White, featuring paper and snakeskin.

CONSERVATION

IN PREPARATION FOR CALDER: AT HOME, AMONG FRIENDS, A NECKLACE BY ALEXANDER CALDER IN SJMA’S COLLECTION UNDERWENT CONSERVATION FOLLOWING THE CALDER FOUNDATION’S RECOMMENDATION.

The Foundation’s records showed that the necklace was not originally gold and had been gilded at a later date, and that the components were in an incorrect order. A conservator manually removed the gold from the necklace, revealing the original metal—surprisingly nickel wire, making this a rare example of Calder’s use of this material. The necklace was also restrung in its correct order on a period-appropriate cord, replacing a more recent nylon cord.

COLLECTION COMMITTEE

Lorri Kershner, Chair

Daniela Barone

J. Michael Bewley*

Gina Dent

Ala Ebtekar

Lys House

ALEXANDER CALDER

← Necklace, 1930s

Nickel wire and string

8 × 7 ¼ × 1 /14 inches

Gift of Dr. Kenneth Hayes and Janet Gray Hayes in memory of Margaret Calder Hayes, 1992.02. © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Wanda Kownacki

Kimberly Lin

Peter W. Lipman

Geraldine Magarelli

Suzette Mahr

Yvonne Nevens

Elizabeth Ryono

Marsha Witkin

Gayla Wood

*In Memoriam, 1945–2024.

2024 GALA + AUCTION

September 21, 2024

IN HONOR OF ARTIST

CHITRA GANESH AND VISIONARY AWARD WINNER

GLENDA DORCHAK

SJMA’s 2024 Gala + Auction was a fantastic celebration in honor of artist Chitra Ganesh and Visionary Award Winner Glenda Dorchak and raised over 1 million dollars in critical funds for the Museum’s operations, award-winning exhibitions, and education programs. The Auction included works by internationally acclaimed artists including Kelly Akashi, Miya Ando, Squeak Carnwath,

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

OFFICERS

Tammy Kiely, Co-President

Wanda Kownacki, Co-President

Glenda Dorchak, Vice President

Robert S. Lindo, Secretary

Hildy Shandell, Treasurer

MEMBERS

Nadia Ahmad

Peter Cross

Anneke Dury

Bill Faulkner

Toby Fernald

Tad Freese

Richard A. Karp

Daniel Le

Peter W. Lipman

Yvonne Nevens

Sarah North

Rachana Rele

Chitra Ganesh, Christine Sun Kim, Hung Liu, Monica Lundy, Masako Miki, Hayal Pozanti, Muzae Sesay, and Xiaoze Xie. Special thanks to Gala Co-Chairs Nadia Ahmad and Tammy Kiely and Auction Co-Chairs Daniela Barone and Geraldine Magarelli for making this event such a success!

↑ 2024

Damon Richardson

Gayla Wood

Astrid Mazin, Delegate Trustee, Docent Council Co-Chair

Louise Persson, Delegate Trustee, Let's Look at Art

Shu Rosenthal,, Delegate Trustee, Store Guild Chair

MEMBERS + SUPPORTERS EVENTS

SJMA is fortunate to have the steadfast and integral support of its members who not only provide critical operating resources each year but also contribute to the Museum’s ongoing community-building efforts through their participation and engagement with SJMA’s exhibitions and programs. Members experienced the exhibitions on view through in-depth virtual Curator’s Workshops during FY25 and joined in

celebration at the launch of new exhibitions through member receptions where they had the chance to meet SJMA’s curators and the exhibiting artists.

Additionally, patron level donors and members enjoyed not only the receptions and workshops, but also more intimate and private curated events, including the Council of 100’s Annual Dinner on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Bay Area artist Catherine Wagner, whose SJMA solo exhibition Paradox Observed was on view in 2019, was the guest speaker for the evening. Donor Circle members also had several opportunities to travel

with SJMA during FY25. These bespoke trips included a visit to the Djerassi Ranch’s Residency Program in Woodside; a trip to two remarkable private collections in the East Bay; and a C100 National Trip to Philadelphia in October 2025. Finally, members of the Director’s Council traveled to Provence France in April 2025 and experienced an expertly curated itinerary that included exclusive visits to private collections, museums, delicious meals, and more.

