SAN JOSÉ, California (updated March 15, 2018) — The San José Museum of Art, Empire 7 Studios, and the Children’s Discovery Museum will celebrate the new public mural, Sophie Holding the World Together by El Mac in collaboration with The Propeller Group, at Discovery Meadow (180 Woz Way, San José) on Saturday, March 24, 2018, 2 – 4 PM. The mural celebration will feature live music by MaKrú, family-friendly activities, SJMA’s new Art Portal, and appearances by the artists and the subject of the mural, nine-year-old activist Sophie Cruz. The event is free and open to the public.

In addition to Cruz, special guests appearing at the event will include Juan Carlos Araujo, director and art consultant at Empire 7 Studios; S. Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director, SJMA; muralist El Mac; Kerry Adams Hapner, director of cultural affairs and deputy director of economic development, City of San José; Marilee Jennings, executive director of the Children’s Discovery Museum; Tuan Andrew Nguyen of the artists’ collective The Propeller Group; and a representative from the Consulado General de México en San José.

Highlights of the event will include:

• Live music by MaKrú, which performs a fusion of Rumba Flamenca, Ska, Cumbia, and other global beats, 2:15 ‒ 3:30 PM;
• Family-friendly activities from the Children’s Discovery Museum and San Jose Jazz;
• Monopoly in the Park, courtesy of Friends of San Jose.

The event will be the second appearance of SJMA’s new mobile art studio, the Art Portal. The Art Portal brings art activities into the community and was created as part of the Museum’s Vietnamese Community Outreach Initiative, a two-year-long effort to engage multi-generational audiences within the Vietnamese community and into other communities as well.

Sophie Holding the World Together is a portrait of nine-year-old Sophie Cruz, who has become a face of the American immigration reform movement. Born in Los Angeles to immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico, Sophie first made headlines in 2015 when she crossed a police barrier during Pope Francis’s visit to Washington, DC, to hand the pontiff a letter asking him to help all immigrant children.

The mural is a collaboration between El Mac and The Propeller Group, as part of the collective’s ongoing project, Viet Nam The World Tour. It is commissioned by SJMA, in partnership with Empire 7 Studios and the Children’s Discovery Museum, in connection with the current exhibition, The Propeller Group, on view through March 25, 2018.

Support for the mural was provided by Tad Freese and Brook Hartzell, Beverly and Peter Lipman, Lubliner, Dipti and Rakesh Mathur, Ian Reinhard, SGSR, and 156 backers on Kickstarter.

San Jose Jazz will provide its Boom Box stage for the event. MaKrú’s performance is made possible in part by the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs.

SAN JOSÉ MUSEUM OF ART

The San José Museum of Art celebrates new ideas, stimulates creativity, and inspires connection with every visit. Welcoming and thought-provoking, the Museum rejects stuffiness and delights visitors with its surprising and playful perspective on the art and artists of our time. SJMA is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San José, California. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM and until 8 PM or later on the third Thursday of each month. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for students, and $5 for youth ages 7 – 18. Members and children ages 6 and under are admitted free. For more information, call 408-271-6840 or visit www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.

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Programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by generous operating support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José, and the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation.