SJMA Receives Art Conservation Grant from Bank of America to Conserve Benny Andrews’ Shadow Over the Land

Juneteenth Event to Celebrate Black American Artists Andrews and Others: Juneteenth: The Art of Innovation & The Conserved Legacy

The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) is pleased to announce that it has received a generous grant from Bank of America’s (BofA) Art Conservation Project™ to support the preservation of Benny Andrews’ painting Shadow Over the Land (1966) from the Museum’s collection. It is one of 16 projects worldwide to receive funding this year through BofA’s prestigious Art Conservation Project.

The work is currently on view in Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection, SJMA’s collection galleries, through July 2026.

In celebration of Andrews and the legacy of Black Americans’ historical contributions in the arts and sciences, SJMA will present a public event in honor of Juneteenth on Friday, June 19, 4–9pm. Juneteenth: The Art of Innovation & The Conserved Legacy will feature the ArtTech PlayGround & Game Zone, African drumming by Professor Eros, an interactive fireside chat and mentorship lounge, a live DJ, networking, and informational tables with cultural partners. The event provides visitors and attendees with a chance to see the work before it leaves for conservation. Details and registration are available at sjmusart.org/juneteenth.

“We are honored to receive support from Bank of America for this crucial project to preserve Benny Andrews’ Shadow Over the Land,” stated Jeremiah Matthew Davis, Oshman Director and CEO. “Shadow Over the Land was made during a critical period of the Civil Rights Movement and contemporary art history in the United States. Andrews’ philosophy of the arts’ entwinement with education and social justice aligns with SJMA’s own history and Institutional values. We look forward to its return from conservation when the community can experience the work anew in SJMA’s galleries.”

In the six decades since Shadow Over the Land was made, the painting surface has developed cracks, paint losses, and active flaking. A conservator will work to stabilize the painting and mitigate any further deterioration so that it may return to public display. SJMA will also produce a behind-the-scenes video to document the conservation treatment and to educate audiences about the preservation of art.

“Every artwork has its own story—which is sometimes hidden beneath varnish, cracked pigment, or decades of decay,” said Raquel Gonzalez, Bank of America Silicon Valley president. “Conservation is the quiet work that brings those stories forward today and for future generations. We’re thrilled to help the San José Museum of Art preserve Benny Andrews’ work and legacy.”

Shadow Over the Land is the third artwork in Silicon Valley that BofA has awarded its art conservation grant—the other two were to the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University for Richard Diebenkorn’s Window, and a series in its East of Pacific paintings. Since 2010, BofA’s Art Conservation Project has conserved over 15,000 objects in 40 countries, helping safeguard iconic works that are vulnerable to time and environmental stress. Shadow Over the Land is a figurative painting from the “Autobiographical Series” made when Andrews was visiting family in Georgia. It depicts a dreamscape with a solitary young Black man looming over nude white bathers in the water below. The figure is hunched over and separated from the festivity around him. The painting recalls both the visionary images of Hieronymus Bosch and the racial segregation of beaches and swimming pools in the United States until the end of Jim Crow laws in 1968.

Andrews (1930–2006) was a New York-based artist, educator, and activist who sought to make visible the everyday experiences of Black Americans. Andrews was born in 1930 in Plainview, Georgia, to a rural farming community three miles outside of Madison. His father was a self-taught artist and sharecropper, and his mother was determined that he and his nine siblings would be educated as most sharecropping children are pulled from school to work in the fields. Throughout his artistic career, Andrews believed that making art was never independent of working towards justice. Andrews produced work that was deeply informed by his memories of growing up in the segregated South.

Andrews was also profiled in SJMA’s digital publication 50X50: Visionary Artists from the Collection.

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, SJMA’s exhibitions, collection, and programs reflect the defining characteristics of San José and Silicon Valley— from its rich cultural diversity to its innovative spirit. The Museum offers lifelong learning opportunities for schoolchildren and educators, multigenerational families, creative adults, university students and faculty, and community groups. SJMA is committed to being a museum without borders, essential to creative life throughout the diverse communities of San José and beyond.

SJMA is located 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. Beginning July 14, 2026, the Museum will expand its hours to be open on Tuesday–Thursday and Saturday–Sunday from 11am–6pm and on Friday from 11am–9pm. Admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, and free for 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.