SAN JOSÉ, California (updated April 13, 2018) — In celebration of National Poetry Month, the San José Museum of Art is collaborating with Poetry Center San José for the Ninth Annual Poetry Invitational on Thursday, April 19, at 7 PM, as part of the Museum’s Third Thursday after-hours program. Every spring, SJMA invites Bay Area poets to visit the Museum to write new poems inspired by the art on view. At the evening of the event, the poets will read their new works amidst the art in the galleries. The event will be hosted by the new poet laureate of Santa Clara County, Mike McGee. Following the readings will be live music and activities presented by Content Magazine as part of Content Pick-Up Party 10.2 until 10 PM. Tickets to the event are $5 after 5 PM and free to Museum members and Content subscribers.

Participating poets will be Nyam Abodoadji, Arlene Biala (fourth poet laureate of Santa Clara County), Brande Barrett, Asha Sudra Finkel, Brandon Luu, Christina Madueño, Mike McGee, David Perez (third poet laureate of Santa Clara County), Rachel Prentice, and Alan Soldofsky (Professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Jose State University).

This year, SJMA is also partnering with the Legacy of Poetry Festival, April 2 – 22, 2018, presented by the Poets and Writers Coalition at San Jose State University. Learn more about their upcoming events on their website at www.legacyofpoetry.com/festival.

Visitors are invited to explore the current exhibitions on view:

• Full Spectrum: Paintings by Raimonds Staprans, featuring over fifty landscape and still life paintings spanning an artistic career of sixty years.
• The House Imaginary, comprising of approximately forty-five sculptures, paintings, films, photographs, and works on paper, where artists use the single-family house as a lens to explore memory, identity, and belonging in an increasingly itinerant world.
• 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.”
• Show Your Work: Art and Math reflects the math-focused curriculum of SJMA’s award-winning education program Sowing Creativity and includes artworks by Ron Davis, David Pace, Clare Rojas, Lordy Rodriguez, and Shirley Shor.

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.