↖ Donor Circle members traveled to Philadelphia to visit museums, galleries, and private collections.

$500,000+

City of San José

Skyline Foundation

$200,000 – $499,999

Adobe

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation

Lipman Family Foundation

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

$100,000 – $199,999

Brook Hartzell + Tad Freese

The William Randolph Hearst Foundation

Tammy + Tom Kiely

Yvonne + Mike Nevens

Teiger Foundation

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

$50,000 – $99,999

Applied Materials

Glenda + Gary Dorchak

Toby + Barry Fernald

Knight Foundation

Wanda Kownacki

Kimberly + Patrick Lin

Evelyn + Rick Neely

Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation

$25,000 – $49,999

Bank of America

Doris* + Alan Burgess

Elaine Cardinale

Casino M8trix

DONORS + MEMBERS

WE THANK OUR DONORS FOR THEIR GENEROUS SUPPORT

July 2024–June 2025

Lucia Cha

Priscilla Chou

Lorri Kershner KPMG

Geraldine + Marco Magarelli

McManis Faulkner

Barry + Rosemarie Mirkin

Marge + Ken Nissly

Jay Paul Company

Qatalyst Partners

Dennis Rohan

Elizabeth + Byron Ryono

Hildy Shandell + Jeffrey Pfeffer

Gayla + Walt Wood

$10,000 – $24,999

Anonymous Ansys

Daniela Barone + Matt Reiferson

S. Sayre Batton + Maja Thomas

Boydston Foundation

The de Souza Bransten Family

Laurie + Bill Brennan

Lorna Meyer Calas + Dennis Calas

California Arts Council

E. Rhodes + Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

Melanie* + Peter S. Cross

Peggy + Yogen Dalal

Deloitte

Anneke + David Dury

Julie + Steve Eckstrom

Elizabeth Economy + David Wah

Evercore

Farrington Historical Foundation

First American Bankcard, Inc. (FABICash)

Lys + Lee House

Diane Jonte-Pace

Cheryl + Bruce Kiddoo

Latham & Watkins

Elena Lebedeva + Alvin W. Smith

Catherine Lego

Leslie + Will Littlejohn

Hung Liu Estate

Sally Lucas

Worth + Andy Ludwick

Suzette Mahr

Dipti + Rakesh Mathur

Mary Mocas + Marv Tseu

Nicki + Pete Moffat

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management

Christine Nichols

Gallery Wendi Norris

Sarah + Denny North

Rita + Kent Norton

Carol + Gerry Parker

Damon Richardson

Elizabeth Schweinsberg + Lucas Pereira

Jessica Silverman

Timi + John M. Sobrato

SV Creates

Synopsys

Babak Taheri

Daphne + Stuart Wells

Suzanne + Tom Werner

Sara Wigh + Jim McManis

Marsha + Jon Witkin

Heather + David Zinsner

$5,000 – $9,999

Nadia + Faisal Ahmad

Anonymous

Jo + Barry Ariko

Art Horizons International

Sue Barsamian + Bill Romans

Benefactor Travel

Blackstone Gaming, LLC

Casey + Jack Carsten

Alex Conway + Gilbert Vendryes

Maureen Ellenberg

Janice Fox

Martin Fox + John Green

Regina Frenkel + Rene Haas

Cathy Grape

Claudia Worthington Hess

Ann Hosein

Hummer Living Trust

D'Arcy + Jim Kirkland

Wendy + Mike Kirst

Jacqueline Whittier Kubicka +

Bruce Kubicka

Kathryn + Robert S. Lindo

Sharon Mandell

McKinsey & Company

Chris Mengarelli + Dale Elliott

Shauna Mika + Rick Callison

Newfront

Alyce + Mike Parsons

Eileen Silver

Jessica Silverman + Sarah Thornton

Holly + Stacy Smith

Lisa Stanziale + John Lee

Alexandra + Murphy Stein

Susan + Sanjay Vaswani

Julie Veitch

$2,500 – $4,999

Judy + Mike Bruner

Bryan Cooke

Comerica Bank

Eng-Caulfield Family Fund

Pamela + Marc Garibaldi

Raj-Ann Rekhi Gill + Pavan Singh Gill

Heritage Bank of Commerce

Hosfelt Gallery

Joelle + Michael Hurlston

Leah + Charles Read

Ann + Kanwal Rekhi

Rachana Rele

Republic Services

Barbara Scherer

Abigail W. Simons

SJMA Docent Council

Eileen Sandra Swirsky + Lyle Merithew

Sujata Tibrewala

MUSEUM STORE VOLUNTEERS

Kat Anderson

Marilyn August

Connie Bantillo

Nancy Beckman

Meghal Biswa

Lawrie Brown

Charlane Bueno

Alyssa Camarillo

Char Devich

Ami Dongchau

Jelani Finkely

Manav Jain

Michele Kelly-Jones

Bill Jones

Madelyn Lee

Chris Mengarelli

Jeannie Pedroza

Gilma Pereda

Carla Rosenblum

Mark Rotner

Jack Stinson

Kristina Taskova

Alisa Wetzel

1301PE

Anonymous

Marco Arrigoni

Amie + Dave Ashton

Alison Barr

Iris Berke

Betty Jane + Lawrence Bryan

Ami + Liam Byrne

Susan Casentini + Kyle Milligan

Elio + Cheresh Casinelli

Radhika Chopra + Rajan Anandan

City of San José District 3 Office

Libby + Paul Conrado

Kathleen Demetri + David Fowler

Susan O. Dyer

Jacquie + Bill Faulkner

Mary + Thomas Field

David + Junko Finke

Jeanne + Frank Fischer

Barbara + Martin Fishman

Pam + Jim Frankola

Lisa Friedman + Jim Harris

Shelagh + Karl Glaser

Chris Gentle

Bradley Guzules

Rebecca + Pete Helme

Liz + Tom Hughston

Brendan Ittelson

Kristy + Grady Johnson

Kieve Foundation

Cathy + Kevin Kimball

Kay Knox

Rose + Greg Land

Karen + Keith Lantz

Jill + Brady Larsen

Deirdre + Jack Lazar

Kim Le + Nelson Bradley

Nikki + Matt McSweeney

Niko + Matt Meadors

Ann Minooka

Mary + Greg Mix

Becky + Steve Morgan

The Morrison & Foerster Foundation

Kelli Nakamura

Sarju + Bindu Naran

Michael Nisenson

Joy + Stuart Oberman

Ann Walls Olmsted

Howard J. Partridge

Marvin Riley

Janice Roberts

Shu + Todd Rosenthal

Chick + Rick Runkel

Susan + Mike Sabes

Sara + Mehmet Sanliol

Karen Schaffer + Michael Ward

Samantha Schneider

Emily + Ray Schubert

Judith Sklar

Eta + Sass Somekh

Marsha + Maurice Stevenson

Robert Strain

Leah Toeniskoetter

Judith + Allan Thompson

Elizabeth Twaddell + Amardeep Misha

Lieke + Paul Vlasveld

Robin Wright

$300–999

Julia Armstrong + Frank Zwart

Carol + Terry Austen

Rebecca + David Ayer

Wendy Balam

Nancy Beckman

Joann Bergoffen + Jeff Ehrlich

Leslie Bixel + Donald Wright

Michelle Blair + Dennis Calloway

Leon Bonner + Redge Meixner

Dr. Alexa Budde

Susan + John Busco

