For Immediate Release

July 20, 2021

Contact: Shannon Knepper, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
Phone: 408.971.0383 x17
Email: pr@sjquiltmuseum.org

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles Showcases New Exhibitions For Summer 2021

The Museum proudly reopens with new exhibitions featuring
Kira Dominguez Hultgren, Ryan Carrington, ATB 13 (American Tapestry Biennial) and Stars and Stories: American Art from the Permanent Collection

Ryan Carrington: Contradictions

June 11 - September 12, 2021
San Jose-based artist Ryan Carrington uses symbols of Americana and utilitarian materials to connect issues of labor, class, work ethic and economics with his own personal and family history. In his exhibition, Contradictions, Carrington investigates the rich conceptual history that pre-worn garments, including uniforms of blue and white-collar workers, carry beyond their original use. Transforming these uniforms into recreations of American flags, he prompts a conversation about how we value each other in an ever-changing society.

Ryan Carrington is a Lecturer at Santa Clara University and a graduate from San Jose State University’s MFA program.

Kira Dominguez Hultgren
I Was India: Embroidering Exoticism

June 11 - September 12, 2021

Bay Area-based artist Kira Dominguez Hultgren explores what it takes to make an Indian. Her work incorporates cultural and familial materials, as she opens up her grandmother’s cedar chest to reveal two Punjabi phulkaris embroidered by her auntie Dalip Kaur around 1925. Phulkaris, or saloos as her family calls them, are commonly seen as head coverings and shawls that typify the material cultural practices of pre-partition Punjab. Through woven sculpture and installation, Dominguez Hultgren invites visitors to step with her into phulkari practice as a transgressive process that challenges both personal identity and global histories.

Recent works by Kira Dominguez Hultgren include “Cosmic Fluff,” commissioned by the Facebook Art Department for San Francisco’s Untitled Art Fair and acquired by Facebook as a permanent installation, and her January 2020 exhibition Kira Dominguez Hultgren: Intrusions at the Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco. We are excited to share this exhibition, already hailed as one of KQED’s “Six Bay Area Art Shows to See in 2020.”

American Tapestry Biennial 13

June 11 - September 12, 2021American Tapestry Biennial 13 showcases the very best in international contemporary tapestry. The works selected for the exhibition by juror Nick DeFord, Program Director at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, highlight the variety of artistic expression practiced today in this hand woven medium. The pieces range from the subtle to the visually complex, and even break new ground in shape and surface texture. Tapestry's rich history and its unique ability to render images in the tactile medium of cloth offer contemporary artists a powerful vehicle for expressing both aesthetic and conceptual concerns.

Founded in 1982, the American Tapestry Alliance is a non-profit educational organization that offers support and exposure for contemporary tapestry artists around the world.

ATB 13 Artists include: Don Burns (US), Martha Christian (US), Jean Corder Clarke (Ireland), Gabriela Cristu (Romania), Ariadna Donner (Finland), Bernard Foucher (Portugal), Helena Figueiredo (Portugal), Joaquina Marques (Portugal), Carla Tavares (Portugal), Gisela Figueiredo (Portugal), Lurdes Branquinho (Portugal), Heather Gallegos-Rex (US), Joan Griffin (US), Janette Gross (US), Birgitta Hallberg (Denmark), Louise Halsey (US), Mette Hansen (Denmark), Peter Harris (Canada), Barbara Heller (Canada), Stephanie Hoppe (US), Susan Iverson (US), Ruth Jones (Canada), Karen King (Canada), Lis Korsgren (Sweden), Lialia Kuchma (US), Tal Landeau (US), Margo Macdonald (US), Marni Martin (Canada), Sonja Miremont (US), Julia Mitchell (US), Patricia Nelson (US), Judy Ness (US), Suzanne Paquette (Canada), Christine Pradel-Lien (France), Michael Rohde (US), Tommye Scanlin (US), Kathe Todd-Hooker (US), Alta Turner (US), Dorothea Van De Winkel (Belgium), Sue Weil (US), Cheri White (US), and Patricia Williams (US).

Stars and Stories: American Art from the Permanent Collection

June 11 - September 12, 2021

Inspired by the themes of our current exhibitions, these works drawn from the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles permanent collection explore the representations and realities of American culture. From nostalgia-infused imagery of summer baseball, diners, and the Western frontier, to contemporary issues of immigration, social justice and political activism, these works address the disparity between Americana's popular symbols and American's lived experiences.

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About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
At San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, our mission is to share and celebrate the art and culture of textiles. We are dedicated to showcasing the most cutting edge quilts and fiber art while honoring our textile traditions.
http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org

About the American Tapestry Alliance:

The American Tapestry Alliance is a not-for-profit, member-supported organization seeking to exhibit the best of contemporary tapestry.
https://americantapestryalliance.org

For Immediate Release

June 6, 2021

Contact: Shannon Knepper, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
Phone: 408.971.0383 x17
Email: pr@sjquiltmuseum.org

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and Assistant Curator Samantha Lyons
Awarded American Quilt Study Group Grant

The AQSG Lucy Hilty Research Grant will support research related to the Museum’s recent
acquisition of quilts by acclaimed artist Jonathan Shannon.

The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and Assistant Curator Samantha Lyons are pleased to be the recipient of the American Quilt Study Group’s Lucy Hilty Research Grant. Funds from this grant will help support research of the Museums’ recently acquired quilts by artist Jonathan Shannon. Funding will also support the publication of an article or essay on the topic of Shannon’s Amigos Muertos quilt and the issues of censorship surrounding its initial reception.

