-
Patssi Valdez, The Imaginary Garden, 2003. Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 84 inches. Collection of San José Museum of Art. Museum purchase with funds contributed by cb and Dick Watts, Lisa and John Kohler, Mary Mocas and Marv Tseu, Elaine and Rex Cardinale, Arpi Djenguerian, and Margaret and Gibson Anderson, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art's 35th anniversary.
-
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.113, Hanging Five-Lobed, Multilayered Continuous Form within a Form with Spheres in the First and Third Lobes), ca. 1958. Copper and brass wire, 90 x 16 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches. Collection of the San José Museum of Art. Gift of the artist in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art's 35th anniversary, 2003.28.01; Untitled (S.113, Hanging Five-Lobed, Multilayered Continuous Form within a Form with Spheres in the First and Third Lobes), ca. 1958. Copper and brass wire, 90 x 16 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches. Collection of the San José Museum of Art. Gift of the artist in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art's 35th anniversary, 2003.28.02; Untitled (Untitled (S.035, Hanging Six-Lobed, Multilayered Interlocking Continuous Form within a Form with Spheres in the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Lobes), ca. 1962. Copper and brass wire, 88 x 15 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches. Collection of the San José Museum of Art. Gift of the artist in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art's 35th anniversary, 2003.28.03; Untitled (S.036, Hanging Seven-Lobed, Multilayered Interlocking, Continuous Form within a Form, with Spheres in the First, Sixth, and Seventh Lobes), ca. 1959. Oxidized copper and brass wire, 137 1/2 x 17 x 17 inches. Collection of the San José Museum of Art. Gift of the artist in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art's 35th anniversary, 2003.28.04. © Estate of Ruth Asawa / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Johnna Arnold.
-
Hung Liu, Resident Alien, 1988. Oil on canvas, 60 x 90 inches. Collection of San José Museum of Art. Gift of the Lipman Family Foundation, 2005.32. © Estate of Hung Liu / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
-
Yolanda López, Tableau Vivant, (detail) 1978. Twelve color photographs, 14 x 9 ¼ inches each. Collection of San José Museum of Art. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisitions Committee and the Lipman Acquisitions Fund, 2023.11a-l. © 1978 Yolanda López Legacy Trust. Courtesy of San José Museum of Art. Photo by Susan Mogul.
The San José Museum of Art (SJMA) announces the opening of Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection, the Museum’s first galleries dedicated to displaying works from its collection. Drawing on the Museum’s holdings of over 2,700 works, these new galleries will provide visitors with unprecedented access to key works, offering an opportunity to engage with the collection in deeper, more meaningful ways and fostering a stronger sense of community pride and connection.
The inaugural installation will be on view for one year and will include veteran artworks from the collection, such as Louise Nevelson’s Sky Cathedral (1957) and Hung Liu’s Resident Alien (1988), as well as recent acquisitions of major artworks by Tishan Hsu, Yolanda López, and Sarah Sze, among others. Tending and Dreaming will feature paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, and installations by almost fifty artists from the Bay Area and beyond.
“Since SJMA began collecting in the 1990s, it has been central to our mission. What began with a regional focus has evolved into a collection that transcends geographic boundaries, tracking the ruptures of the digital age and the complexities of our collective cultural, political, and social struggles and triumphs,” said S. Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director at SJMA. “We are thrilled to take the next step in this journey by dedicating permanent gallery space to the stories within our collection. By highlighting artists as storytellers, this installation invites visitors to see the Museum not just as a repository of art, but as a dynamic, living space where culture is continually created, interpreted, and reimagined."
This marks the first time since the Museum’s collecting program began in 1973, under the guidance of local artists, that dedicated, permanent galleries will showcase the breadth and depth of its holdings. Organized into six thematic groupings, Tending and Dreaming offers visitors a new framework for engaging with the powerful narratives woven through the artworks.
The first section considers what it means to be of a place, bringing together artworks that engage local materials such as adobe in the case of rafa esparza and local histories as with Christine Howard Sandoval. The second grouping features artworks that grapple with the stakes of self-making, such as when one migrates to another country as explored by Shilpa Gupta, or by attending to ancestral histories as with the work of Binh Danh. Featuring artists such as Chitra Ganesh, Robert Arneson, and Guadalupe Rosales, the third grouping includes artworks that reclaim or disregard dominant histories in American culture. The next section explores the connectivity facilitated by technology, such as in Christine Sun Kim’s sound sculpture with recorded lullabies composed in collaboration with an extended network of parent friends, and Martha Atienza’s poetic address of globally rising sea levels. The fifth grouping features a broad range of approaches to engaging the more-than-human world—such as by exploring the cultural continuities of human bodies and land in the case of Laura Aguilar’s photographs, or by attending to the lifespans and intelligences of other organisms as in Gail Wight’s time-lapse video of slime mold. Featuring artworks by Candida Alvarez, Lee Mullican, and Harry Powers, among others, the final section explores how artists evoke or give form to what is otherwise imperceptible.
"These newly dedicated galleries make the collection more accessible," said Lauren Schell Dickens, chief curator at SJMA. "It is both a celebration of our rich past and a platform for future conversations. We invite visitors to explore how contemporary art continues to reflect, challenge, and shape our world, and we hope they will return to this collection time and again to uncover new stories.”
Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection is organized by Lauren Schell Dickens, chief curator; Juan Omar Rodriguez, assistant curator; and Nidhi Gandhi, curatorial and program associate.
PROGRAMMING
First Friday: Opening Celebration of Tending and Dreaming
Friday, March 7, 2025 | Free
Opening Celebration: 6–9pm; Member Reception: 6–7pm
SUPPORT
Tending and Dreaming: Stories from the Collection is made possible by the SJMA Exhibitions Fund, with major support from Evelyn and Rick Neely and generous support from the Farrington Historical Foundation, Suzette Mahr, Ann Marie Mix, Rita and Kent Norton, Elizabeth and Byron Ryono, and additional support from Marsha and Jon Wiktin, and other support from donors to the Campaign for Collection.
Operations and programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by principal support from SJMA’s Board of Trustees, a Cultural Affairs Grant from the City of San José, and the Lipman Family Foundation; by lead support from the Adobe Foundation, the California Arts Council, Toby and Barry Fernald, Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese, the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, Tammy and Tom Kiely, Evelyn and Rick Neely, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Skyline Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the SJMA Director's Council and Council of 100; and with significant endowment support from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the San José Museum of Art Endowment Fund established by the Knight Foundation at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
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 the 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. Admission is $20 for adults, $15 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.