Ami + Liam Byrne

Sandra + James Byrne

Laura Callahan + Joe Miller

Barbara Canup

Anne + Jim Cashman

M. Bernadette Castor + David Packard

Priya Chandrasekar + Chandra Gnanasambandam

Polly Chen

Ying Chen + Chris Mildebrandt

Francine Craven

Peggy Sue Crookston + Dan Herschlag

David Daggett

Jane Decker

Alison + Michael Dorchak

Anne Dougherty + David Dobrikin

Phyllis Eckhaus

Harriet Erbes

Sarah + Robert Erickson

Mary Falkar

John Fisher

Megan Fluke

Dan Forzano

Linda Foster

Sandra + Albert Franken

Sally + Tom Freese

Ken + Kyle Friedman

Kathryn Funk

Kathryn Gallant

Christopher Garcia

Samuel Garrett

Nick Gaydos

Lucia Albino Gilbert + John Gilbert

Rachel Giustina

James M. Goodell

Marisol + Michael Greco

Robert Guillot

Yenjo Han

Anne Hansen

Kim Harris + Bennet Marks

Kathleen Haydel + Sharon Jackson

Michele Hemeryck + David Falkenburg

Álvaro Herrera + Daniel Coleman

Harriet + Stephen Hersh

Charles Himmelblau

Jan Hintermeister

Lee Hirsch

Michael Hochberg

Nancy Hooton

Karen Hornig

Karen + Roger Huitric

Christopher Huynh

Annette + Richard Jaffe

Andrew Johnson

Lars Johnson

Melissa + David Johnson

Betty + James Kasson

Michele Kelly-Jones + Bill Jones

Lita + Marc Ketzel

Marcia Klein + Avishai Hochberg

Laura Kogler

Laurie Koloski + David Cornelius

Anna Koster + William Kirkpatrick

Lee Ping Kwan

Yijia Li

Rosina Lozano + Nick Vossbrink

Margaret + Philip Ma

John Macchia

Phillip Machnik

Anne Manley + Michael G. Arellano

Judith Marlin

Tony May

Lenore + Denis Maynard

Kim McCann

Charlie McCollum

Brian McGee

Sean Meiners

Diana Morabito + Keith Ball

Khan Mostafa

Mary Murphy + Mark Stevens

Antje + Paul Newhagen

Hien Nguyen

Deborah D. + Henry F. Norberg

Clayton Okaly

Kent Owen + Bill Cooper

Christina Passoni + Travis Retherford

Karla Pfeil + Peter Fargo

Jean + Henry Richards

Ariana Rivera

Monica Rojano-Moguel

Judy Rookstool + Bob Leininger

Emily Ross

Katy Ross + John Bieda

Jose Ruiz

Yvette + David Sacarelos

Jeannette + Glenn Samuels

Francis + Ralph Sanders

Suzanne Sarro + Robert Kass

Dorothy Saxe

David Schnur

Mara + Edward Schreiner

Joanne + Lee Shombert

Gae Shulman

Signia by Hilton San Jose

Sridevi Srinivasan + Thangavelu Arumuam

Kim Steppe

William Sterling

Daniel + Derek Tam

Kathryn Thompson

Jeanne Torre

Maria Tupala

Cindy Vinson

Wanda Waldera

Carol A. Whelan

Katherina + Steve White

Leah + Marc Wiesner

Jenny Wirtschafter + Patrick Hornberger

Suzanne Wittrig + Alfonso Banuelos

Alayne + Don Yellum

Danell Zeavin + Ronald Stovitz

Marco Zecchin

Deborah Zimmer

Yikai Zou

DONORS TO COLLECTION

Collection Committee

Lipman Family Foundation

Yoshiaki Yokokawa

DONORS TO

CAMPAIGN FOR COLLECTION

Anonymous

Nadia + Faisal Ahmad

Daniela Barone + Matt Reiferson

Ellyn Bloomfield

Doris* + Alan Burgess

Elaine Cardinale

Kristen Clements

Melanie* + Peter Cross

Glenda + Gary Dorchak

Toby + Barry Fernald

Jelani Finkley

Barbara Fishman

Farrington Historical Foundation

Sally + Tom Freese

Brook Hartzell + Tad Freese

Charles D. Himmelblau

Cheryl + Bruce Kiddoo

Tammy + Tom Kiely

Robert S. Kieve

Elisa + David Koff-Ginsborg

Kathryn + Robert S. Lindo

Lipman Family Foundation

Geraldine + Marco Magarelli

Suzette Mahr

McManis Faulkner

Emilia Mendoza

Ann Marie Mix

Mary + Greg Mix

Evelyn + Rick Neely

Yvonne + Mike Nevens

C. Christine Nichols

Marge + Ken Nissly

Deborah D. + Henry F. Norberg

Sarah + Denny North

Rita + Kent Norton

Veronica Roberts

Rachana Rele

Dennis Rohan

Shu K. Rosenthal

Elizabeth + Byron Ryono

SJMA Docent Council

Marsha + Jon Witkin

Jessica Yee

IN-KIND

DONORS

Adobe

Kelly Akashi

Anglim/Trimble

Francois Ghebaly Gallery

Connie Huang

Tammy + Tom Kiely

Hung Liu Estate

Geraldine + Marco Magarelli

Memento Mori Winery

Gallery Wendi Norris

pt. 2 gallery

Round Pond Estate Winery

Jessica Silverman

Nancy Toomey Fine Art

Total Wine & More

Vice Versa Wines

Yoshiaki Yokokawa

FOUNDERS’

SOCIETY

Bequests and planned giving

Anonymous

Doris* + Alan Burgess

Ron Casentini

The Marion Sarah Cilker*

Administrative Trust

Rosa* + Werner Cohn*

Caroline Crummey*

Vivian G. Crummey*

Faith C.* + Paul L. Davies*

Glenda + Gary Dorchak

John Ettelson* in honor of Charlotte Wendel

Dixon* + Barbara Farley

Toby + Barry Fernald

Zelda Glaze*

Doris J. Groves*

Susan* + Philip Hammer*

Brook Hartzell + Tad Freese

Karita* + Paul Hummer*

Michele Kelly-Jones + William Jones

Beverly + Peter W. Lipman

Suzette Mahr

Chris Mengarelli + Dale Elliott

Ruth Mirassou*

Evelyn + Rick Neely

Yvonne + Mike Nevens

Deborah D. + Henry F. Norberg

Ena Weisskopf Passarini*

Frederick* and Marcella Sherman*

Living Trust

Carol Stanley*

Marcia* + Howard Summers*

Dr. Jan Newstrom Thompson + Paul Goldstein

Nathalie + Gaurav Verma

Larene Wambsganss*

Daphne + Stuart Wells

William Zoller*

*deceased

REMEBERING DORIS BURGESS

THE SAN JOSÉ MUSEUM OF ART REMEMBERS

LONGTIME VOLUNTEER, ARTIST, AND WEAVER DORIS BURGESS, ONE OF THE MUSEUM’S EARLIEST DOCENTS AND LONGEST-SERVING VOLUNTEERS.

Doris joined the Museum’s first docent training class in the fall of 1970, helping shape the foundation of SJMA’s education and volunteer programs.

Over more than five decades, Doris shared her love of art, creativity, and generosity with countless visitors. She helped develop new initiatives such as the Touch Tour for blind and visually impaired visitors.

In 2009, Doris received the Local Hero Award from Bank of America, which honored her 40 years of volunteer service and included a $5,000 gift to SJMA in her name. At the 2018 Gala, the Museum presented Doris and her husband Alan with a framed photograph of the historic wing and a piece of sandstone,

the same stone used to build our beloved Museum, as a symbol of her lasting connection to this place.

Doris' warmth, artistry, and commitment left a lasting impression on everyone who knew her. SJMA is deeply grateful for her many years of service and the joy she brought to our community.

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART ASSOCIATION

STAFF

Mahder Aklilu, museum experience representative

Viridiana Alcaraz Alvarez, lead museum experience representative

Anamarie Alongi, registrar

Gemma Armas, director of retail operations

Bailey Baeza, museum experience representative [through July 2024]

Emilio Banuelos, senior studio art educator

S. Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director [through May 2025]

Daniel Becker, associate exhibition designer

Jayann Bella, museum store associate

Jazelle Blanco-Rios, museum store associate [through August 2024]

Tessa Blumenberg, development officer

Jeff Bordona, director of museum experience and education

Emma Brand, gallery teacher

Randy Bricco, facilities manager

Leah Campbell, studio art educator

Mae Cariaga, lead museum experience representative

Tovah Cheng, art installation crew member

Justin Huy Minh Van Dang, museum experience representative

Briana Davalos, museum experience representative

Aquiles de la Torre, graphic design and website manager

Lauren Schell Dickens, chief curator + co-interim Executive Director as of June 2025

Catherine Do, gallery teacher

Patricia Duany, collection manager and database administrator

Ricardo Espinoza Padilla, museum experience representative

Franchesca Flores, studio art educator

Linda Franklin, senior gallery teacher

Jared Gacusan, lead museum experience representative

Nidhi Gandhi, curatorial and program associate [through February 2025]

Ara Garcia, executive assistant and board liaison [through June 2025]

Nestor Gutierrez, development and finance assistant

Shelby Hendricks, group tour and family programs manager

Claire Hill, museum experience representative

Daniel Jimenez, manager of museum experience

Sam Joseph, studio art educator

Karishma Kansal, museum experience representative

Richard James Karson, director of design and operations

Leslie Kim, studio art educator

Rebekah Kim, studio art educator

Jessica Kwong, membership manager [through September 2024]

