The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) hosts its 2024 Gala + Auction on September 21 at 5:30pm. The annual celebration will be held inside the Museum and on the Circle of Palms Plaza, with an evening of cutting-edge contemporary art, cocktails, fine dining, live and silent auctions, and entertainment from by Chalé Brown who will DJ during the reception. The festivities continue with an after-party featuring Cutso who will keep the dance floor lively while guests enjoy specialty drinks and delectable late-night bites throughout the Museum.

The inaugural SJMA Visionary Award will be bestowed to SJMA Trustee and past Board President Glenda Dorchak in appreciation for her leadership and dedication to the Museum. Glenda and her husband Gary Dorchak have been strong supporters of SJMA for over two decades. They are generous contributors to Sowing Creativity; the Council of 100, Director's Council, and Founder's Society members; and have sponsored several important exhibitions. Glenda joined the board in 2014. In 2020, with the pandemic weighing heavily on every institution, particularly non-profits, Glenda took on the role of Board President, stewarding the organization over the next three years. Under her leadership SJMA not only survived, but emerged stronger financially, operationally, and strategically.

Chitra Ganesh will be celebrated as the artist honoree. Her twenty-five-year practice spans across South Asia, North America, and Europe, deepening SJMA’s vision to be a borderless museum. Ganesh is also well-represented in SJMA’s collection. The Museum recently acquired her work She the Question, a suite of 25 works generously donated to the Museum by Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese. Melancolia (Sorrows Refrain), 2010 was featured in the 2023 exhibition A Point Stretched: Views on Time, and Sultana's Dream, 2018, a suite of 27 prints was included in SJMA's 2021 exhibition South East North West: Works from the Permanent Collection.

This year, Nadia Ahmad and Tammy Kiely return as the event’s co-chairs, Daniela Barone and Geraldine Magarelli will co-chair the auction, and Robbie Gordy returns as the live auctioneer. The auction will feature 11 important contemporary works by internationally acclaimed artists including Kelly Akashi, Miya Ando, Squeak Carnwath, Chitra Ganesh, Christine Sun Kim, Hung Liu, Monica Lundy, Masako Miki, Hayal Pozanti, Muzae Sesay, and Xiaoze Xie.

“The Gala is an important way to support the Museum and keep it thriving. I thank the Trustees, patrons, donors, staff, and volunteers who help make this event possible,” said S. Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director, SJMA. “I also want to recognize the 2024 honorees, Glenda Dorchak and Chitra Ganesh. The SJMA Visionary Award is the perfect way to celebrate Glenda Dorchak’s leadership. Her support and dedication helps us achieve our vision to be a borderless museum which is exemplified by our artist honoree Chitra Ganesh.”

A limited number of sponsorships are still available, at the $10,000 to $50,000 level, and single tickets are available at $1,500 each. Subscribers to SJMA’s mailing list will have the opportunity to purchase After-Party tickets with an early-bird discount of 20% from August 8 to August 16 at 5pm. After that, tickets for this popular event will be $100 and the price will go up to $125 at the door on the night of the event.

The Gala will continue to feature local Bay Area artists, entertainment, and hospitality, in line with its commitment to spotlight community partners and contribute to the ongoing economic recovery and revitalization of downtown San José. A highlight of the evening will be a three-course seated dinner catered by Signia by Hilton hotel. The menu is designed by Executive Chef Joe Derla and draws on seasonal, local ingredients that consider San José's exciting culinary communities and reflects SJMA's commitment to being a borderless museum, essential to creative life throughout Silicon Valley.

The live auction will accept bids by absentee forms and in-person bids. To cap off the Gala program, a dynamic Paddle Raise opportunity is expected to bring in strong community support and raise critical funds to support the Museum’s education, exhibition, and equity initiatives and essential operations.

For information on how to sponsor, purchase tickets, or make a fully tax-deductible contribution, contact Jennifer Sime, chief philanthropy officer, at jsime[at]sjmusart.org

Gala Committee

Nadia Ahmad and Tammy Kiely, co-chairs; Toby Fernald, Lys House, Robert S. Lindo, Suzette Mahr, and Yvonne Nevens.

Auction Committee

Daniela Barone and Geraldine Magarelli, co-chairs; Mr. Cole Harrell, Lys House, Sophia Kinell, Kimberly Lin, Suzette Mahr, and Elizabeth Ryono.

Honorees

The Museum is thrilled to be celebrating two remarkable women during the 2024 Gala + Auction, and to present the inaugural SJMA Visionary Award to Glenda Dorchak. The Visionary Award recognizes individuals and organizations that have made exemplary contributions to creative life throughout the diverse communities of San José and beyond.