In 2019, the Museum acquired the Jonathan Shannon Collection, which was donated by the artist’s long-time partner Jeffrey Ross. The collection includes twenty-two pieces of the late artist’s work, representing virtually his entire creative output. One of the standout pieces in this collection is Amigos Muertos, a stunning quilt made by Shannon during the AIDS crisis to memorialize the deaths of loved ones from HIV and cancer. This project will explore the impact of this quilt’s controversial rejection from the 1994 American Quilter’s Society show and, in turn, how this exclusion was pivotal in shaping public dialogue surrounding issues of censorship and political content in quilts.

Grant recipient and Assistant Curator Samantha Lyons says, "I'm thrilled to receive the support of the American Quilt Study Group to pursue the study of Jonathan Shannon's impressive body of work at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, specifically his iconic Amigos Muertos. Shannon has long been known in the quilting world as a gifted artist. I'm excited to study his works through a new perspective--one that is centered on the artist's social activism and engagement with LGBTQ issues. I look forward to sharing this perspective with quilting and art world audiences alike in an effort to expand how this important artist's work might be understood and appreciated."

The curatorial team at the Museum, including Assistant Curator Samantha Lyons and Curator Amy DiPlacido, are planning an exhibition based on the Jonathan Shannon Collection, tentatively set for 2023. Please check our website for updates.

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For Immediate Release

May 12, 2021

Contact: Shannon Knepper, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
Phone: 408.971.0383 x17
Email: pr@sjquiltmuseum.org

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles Receives
National Endowment for the Arts Grant

The Grant for Arts Projects will support the 2022 exhibition of Thread, Spirit, Resistance.
Documented Work. by fiber artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood as well as
fund a Community Catalyst Fellowship

The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is pleased to be a recipient of The Grants for Arts Projects, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. This grant will help support the upcoming retrospective of Bay Area artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood as well as fund a new Community Catalyst Fellowship (CCF) position.

Thread, Spirit, Resistance. Documented Work. is a retrospective of San Jose artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s work from 1980 to 2022. The exhibition will trace the emergence of important themes in Underwood's creative practice: borders and their crossings, the variety of biological populations (whether flowers, fish, or humans), and the impact of insensitive and harmful policy decisions on nature and humanity.

The exhibition will be accompanied by the Museum’s Community Catalyst Fellowship (CCF), a pilot program that invites diverse perspectives from San Jose communities through outreach and public programming. CCF is part of an institution-wide effort to create a more inclusive space while engaging deeply with local communities. The Fellow will be a liaison with specific San Jose communities, collecting feedback and co-creating programs that connect Thread. Spirit. Resistance. with lived experiences and local culture.

“As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations such as San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles reengage fully with partners and audiences,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Although the arts have sustained many challenges during the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”

Amy DiPlacido, Curator of Exhibitions says, "San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is absolutely thrilled to be awarded The Grants for Arts Project through the National Endowment for the Arts. SJMQT is proud to present a retrospective of Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, a visionary artist, weaver and teacher based in Santa Clara County. Supporting the exhibition will be the Museum's first-ever Community Catalyst Fellowship, a position that will strengthen SJMQT's relationship within San Jose's diverse communities through education, programming and outreach."

Jimenez Underwood writes, “My national conscience is resting a bit easier knowing the NEA understands the significance and importance of engaging community to celebrate the world as is, yet recognizing borderland issues that require attention. [This is] an honor, a blessing, and a formidable challenge, Let’s go!”

All related programming and the exhibition will take place at the Museum between July 17, 2022 and October 9, 2022. The Fellowship will take place between May 15, 2022 and November 1, 2022, both at the Museum and at off-site locations in a chosen community of interest. Specific programming and details to be announced later this year.

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About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
At San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, our mission is to share and celebrate the art and culture of textiles. We are dedicated to showcasing the most cutting edge quilts and fiber art while honoring our textile traditions.
http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org

For Immediate Release

Contact: Shannon Knepper, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
Phone: 408.971.0383 x17
Email: pr@sjquiltmusem.org

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and Artist Corinne Takara
Awarded Creative Work Fund Grant
A community-sourced art project receives funding from the Creative Work Fund

We are pleased to announce that San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and artist Corinne Takara have have been awarded from the Creative Work Fund, a program of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, for 2020. Both parties will be collaborating on “BioQuilts,” a community-sourced project that explores the artistic and technological possibilities of biomaterials by drawing on local cultural practices and plant-based materials. Through a mix of workshops and collaborative digital programs, participants will experiment with local and cultural ingredients alongside Takara to grow new types of biomaterials. Ultimately these materials and fiber art techniques will be used to create three sculptural BioQuilts for exhibition.

Takara will join the Museum as its Artist in Residence from June to September 2021. With support from Museum staff and volunteers, Takara will conduct two-part workshops in four San Jose communities (Japantown, Mayfair, Little Saigon, and downtown), resulting in eight workshops total. Workshop dates will be announced shortly.

About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles: At San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, our mission is to promote and celebrate the art, creators, craft and history of quilts and textiles. We are dedicated to showcasing the most cutting edge quilts and fiber art while honoring our textile traditions. http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org

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Please contact Shannon Knepper at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles for more information at shannon@sjquiltmuseum.org

September 22, 2020

For Immediate Release

Exhibition Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of Women in the U.S. Winning the Right to Vote
“Deeds Not Words”: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

Dr. Sandra Sider, Curator of the Texas Quilt Museum, and Pamela Weeks, Binney Family Curator of the New England Quilt Museum, collaborated to create a touring exhibition of studio art quilts to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote. Twenty-eight award-winning artists from across the United States accepted the invitation to create new works celebrating women’s suffrage, along with one artist whose 1995 quilt on the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments is included.

