San José Museum of Art

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Free Community Day: Lunar New Year

11 AM–5 PM
Free admission all day

Welcome in the Year of the Monkey with live performances and hands-on art-making activities. People born under the sign of the monkey are said to be optimistic, ambitious, and adventurous: they embody the spirit of this event! Celebrate your monkey friends and the diverse cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year with a contemporary take on traditional customs and activities for all ages and extended families.

Rising Phoenix Lion Dance Association will help SJMA welcome the new year with another traditional lion dance performance. Come join this interactive celebration and take a photo with your favorite lion! Japanese Storyteller Megumi will present several stories about the moon and lunar traditions from a number of global cultures in honor of this Lunar New Year event. Fold your own origami-inspired coy fish, create a shadow puppet featuring Lunar New Year imagery, paint a not-so-traditional landscape, and design a personalized zodiac sticker. We will also have roaming docents throughout the galleries, and the café will feature kid-friendly additions to their menu.

 

Tickets available at the door.

PERFORMANCES

11 AM – 4:30 PM
Artmaking
- Shadow Puppets
- Not-so-Traditional Landscapes
- Zodiac Stickers
- Paper-Folding Coy Fish

11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Megumi, Storyteller

12 – 4 PM
Public Drop-In Tours

1:45 – 2:30 PM
Megumi, Storyteller

3:30 – 4:30 PM
Rising Phoenix Lion Dance Association
Weather permitting, a performance will take place in the City View Plaza. Located across Market Street from the Museum. In the event of rain, a demonstration will take place in the Museum’s First Floor, Lobby. Recommended parking: City View Plaza Garage


Whole Food Market.

Related Programming

New Stories from the Edge of Asia: Tabaimo: Her Room

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Imagine these ever-changing environments: Apartment buildings open to reveal the very private and sometimes strange lives of their occupants; behind a curtain of long, flowing dark hair, arteries feed blood to a pulsating heart and a throbbing brain slips off the edge of a table; a hanging lamp morphs into a full moon, which morphs into a manhole that swallows the contents of the room.

Diebenkorn in the Bedroom, DeFeo in the Den: Generous Gifts from the Dixon and Barbara Farley Collection

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Dixon and Barbara Farley shared their Marin home with an impressive, constantly growing collection of modern and contemporary art. Dixon Farley’s dedication (in particular to the work of Bay Area artists) never faltered, and he added new works to his collection up until his death in 2011. He had long wanted this carefully selected group of works to find an appreciative and appropriate public venue and, in 2000, he and Barbara made a promised gift of seventy-three artworks to SJMA—“a terrific home for my collection,” he said. Now, fifteen years later, the San Jose Museum of Art has the honor of exhibiting this intimate collection for the first time.