February 1, Friday open from 10am – 5pm and again from 8 – 11pm

South First Friday

Free Museum admission all day
South First Fridays are an eclectic evening of arts and culture in downtown San Jose’s SoFA arts district, centered on South First Street. Held on the first Friday of every month, the arts venues on South First Street are all open from 8 until 11pm and offer free admission and a wide variety of live entertainment. It’s a lively scene attended by arts-lovers of all ages.

February 3, Sunday, 2 – 3pm

Kids Create

Get ready to explore the many cultures in our community with this popular program. Join us each month as we celebrate a different tradition through story and a hands-on art project. Kids Create is a multicultural arts program for children aged 5-10.
Free for kids; accompanying adults pay museum admission. Reservations required, 408.971.0323 x14.
This month’s theme: The Silk Sensation: History of Chinese silk – tie-dye a silk scarf
See the complete Kids Create calendar.

Garden Party, 2006
Thread, digitally printed silk, industrial felt, machine stitching

February 10, Sunday, 2 – 3pm

Shoescapes and other Stitches

Join this exciting conversation and slide show with innovative artist Susan Taber Avila. She will discuss her exhibition Shoescapes, provide a brief introduction to the intriguing history of shoes, and discuss the evolution of her textile artwork.

Susan Taber Avila exhibits widely both nationally and internationally and her work has been published in several books and periodicals. She uses free motion machine stitching to simultaneously create structure and embellish the surface while creating pieces to investigate issues of containment. Her work examines how clothes or skin contain the body, how language contains thought, how environment or packaging contains identity. She is an Associate Professor of Design (Fashion & Textiles) at the University of California Davis and is also co-creator of FiberScene.com, a website for promoting fine art with a textile sensibility. See examples of her work at www.suta.com.

Space is limited, so reservations are suggested. Lecture is free to members and free to the public with Museum admission. Call 408.971.0323 x14 for reservations.