Catherine Le, art installation crew member

Aaron Lee, preparator

Natalie Sánchez Lewin, development and grant manager

Frederick Liang, marketing and communications coordinator

Valentino Loyola, art installation crew member

Alma Luna, human resources manager and executive assistant + board liaison" [as of February 2025]

Kevin MacDonald, director of events

Madison Manzo, lead museum experience representative

Jordan Medina, lead museum experience representative + art installation crew member

Ruby Morales-Rodriguez, studio art educator [through October 2024]

Galen Oback, museum experience representative

Micah Ong, lead museum experience representative

Nia Pommerenke, chief people and culture office [through February 2025]

Karen Rapp, deputy director + co-interim Executive Director as of June 2025

Cheryl Rediger, museum store associate (on-call) [through April 2025]

David Reisine, lead museum experience representative

Bjorn Remo, chief financial officer

Alieh Rezaei, studio art educator [through July 2024]

Kelsey Rieger Olsen, manager of K–12 curriculum and instruction

Juan Omar Rodriguez, assistant curator

Abel Romero, museum experience representative

Leslie Romo, museum experience representative [through September 2024]

Melanie Samay, director of marketing and communications

Ronit Shalem, art installation crew member

Jennifer Sime, chief philanthropy officer [through September 2024]

Sofia Skavdahl, development associate

Kayt Smith, gallery teacher specialist

Brian Spang, chief financial officer [through November 2024]

Shannon Stearns, education program coordinator [through January 2025]

Jack Stinson, art installation crew member [though February 2025] + events and rentals associate

Jai Tanju, events and rentals assistant

Robin Treen, manager of special projects and community partnerships

Thuy Vo, accountant

Lydia Marie Watson, gallery teacher

Jeri Yasukawa, art installation crew member

Julian Zamora, studio art educator specialist

S. Sayre Batton, SJMA’s Oshman Executive Director, stepped down from her position on May 31, 2025. Sayre provided over nine years of dedicated service to the Museum, including eight years as the Oshman Executive Director. During Sayre’s tenure the Museum presented over 50 exhibitions which helped expand SJMA’s reputation both in the Bay Area and beyond.

Sayre played a pivotal role in refocusing SJMA’s commitment to acquisitions. This vision was fully realized in March 2025, when SJMA unveiled its newly renovated main floor galleries dedicated to showcasing the Museum’s collection—a milestone in its 55-year history. Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection features iconic works such as Louise Nevelson’s Sky Cathedral (1957) and Hung Liu’s Resident Alien (1988), alongside recent acquisitions of significant artworks by Tishan Hsu, Yolanda López, and Sarah Sze.

Under Sayre’s leadership, SJMA experienced remarkable institutional growth. The Museum deepened relationships with donors, community partners, universities, and visitors, while securing increased support from corporations, prominent national foundations, and federal government agencies. Notably, SJMA received substantial investments to ensure free admission for youth, students, and educators. Sayre also led strategic and long-term planning initiatives including a substantial investment in staff professional development and digital collaboration and was instrumental in securing SJMA’s re-accreditation with the American Alliance of Museums.

OPERATING SUPPORT

OPERATIONS AND PROGRAMS AT THE SAN JOSÉ MUSEUM OF ART ARE MADE POSSIBLE BY PRINCIPAL SUPPORT FROM SJMA’s Board of Trustees, a Cultural Affairs Grant from the City of San José, and the Lipman Family Foundation; BY LEAD SUPPORT FROM THE Adobe Foundation, the California Arts Council, Toby and Barry Fernald, Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, Tammy and Tom Kiely, the Knight Foundation, Evelyn and Rick Neely, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Skyline Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the SJMA Director's Council and Council of 100; AND WITH SIGNIFICANT ENDOWMENT SUPPORT FROM THE William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the San José Museum of Art Endowment Fund established by the Knight Foundation at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

MISSION STATEMENT

The San José Museum of Art nurtures empathy and connection by engaging communities with socially relevant contemporary art.

FY2025 Annual Report July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025 Image Credits

110 South Market Street, San José, CA 95113

SanJoseMuseumofArt.org