The subjects of the works include many of the women who are well known for their work in the century-old fight for the vote for women, but many more of the women the artists chose to commemorate are less well known. Jane Burch Cochran chose Martha Wright as her subject. Wright was one of the organizers of the historic 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, but her work was overshadowed by her sister, Lucretia Mott, and the now famous Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Alice Beasley’s work centers on Ida B. Wells, an African-American suffragist who was nationally known as a journalist, lecturer, and for her anti-lynching campaign. When she traveled to Washington, DC, in 1913 to march in the suffrage parade, she refused to follow instructions given to the black delegates to march at the back of the parade, and stepped into her place with the other delegates from Chicago.

The exhibition will tour across the country through the summer of 2022. A comprehensive book containing full-page images of all the pieces with narrative artists’ statements is available through Schiffer Publishing. www.schiffer.com.

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles commemorates National Voter Registration Day by releasing “Deeds Not Words”: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage as an online exhibition as a result of the global pandemic. The show is also the Museum’s first trilingual exhibition, being released in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, the most commonly spoken languages in San Jose.

Exhibition dates for

“Deeds Not Words”: Celebrating 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

Texas Quilt Museum (2021)—La Grange, Texas
January 7 – March 21

Visions Art Museum (2021)—San Diego, California
April 17 – July 3

Virginia Quilt Museum (2021)—Harrisonburg, Virginia
July 20 – September 15

The Quilters Hall of Fame (2021)—Marion, Indiana
October 5 – December 11

Iowa Quilt Museum (2022)—Winterset, Iowa
January 11 – April 3

Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum (2022)---La Conner, Washington
May 4 – July 24

CONTACT:
Dr. Sandra Sider
Curator@texasquiltmuseum.orgCell: 347-533-3958

Pamela Weeks, Curator
curator@nequiltmuseum.orgcell: 603-661-2245

MONTALVO ARTS CENTER PRESENTS

lone some

ORIGINAL WORKS BY LOCAL AND NATIONAL ARTISTS EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC SITES THROUGHOUT THE BAY AREA

To be viewed June 1 through July 31, 2020

SARATOGA, CA (26 May 2020) —Throughout June and July, Montalvo Arts Center will present original artworks around the Bay Area for viewing on billboards and bus shelters, in a new public exhibition entitled lone some. In association with its 2019-2020 programming initiative, SOCIAL: Rethinking Loneliness Together, Montalvo will transform traditional advertising and commerce medium spaces into catalysts for conversation and connection. Seeking to inspire and provoke questions about what it means to experience loneliness, local and national artists and poets were commissioned to create works for presentation on billboards and bus shelters in the East Bay, San Francisco, and the South Bay. lone some will be on display June 1 – July 31, 2020. Artworks will be featured on billboards located in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and East San Jose, and on bus shelters throughout the Peninsula from San Bruno to Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, and Santa Clara. More information, including a detailed map of where the works can be seen, is available at montalvoarts.org.

Featured on 25 independent public sites all around the Bay Area, including Montalvo’s public park, and the entry foyer (visible from the street) of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, lone some will include works by Lucas Artists Fellow Chloë Bass, Modesto Covarrubias, Leena Joshi, Jane Chang Mi, Susan O’Malley (1976-2015), and Alyson Provax. Each artist created work considering the theme of isolation and loneliness in the ever-changing landscape of our urban areas.

Last fall Montalvo Arts Center launched the year-long program SOCIAL: Rethinking Loneliness Together, created specifically to confront the growing worldwide epidemic of loneliness. “At a time when people are more connected than ever through social media, loneliness had emerged as a major global public health crisis,” says Executive Director Angela McConnell. In 2017, the US Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, called loneliness the “most common pathology” he encountered in all his years of medical practice. In 2018, the UK appointed a “minister for loneliness” to address social and health issues caused by social isolation. In Japan, robots designed to provide companionship are emerging to combat rising loneliness in a country where 40% of its citizens will live alone by 2040. Through workshops, walks, screenings, exhibitions, and new artist commissions on Montalvo’s grounds and beyond, guests were invited to engage with artists and explore solitude while discovering new (and old) ways that authentic connections can be built in the digital world.

Little did Montalvo realize how profoundly this program would resonate when all of humanity faced the impact of forced isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world adapts to the new norms of social distancing, the works of lone some have taken on even more widespread relevance. Says Montalvo’s Director, Lucas Artists Program, Kelly Sicat, “Our current situation of shelter in place and social distancing has created an entirely new level of urgency to the topic of loneliness, which has now become relevant to millions more people. These works will be viewed by individuals driving in the safety of their cars, taking socially-distanced walks, or commuting by bus along the peninsula. We hope lone some will not only provoke curiosity, but also spark conversation and connection.” Many of these public works will include a phone line for viewers to reach out and connect more closely with the artists, some of which may allow for messages in response to their pieces.

lone some would not have been possible without the generous support of Wanda Kownacki, or the inspiration and creative support of the curatorial collaborative Vignettes (Serrah Russell and Sierra Stinson) and their public art series, a lone. Says Sicat, “lone some is here to remind the isolated viewer that we are all alone together.”

About the artists

Chloë Bass is a multiform conceptual artist working in performance, situation, conversation, publication, and installation. Bass has held numerous fellowships and residencies, most recently as a 2020-2022 Lucas Artists Fellow at Montalvo and 2019 Arts Matters Grantee. Her projects have appeared nationally and internationally, including recent exhibits at The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Kunsthalle Wilhelmshave in Wilhelmshaven, Germany; BAK basis voor actuele kunst in Utrecht, Netherlands; and The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; among many others. Bass’ short-form writing has been published on Hyperallergic, Arts Black, and Walker Reader. Her monograph was published by The Operating System in 2018 and she also has a chapbook, #sky #nofilter, forthcoming from DoubleCross Press. Bass is an Assistant Professor of Arts at Queens College, City University New York, where she co-runs Social Practice Queens with Gregory Sholette.

***Presence (Chair)***, 2011, from an ongoing photographic series of textile installations.

Modesto Covarrubias is a solo and collaborative artist whose work investigates the physical, psychological, and emotional connection to environments. His interdisciplinary practice employs a broad range of media including drawing, photography, installation, printmaking, textiles, and performance. He is an adjunct professor at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco. His practice includes RoCoCo, an ongoing collaboration with fellow CCA Associate Professor KC Rosenberg. Covarrubias’ work has been included in exhibitions at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery; Galleria Civica in Modena, Italy; The Poor Farm in Little Wolf, Wisconsin; The Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York; and at the Oakland International Airport. His work has been featured at Oakland Museum’s Gallery 555, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), and in Oakland Magazine and San Francisco Magazine. A Bay Area native, Covarrubias lives in Berkeley and maintains a studio in Oakland, California.

As an ocean engineer and artist, Jane Chang Mi assesses the post-colonial ocean environment through an interdisciplinary and research-based lens. She examines the narratives associated with the underwater landscape, considering the past, present, and future – mainly focusing on the occupation and militarization of the Pacific Ocean by the United States. Mi was the inaugural artist-in-residence at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, researching the pre-contact history of Pearl Harbor. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery and ST PAUL St Gallery, both located in New Zealand. From being a scientist for the Arctic Circle Program to receiving a grant from the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts and being a fellow at the East West Center at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, the ocean has always played a large role in Mi’s life. She is currently based out of Honolulu and Los Angeles, where she teaches at Scripps College in Claremont, California.

Born to South Asian immigrants, Leena Joshi (pronouns: they/them/theirs) is an emerging artist and writer currently based in Oakland, California. Their writing and art explores the relationship between the self and structures of gender, sexuality, labor, and livelihood through negotiations of text, image, music, performance, and installation. Joshi’s art practice considers the lateral roots of affect, gender, labor, and desire within a transmedia practice of world building. They earned a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from University of Washington Seattle and are projected to obtain a Master of Fine Arts in Art Practice from University of California, Berkeley in 2020.

Susan O’Malley (1976-2015) was an artist and curator from the San Francisco Bay Area. From posters to pep talks, billboards to vending machines, her art uses simple and recognizable tools of engagement to connect people to one another. In her Advice from My 80-Year-Old Self project, she interviewed people of all ages and transformed their words into bold artwork that has been shared widely as a book, prints, and public murals. O’Malley’s artwork has been exhibited in public projects across the United States—including Montalvo Arts Center, Kala Art Institute, and Palo Alto Art Center in California; the Contemporary Art Museum in Houston; and the Parthenon Museum in Nashville—as well as in galleries and museums in the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Poland. Her installation Finding Your Center was recently featured at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and her project A Healing Walk is permanently installed at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California.

Born in Aptos California, Alyson Provax currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon. Letterpress and text are at the center of her practice, which extends into publications, public projects, objects, and animations. Provax has shown regionally at Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art in San Francisco, California; The Vestibule in Seattle, Washington; Carnation Contemporary and Upfor in Portland, Oregon; among many others and intentionally at the Blueproject Foundation in Barcelona, Spain. Her work has been published in Poetry Northwest, The Buckman Journal, and Eleven Eleven, and her first book was published by Volumes Volumes in 2019. Provax has shown temporary public art installations in Portland in 2019 as something nameless and in Seattle in 2018 as part of Vignettes + Gramma project, a lone.

About Montalvo

The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program (LAP), located on the grounds of Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, is a creative incubator and cultural producer dedicated to investing in artists and nurturing their development and growth. It supports artists from all creative disciplines and geographical locations to create and present new and experimental work and undertake critical investigations of contemporary issues.

Montalvo Arts Center is a donor-supported nonprofit institution whose mission is to engage the public in the creative process, acting as a catalyst for exploring the arts, unleashing creativity, and advancing different cultural perspectives. Located in Silicon Valley's Saratoga Hills, Montalvo occupies 175 stunning acres and is home to the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program (LAP), the Carriage House Concert Series, free outdoor art installations for public viewing, miles of hiking trails, and a robust arts education program.

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

WHAT: Throughout June and July, Montalvo Arts Center will present artworks around the Bay Area for viewing on billboards and bus shelters in a new public exhibition entitled lone some. In association with its 2019-2020 programming initiative, SOCIAL: Rethinking Loneliness Together, Montalvo will transform traditional advertising and commerce medium spaces into catalysts for conversation and connection. Seeking to inspire and provoke questions about what it means to experience loneliness, local and national artists and poets were commissioned to create works for presentation on billboards and bus shelters in the East Bay, San Francisco, and the South Bay.

WHEN: June 1 – July 31, 2020

INFO: More information, including a detailed map of where the works are posted, is available at montalvoarts.org.

PRESS: Contact Sydney Albin, Carla Befera & Co.

650.327.1200 | sydney@cb-pr.com

PHOTOS: Downloadable high-res photos are available here: http://cbpr.co/press/lonesome/

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles Announces New Exhibition
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) is pleased to announce a new exhibition opening on March 4, 2020: I was India: Embroidering Exoticism, a solo exhibition by Kira Dominguez Hultgren.

I was India: Embroidering Exoticism
March 4 – April 12, 2020

Bay Area-based artist Kira Dominguez Hultgren explores what it takes to make an Indian. Her work incorporates cultural and familial materials, as she opens up her grandmother’s cedar chest to reveal two Punjabi phulkaris embroidered by her auntie Dalip Kaur around 1925. Phulkaris, or saloos as her family calls them, are commonly seen as head-coverings and shawls that typify the material cultural practices of pre-partition Punjab. In this exhibition, they become the process or treasure map by which themes of colonial and contemporary exoticism, handwork, and the spectacle are surveyed. Through woven sculpture and installation, Dominguez Hultgren invites visitors to step with her into phulkari practice as a transgressive process that challenges both personal identity and global histories.

