San Jose Museum of Art to Receive $60,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Release date

San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $60,000. This grant will support SJMA’s presentation of Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures, opening June 7, 2024. In total, the NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $37 million as part of its second round of fiscal year 2024 grants.    

“Projects like San José Museum of Art’s presentation of Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and the National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring people across the country benefit.”  

“We are grateful to be awarded this grant by the National Endowment for the Arts which not only helps SJMA’s dedication to presenting groundbreaking exhibitions that would not make it to Silicon Valley’s community but also acknowledges SJMA’s ongoing commitment to engaging communities with socially relevant contemporary art. We look forward to working with the NEA to finalize the grant paperwork and appreciate the agency’s support for this project,” said S. Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director at SJMA. 

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. 

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART 

The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is a modern and 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 Plaza de Cesar Chavez at 110 South Market Street in downtown San José, California. The Museum is open Thursday 4–9pm; Friday 11am–9pm; Saturday–Sunday 11am–6pm, and select Monday holidays 11am–6pm. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 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.