About Glenda Dorchak

Glenda's career began in the IBM accounting department but through her technical aptitude, strategic approach to business transformation, and fierce work ethic she quickly moved on to executive positions, running national and then global teams. The experience of running e-businesses led Glenda to join e-retailer Value America (VA), initially as president, and later becoming CEO—one of the few women public chief executives at the time. With a focus on scaling the business she forged alliances with the IBM PC group and Intel, becoming the largest e-retailer of Intel-based PCs at the time. That partnership led to several meetings with Andy Grove and, in 2001, after VA was acquired, she joined Intel as COO of the new Communications Group, and it launched a career in the semiconductor industry that has been extraordinary—including two more turns as CEO before moving fully to the boardroom as an independent director with ten technology companies including Mellanox, Quantenna, Wolfspeed, Ansys, and Global Foundries.

Glenda's commitment to the San José Museum of Art is rooted in relationships and community. Shortly after she arrived in the Bay Area, Glenda and Mike Nevens met professionally which led to a deep friendship with Mike and Yvonne who introduced them to the San José Museum of Art and hosted them at the 2004 gala where Glenda first learned about the Museum's exceptional work in arts education. Their membership grew over the years as they enjoyed many amazing exhibitions, Council of 100 dinners, and group art trips—all the while forming close and lasting connections with the incredible people involved with the Museum.

SJMA supporters for over twenty years, Glenda and Gary Dorchak have made generous contributions to Sowing Creativity; as Council of 100, Director's Council, and Founder's Society members; and also have sponsored a number of important exhibitions, including Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World (October 30, 2020–April 25, 2021); Barring Freedom (October 30, 2020–April 25, 2021); and South East North West: New Works from the Collection (October 30, 2020–October 3, 2021). Barring Freedom and South East North West opened during one of the most challenging periods in SJMA history, and yet each was able to accelerate the Museum's overarching goal of borderlessness with a rapid shift to virtual delivery of our programs and flourishing community partnerships for the benefit of all.

Glenda brought her expertise in the boardroom to SJMA becoming a trustee in 2014 and serving as an active member of the Finance and Planning committee. In 2018 she joined the executive committee as vice-president and two years later, with the pandemic weighing heavily on every institution, particularly non-profits, Glenda took on the role of Board President, stewarding the organization over the next three years.

About Chitra Ganesh

Across a twenty-five-year practice that spans South Asia, North America, and Europe, Chitra Ganesh has developed an expansive body of work rooted in drawing and painting, encompassing comics, animation, wall murals, collage, video, and sculpture.

Based in Brooklyn, Ganesh studied Art-Semiotics and Comparative Literature at Brown University, attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and received her MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University.

Ganesh is the recipient of numerous awards, including from the Ford Foundation, Anonymous Was a Woman Award, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in the Creative Arts, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, Pollock Krasner Foundation, the Art Matters Foundation, and many others.

Her series of 27 woodcuts, Sultana's Dream, published by Durham Press, was included in 2023–24 Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition Inheritance, and has been transformed into an architectural installation currently on view at the 2024 Biennale of Sydney. In addition, her first monograph will be published this summer by Distanz Press. Ganesh is currently preparing a large commission for Amtrak Penn Station and Moynihan Hall in NYC, which will open in July. This September, she will be featured in a solo show at San Francisco's Gallery Wendi Norris.

Ganesh's work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art; The Brooklyn Museum; The Art Institute of Chicago; Smithsonian American Art Museum; the Kiran Nadar Museum in New Delhi, India; the Ishara Foundation in Dubai; and the SunPride Foundation in Hong Kong; among others. She is on the Board of Governors of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and recently joined the board of the Joan Mitchell Foundation.

Ganesh is also well represented in the SJMA collection including the recently acquired work She the Question, a suite of 25 works generously donated to the Museum by Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese. Melancolia (Sorrows Refrain), 2010 was featured in the 2023 exhibition A Point Stretched: Views on Time, and Sultana's Dream, 2018, a suite of 27 prints was included in SJMA's 2021 exhibition South East North West: Works from the Permanent Collection.

These global and Bay Area exhibitions have forged strong connections between Ganesh and SJMA audiences, and a fanbase for the ways her work combines literature, science fiction, history, and mythic texts with the contemporary aesthetics of vintage comics, anime, and film posters.

San Jose Museum of Art

The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is a contemporary art museum dedicated to inclusivity, new thinking, and visionary ideas. Founded in 1969 by artists and community leaders, its dynamic exhibitions, collection, and programs resonate with defining characteristics of San José and the Silicon Valley—from its rich diversity to its hallmark innovative ethos. The Museum offers lifelong learning for school children and their educators, multigenerational families, creative adults, university students and faculty, and community groups. SJMA is committed to being a borderless museum, essential to creative life throughout the diverse communities of San José and beyond.

SJMA is located on the Plaza de Cesar Chavez at 110 South Market Street in downtown San José, California. The Museum is open Thursday 4–9pm; Friday 11am–9pm; and Saturday–Sunday 11am–6pm. Admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, and free to members, college students, youth and children ages 17 and under, and school teachers (with valid ID). Admission is free from 6–9pm on the first Friday of every month. For up-to-date information, call 408.271.6840 or visit SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.