Recent works by Kira Dominguez Hultgren include “Cosmic Fluff,” commissioned by the Facebook Art Department for San Francisco’s Untitled Art Fair, and acquired by Facebook as a permanent installation, and her exhibition Kira Dominguez Hultgren: Intrusions, currently on view at Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco (January 11 – February 29, 2020). We are excited to share this exhibition, already hailed as one of KQED’s “Six Bay Area Art Shows to See in 2020,” with our visitors this March.

Opening Reception of Exhibitions
Celebrate the SJMQT's newest exhibition I was India: Embroidering Exoticism at our spring reception during First Fridays on March 6, 2020 from 7-9pm.

About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles’ mission is to share and celebrate the art and culture of textiles. Learn more at www.sjquiltmuseum.org

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Please contact Shannon Knepper at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles for more information at shannon@sjquiltmuseum.org

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles Announces Three New Exhibitions
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) is pleased to announce three new exhibitions opening on October 20, 2019. Form and Function: Fiber Arts for the 21st Century: 2nd Biennial Members Exhibition, Stories of West Africa: Hollis Chatelain, and Know Your Meme: Stitching Viral Phenomena.

Form and Function: Fiber Arts for the 21st Century: 2nd Biennial Members Exhibition
October 20 - November 24, 2019
November 27, 2019 - January 12, 2020
Form and Function: Fiber Arts for the 21st Century showcases works in both traditional and new media that emphasize bold use of artistic elements—line, space, shape, form, texture, and color to tell individual stories. Through stitch, surface, construction, joinery, and embellishment, these artists use experimental methods to bridge craft and design, invoke new artistic concepts, and expand how we see fiber art today. This exhibition celebrates the diversity of our Members’ personal artistic visions and promotes an appreciation of fiber arts in the broader community. The SJMQT welcomes artist and curator Karen Gutfreund as distinguished juror.

Hollis Chatelain: Stories of West Africa
October 20, 2019 - January 12, 2020
Drawing upon her humanitarian and artistic endeavors in West Africa, Hollis Chatelain creates art quilts that tell the stories of Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Benin families. Using photographs and her dreams as inspiration, Hollis creates large, detailed, colored pencil drawings to illustrate her coloring book, Stories of West Africa. These drawings were then scanned, enlarged, digitally printed on cotton fabric, and machine quilted to form the basis of the art quilts in this exhibition. Against a backdrop of lively African fabrics, each quilt tells a story showing the strength of family and community.

Know Your Meme: Stitching Viral Phenomena
October 20, 2019 - January 12, 2020
Know Your Meme: Stitching Viral Phenomena explores the concept of the meme—a viral image or video that spreads quickly on the internet—as a poignant method to summarize, understand, and critique important societal issues and current events. In true meme fashion, the works in this exhibition were curated by an online community, who selected works by popular vote. Using various textile methods, all artworks on display consider the power of memes and internet culture to influence our daily lives.

Opening Reception of Exhibitions
Celebrate the opening reception for SJMQT's newest exhibitions: Form and Function: Fiber Arts for the 21st Century: 2nd Biennial Members Exhibition; Hollis Chatelain: Stories of West Africa and Know Your Meme: Stitching Viral Phenomena

October 19, 2019
6-7pm: Artists and Members Reception
7 - 9pm: Public Reception

Form and Function: Fiber Arts for the 21st Century: Opening Reception
December 1, 2019
3-5pm

Related Public Programs:
Free Community Day
Sunday, November 10, 2019
11-3pm
Join us for free and family-friendly activities inspired by our fall exhibitions Stories of West Africa: Hollis Chatelain and Know Your Meme: Stitching Viral Phenomena. Make your own meme, craft your self-image with our selfie station, and more!

Art After Dark: Board Game Night
Thursday, November 14
4-10pmIn collaboration with the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art and MACLA, we invite you to visit SJMQT with no admission fee for Art After Dark. Inspired by our pop culture-infused exhibition Know Your Meme, we’ll have What Do you Meme? and other board games and snacks for a fun night in our galleries.

Exhibition Closing Reception
January 12, 2020
3-5pm

About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles’ mission is to share and celebrate the art and culture of textiles. Learn more at www.sjquiltmuseum.org

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Please contact Shannon Knepper at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles for more information at shannon@sjquiltmuseum.org

Free Community Day at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
September 21st, 2019; 11am-3pm
Join the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles for a free day of fun! Explore our museum, dance to marimba music & participate in various craft activities throughout the museum!

Join us for a day of fun, music & creativity on September 21st, 2019 at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. Programming highlights are as follows:

Marimba musicians
Folklorico dancers
Sewing Bee with The Fábrica from Santa Cruz
Stitch Your Selfie Community Craft
Cardboard Weaving Looms
Live Weaving Demos featuring the Mayan backstrap loom

About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles’ mission is to share and celebrate the art and culture of textiles. Learn more at www.sjquiltmuseum.org

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Please contact Shannon Knepper at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles for more information at shannon@sjquiltmuseum.org

National Sewing Month at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
September 2019
Celebrate National Sewing Month all month long at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles!

During the month of September, swing by the museum and help us celebrate National Sewing Month! Programming highlights are as follows:

Stitch Your Selfie: Add your embroidered face to our community craft project, located in the lobby for the month of September!
Basic B* Sewing workshop: September 14, 2019, 11:30am-1:30pm
Want to learn how to sew buttons and fastenings? Or some easy mending tricks for that hole in your favorite clothing item? This workshop will go over some basic hand-sewing skills to help you learn how to fix and mend your clothing. Learn more & register here: https://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/events/2019/9/14/basic-btch-sewing-workshop
Giant Spool of Thread Vinyl Installation photo opportunity! Take a pic of yourself and upload it to your favorite social media platform!
Purchase a hand silk-screened poster commemorating the month, at our giftshop!

