SAN JOSÉ, California (January 23, 2018) — The San José Museum of Art will welcome the Year of the Dog with a free community day on Saturday, February 17, 2018 from 11 AM — 5 PM. This contemporary celebration honors Lunar New Year traditions commemorated around the globe and here in San José. The Lunar New Year Community Day will feature hands-on activities, cultural demonstrations, and live performances, including a lion dance. Admission is free. Tickets are available online at sjmusart.org/event/community-day-lunar-new-year-2018.

Activities and performances will include:

• Traditional Vietnamese music and folk songs from Mr. Vu and Hong Thinh Musical Group at 12 PM and 1 PM;
• Lion dance performance by Rising Phoenix Lion Dance Association at 3:30 PM;
• Crafting Year of the Dog bookmarks, zodiac buttons, and felt fortune cookies.

The Lunar New Year is celebrated throughout the Asian continent and parts of the United States. The holiday brings families and communities together to reckon the New Year with big celebrations and regional customs and traditions.

The Lunar New Year Community Day is sponsored by Adobe.

Community Day includes free admission to SJMA on February 17. Exhibitions on view will be:

• Full Spectrum: Paintings by Raimonds Staprans, featuring over fifty landscape and still life paintings spanning the San Francisco artist’s sixty-year career;
• The Propeller Group, a provocative survey of projects including video, installation, and sculptural works;
• Louise Nevelson: The Fourth Dimension, which highlights Louise Nevelson’s Sky Cathedral (1957) and includes a new acquisition, related collages, and rarely seen ephemera;
• Crossroads: American Scene Prints from Thomas Hart Benton to Grant Wood, a collection of fifty-seven prints produced between 1905 and 1955, encompassing a broad range of art styles collectively known as “American Scene.”​ 

In addition to Community Day, SJMA will be at the Vietnamese community’s annual Tết Festival on Saturday, February 24, 2018, from 11 AM — 6 PM at the Vietnamese American Community Center, 2072 Lucretia Ave, San José. SJMA will also debut their new mobile art studio, the Art Portal.

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.