SAN JOSE, California (August 21, 2012)— The San Jose Museum of Art’s Lunchtime Lecture series will return on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, at 12 noon. The first speaker for the fall will be Scot Guenter, coordinator of American Studies at San Jose State University. His topic will be “Nomads: In Search of the American Dream.” He will explore people’s diverse quests to realize their dreams and discuss the evolving patterns in our experience as a nation, as a state, and as Silicon Valley. His talk is offered in connection with the exhibition Ranu Mukherjee: Telling Fortunes, for which Mukherjee created animated films, prints on silk, and ink drawings inspired by the notion of the contemporary nomad in Silicon Valley. 

Lunchtime Lectures take place on the first Wednesday of the month at noon in the Museum’s Charlotte Wendel Education Center. Visitors are welcome to bring food and beverages or purchase their lunch at Café Too. The lectures are included with Museum admission of $8 ($5 for seniors and students, free to members).

• Scot M. Guenter is a professor of American Studies and the coordinator of American Studies at San Jose State University. He received his Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland in 1986. His book, The American Flag, 1777-1924 (1990) led to consulting work at the Smithsonian Institution. He founded the scholarly journal Raven in 1994 and served as a Senior Fulbright Fellow at the National University of Singapore in 1998. In 2003, in Stockholm, Sweden, he was named Laureate of the Federation by the International Federation of Vexillological Associations (FIAV). He is the past president of both the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) and the California American Studies Association (CASA). 

The October speaker and topic are to be announced. Upcoming lectures will include: “A Game of Clues: Eric Fischl’s Visual Fictions,” by Lucinda Barnes, chief curator and director of programs and collections at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA), University of California, on November 7; and “Illuminating Downtown San Jose,” by Barbara Goldstein, public art director, City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, on December 5.

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART

The San Jose 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.

The San Jose Museum of Art is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San Jose, California. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, and free to members and children under 6. For more information, call 408-271-6840 or visit www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.

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Programs at the San Jose Museum of Art are made possible by generous operating support from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the Lipman Family Foundation, the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, the Koret Foundation, a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San Jose, and, with support for exhibiton development, Yvonne and Mike Nevens.