About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles’ mission is to share and celebrate the art and culture of textiles. Learn more at www.sjquiltmuseum.org

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Please contact Shannon Knepper at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles for more information at shannon@sjquiltmuseum.org

Press Contact:
David Harrison
410-804-1728
david@harrisoncommunications.net

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles Selected by the American Alliance of Museums for Participation in Groundbreaking National Initiative to Increase Diversity and Inclusion on Museum Boards

ARLINGTON, VA – July 23, 2019 –The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles has been selected by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) to participate in “Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity & Inclusion.” This unprecedented national initiative to diversify museum boards and leadership is taking place across 5 U.S. cities and includes a cross-section of museums of all types and sizes.

Backed by $4 million in grants from three foundations (The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Alice L. Walton Foundation, and Ford Foundation), Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity & Inclusion, will provide the framework, training, and resources for museum leaders to build inclusive cultures within their institutions that more accurately reflect the communities they serve.

“Building a more inclusive museum field is achievable only with museums trustees and leaders committed to long-term change and improvement,” said Laura Lott, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums. “Museum boards, in particular, set the tone for their institutions and are well positioned to be agents of change. We commend the museum directors and trustees who have committed to this program for investing in their own operations and serving as models for all museums.”

“I am thrilled the Museum was selected to participate in this prestigious national initiative and look forward to working the Board over the next three years to increase Board diversity."
– Nancy Bavor, SJMQT Director

“This program will helps us connect with the wonderful diversity of the Bay Area and help us reflect the rich cultural environment we live in.”
- Emily Rosenberg, President , Board of Directors.

Earlier this year, as part of the Facing Change initiative, AAM announced an Excellence in DEAI Task Force charged with developing recommendations to embed diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion more deeply into AAM’s excellence programs. AAM also named ten DEAI fellows who will work with AAM to implement trainings and support the museum boards in developing sustainable and measurable inclusion plans.

The Need for Action
AAM’s field-wide diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) initiative responds to extensive and multi-year research that underscores the need and desire for change.

In 2017, AAM and BoardSource examined museum board leadership and found a disconnect in the area of diversity and inclusion. The survey revealed that nearly half (46 percent) of museum boards are entirely white, 77 percent of museum directors believe expanding the racial and ethnic diversity of their boards is important to advancing their missions, but only 10 percent of museum boards have developed a plan of action to become more inclusive.

A recent survey by the Mellon Foundation demonstrated that employment in the US museum sector does not reflect the makeup of the communities these institutions serve, despite decades of local and national efforts.

About the American Alliance of Museums

The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles mission is to share and celebrate the art and culture of textiles.
www.sjquiltmuseum.org

BEERS MADE BY WALKING TAPS THREE
SALT POND HIKE-INSPIRED BEERS IN SAN JOSE

A Collaboration with the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, the Event Coincides with the Closing of the Museum’s Water-Themed Exhibition

SAN JOSE, CA -- June 11, 2019 -- Beers Made By Walking (BMBW) is a program that invites brewers to go on nature hikes and urban walks and make new “place-based beers” inspired by plants from the trail. On Sunday, July 14th, from 3:00pm-5:00pm, BMBW will tap three place-based craft beers that were inspired by a hike with three local breweries at the Salt Pond Restoration Area in San Jose earlier this year. The beers serve as drinkable, landscape portraits of the trail, and are a collaboration between the three breweries, BMBW, and the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT), which is hosting the tapping event.

In mid May, brewers from Camino Brewing, Clandestine Brewing, and Uproar Brewing hiked along the trail of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project near San Jose. Led by Dave Helsing, the Restoration Project’s executive project manager, the brewers learned about the edible and medicinal native plants, invasive plants, and about the importance of the wetlands area. The three breweries are making beer inspired by what they learned on the hike. The tapping coincides with the closing of SJMQT’s H2oh! Exhibition, an exhibition with “water” as the central theme.

“We’ve worked with more than 200 breweries on Beers Made By Walking events, but we’ve never had a hike in a wetlands area, so this was a real treat.” said BMBW founder, Eric Steen. “We identified Pickleweed, mustard, invasive grasses, New Zealand spinach, salt bush, and other plants. I’m really excited to see what the breweries come up with!”

The event will begin at 3:00pm with an artist talk from Beers Made By Walking founder, Eric Steen, about how beer and art can build a sense of place. Brewers from each brewery will also talk about how their beer was inspired by the hike in San Jose. Beers will be served following the talk. Tickets are free, but required and limited.

Beers Made By Walking Tapping
July 14th, 3:00pm-5:00pm
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles / 520 S 1st St, San Jose, CA
Entry is free, but tickets are required. Get tickets here.

Tickets: https://sjquiltmuseum.z2systems.com/np/clients/sjquiltmuseum/eventRegistration.jsp?event=45&
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/430334610866871/

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About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
At San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, our mission is to promote and celebrate the art, creators, craft and history of quilts and textiles. We are dedicated to showcasing the most cutting edge quilts and fiber art, while honoring our textile traditions.

About Beers Made By Walking:
Beers Made By Walking is a program that invites people to step outside and see the place they live in a new light. We invite brewers to take nature walks and make beer inspired by the plants identified on the trail. Since 2011, we have worked with more than 200 breweries throughout the country. Our hiking and tasting events act as educational programs for institutions and environmental organizations in the regions we serve.

Press Contact
Eric Steen /// eric@beersmadebywalking.com

SJMQT Contact
info@sjquiltmuseum.org

BEERS MADE BY WALKING ANNOUNCES SPECIAL HIKE
WITH THREE BREWERIES IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE, CA -- April 15, 2019 -- Beers Made By Walking (BMBW) is a program that invites brewers to go on nature hikes and urban walks and make new “place-based beers” inspired by plants from the trail. The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) has teamed up with BMBW and three local breweries for a public hike on May 11th along the area of the South Bay Salt Ponds near San Jose. The hike is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Hikers will be accompanied by local craft brewers from Camino Brewing, Clandestine Brewing, and Uproar Brewing. After gaining inspiration from the walk, the breweries are tasked with creating new hike-inspired beers that will tap later this summer. These place-based beers serve as drinkable, landscape portraits of the trail.

The hike takes place on May 11th, from 10:00am-12:30pm along the trail of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project at the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Led by Dave Helsing, the Restoration Project’s executive project manager, hikers and brewers will learn about the largest tidal wetland restoration project on the West Coast and about the native and invasive plants that inhabit the area. The water-based theme of the hike coincides with the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles exhibition H2Oh!, which runs April 20th-July 14th.

For those who aren’t able to attend the hike but want to taste the beers--the beers will be served during a special tapping event at the Museum on July 14th, from 3:00-5:00pm. More information will be available soon. Visit the SJMQT website for updates.

Beers Made By Walking San Jose Hike

May 11th, 10:00am-12:30pm: Camino Brewing, Clandestine Brewing, Uproar Brewing
1751 Grand Blvd, San Jose | Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
RSVP is required - Register here

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About San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:

At San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, our mission is to promote and celebrate the art, creators, craft and history of quilts and textiles. We are dedicated to showcasing the most cutting edge quilts and fiber art, while honoring our textile traditions.

About Beers Made By Walking:

Beers Made By Walking is a program that invites people to step outside and see the place they live in a new light. We invite brewers to take nature walks and make beer inspired by the plants identified on the trail. Since 2011, we have worked with more than 200 breweries throughout the country. Our hiking and tasting events act as educational programs for institutions and environmental organizations in the regions we serve.

Press Contact
Eric Steen /// eric@beersmadebywalking.com

SJMQT Contact
info@sjquiltmuseum.org

San Jose, CA - March 14, 2019 - San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) is pleased to announce four new exhibitions opening on April 20, 2019. H2Oh!, The Marbaum Collection: Variations in Techniques, and Kristen Martincic: Swim Club run through July 14, Momentary & Timeless through June 2, followed by Stone Portraits and Sacred Stonescapes: Denise Labadie, from June 5 to July 14, 2019.

H2Oh! with Studio Art Quilt Associates
April 20 - July 14, 2019
Water is everywhere: the majority of the earth's surface is covered by water, and more than half of the human body consists of water. Offering a variety of artistic interpretations, H2Oh! draws on a well of beauty, reverence, and contemplation as it invites viewers to consider the importance and the impact of water. H2Oh! is curated by Bay Area artist and environmentalist, Linda Gass, and co-organized with Studio Art Quilt Associates.

Kristen Martincic: Swim Club
April 20 - July 14, 2019
Kristen Martincic uses swimwear as a surrogate for the female body, creating paper bathing suits that are a cross between a swimsuit and an underdress, skin and clothing. Social conventions and context play a significant role in how these garments are viewed by others and ourselves. These delicate paper suits talk about the awkwardness of vulnerability and exposure while maintaining a sense of levity.

The Marbaum Collection: Variations in Techniques
April 20 - July 14, 2019
This selection of quilts from the museum’s permanent collection celebrates a generous gift of eighty-seven art quilts donated in 2017 by Marvin Fletcher and his late wife Hilary, in honor of the museum’s 40th anniversary. The entire collection, acquired by the Fletchers over four decades, represents a chronological look at the studio art quilt from the early 1980s to the present. The works in this exhibition highlight the great range of techniques quilt artists have incorporated in their work, including meticulous piecing and hand dyed fabrics to create the illusion of three-dimensions, painting on fabric, the use of recycled materials and digital design.

Momentary & Timeless
April 20 - June 2, 2019
Momentary & Timeless invites viewers to join six Bay Area fiber artists - Alice Beasley, Liz Berg, Nancy Bardach, Karen Balos, Robin Cowley, and Denise Oyama Miller - as they explore various ideas through a combination of haiku and the art quilt. Each artist presents a unique style, drawing viewers into the rhythm of the exhibit, as they are invited to write their own haiku and hang it on a “wishing tree” – a unique Japanese tradition.

Stone Portraits and Sacred Stonescapes: Denise Labadie
June 5 - July 14, 2019
Denise Labadie creates portraits of Celtic megalithic stones and monoliths, and more recent monastic ruins. These stonescapes – stone circles, standing stones, dolmens, burial tombs, abandoned churches, forgotten cemeteries, and lost-in-history portals and passageways – are both timeless and evoke deep remembrances of human pasts largely forgotten. Labadie's quilts are known both for their surprising emotionality, large size and, from a construction standpoint, their hand-painted fabrics, textures, color gradation, shadowing and perspective, depth of field, craftsmanship and technique precision.

Opening Reception of Exhibitions
April 20, 2019
Open hours: 11am – 6pm
3pm - 4pm Artists and Members Reception
4pm - 6pm Public Reception

Stone Portraits and Sacred Stonescapes: Denise Labadie Opening Reception
June 9, 2019
3pm-5pm

Public Programs:

Low Water Dyeing with Natural Dyes with Lisa Solomon
April 28, 2019, 11:30am – 1:30pm
$15 Members, $25 Non-members

This workshop serves as an introduction to the concept of using items you can easily find in a grocery store or forage in your backyard to create natural dyes. We will discuss prepping materials, what works best for natural dyes, and mordants. We will create several dye vats that you can test, discuss dye properties, folding and tying techniques to generate interesting patterns and motifs. No experience required, age 12 to adult.

May the Fourth Be With You Star Wars Day
May 4, 2019, 11am – 3pm
Free, pay what you can
Dress up as your favorite Star Wars character, and come to SJMQT where you can create Darth Vader snowflakes and Yoda pompoms.

Can Art Change Our Water Consciousness? with Linda Gass
May 5, 2019, 3pm - 5pm
Free, RSVP Here

“Can Art Change Our Water Consciousness?" is the driving question behind artist Linda Gass’ practice who believes in the power of art to motivate change. Gass’ artwork is inspired by the connections between humans and the water and land that sustain them. This presentation offers a photographic journey to the places that inform her work, from the wilderness areas of California to significant water interventions in the American West, along with images of her artwork made in response to her experiences and research. Linda will also discuss works created by the artists in the H2Oh! exhibition. Audience members will develop a new appreciation for water resources, an awareness of art’s role in educating the public, and will also have an opportunity to engage in a salon-style discussion with the artist and other attendees, bringing their own answers to the question “Can Art Change Our Water Consciousness?”

https://knightfoundation.org/
https://www.lindagass.com/

World Collage Day
May 11, 2019, 11am – 3pm
Free, pay what you can
Celebrate World Collage Day by creating a Mothers’ Day card at SJMQT.

Beers Made By Walking: Salt Pond Restoration Walk
May 11th, 10am – 12:30pm
1751 Grand Blvd, San Jose | Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Free, RSVP is required - Register here
Beers Made By Walking (BMBW) is a program that invites brewers to go on nature hikes and urban walks and make new “place-based beers” inspired by plants from the trail. The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) has teamed up with BMBW and three local breweries for a public hike on May 11th along the area of the South Bay Salt Ponds near San Jose. The hike is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Soft Sculpture with Alexander Hernandez
May 19, 2019, 11:30am – 1:30pm
$15 Members, $25 Non-members

In this workshop, textile artist Alexander Hernandez will show how to create soft sculptures and patches that reflect attendees' own identities and how they want to be portrayed in the world. Attendees are invited to bring clothing and other textiles they would like to deconstruct to create one-of-a-kind artworks. They may also bring garments to embellish with appliqués or patches. Hernandez explores gender expectations, immigration and cultural assimilation through patchwork, quilting, appliqué and soft sculpture. As a Queer immigrant, Hernandez has navigated through multiple communities and patched together his identity like a Frankenstein creature made from his American upbringing and Oaxacan roots.

Viva Calle at the SJMQT!
May 19, 2019, 11am - 3pm
Free
Come celebrate Viva Calle, a local San Jose initiative that transforms six miles of city streets into an urban park for the day! We'll have handlebar decorations to help spruce up your ride! We're right on the route, next to MACLA & the San Jose Museum of Contemporary Art!

The Magic of Water: Community Day
June 2, 2019, 11am - 3pm
Free, pay what you can
The Museum’s free Community Day will offer a variety of fun activites. Join Magician Kathy Machado as she teaches the entire family about water conservation.

Untapping Party / Closing Reception
July 14, 2019 , 3pm – 5pm
Free
Make new friends while sampling brews from Beers Made By Walking. At this untapping party, we will also celebrate the closing of the exhibitions. For more information, please visit www.sjquiltmuseum.org

San Jose, CA - December 13, 2018 - San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) announced today that it will showcase an innovative array of exhibitions and events. SJMQT will display two new exhibitions, ITAB IV and Evanescence: Judith Content, from January 20 to April 14, 2019, with an opening reception on January 20, 2019. The Member’s opening is from 2-3pm, followed by a public reception from 3-5pm.

ITAB IV - International TECHstyle Art Biennial

January 20, 2019 - April 14, 2019

ITAB IV, the fourth installment of International TECHstyle Art Biennial, SJMQT’s signature juried exhibition, focuses on works by artists who merge fiber media with new information and communication technologies. Clay Bavor, Janet Echelman and Nathalie Miebach juried the exhibition. "It was a pleasure to view such a wide variety of art at the intersection of fiber and technology for the International TECHstyle Art Biennial exhibition at SJMQT," said Janet Echelman. Leveraging its location in Silicon Valley, ITAB serves as the premiere platform for introducing works exploring the intersection of textiles and technology to a global community. This year, twenty-three artists were selected by the jurors to take part in ITAB’s fourth edition. Works by artists Annica Cuppetelli, Cristobol Mendoza, Lia Cook, and Janice Lessman-Moss, combine fiber media with diverse artistic disciplines such as architecture, installation art, interior design, new media, and sculpture.

Evanescence: Judith Content

January 20, 2019 - April 14, 2019

Like the haiku, Judith Content’s work explores the essence of an image, memory, or moment in time. Finding inspiration in the landscape, from coastal marshes to desert canyons, Content uses a contemporary approach to the traditional Japanese dye technique, arashi-shibori, and constructs her quilts intuitively, with an array of hand-dyed silks. Although Content can control the results to a great extent, the element of surprise when the designs are revealed never fails to excite her. Just as haiku have different interpretations, the meditative quality of her work encourages viewers to draw upon their own memories and experiences. A full-time studio artist for more than 35 years, Content exhibits nationally and internationally. Her work is represented in museum, public and private collections including the Mountain View and Sunnyvale campuses of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

January 20, 2019- Member’s Opening is from 2-3pm, followed by a public reception from 3pm - 5pm.

February 2, 2019- Taxes for Artists by Lee Ann Payne 3:30pm – 4:30pm Artist Benefit Members, Free. Public $10. Learn the business of becoming an artist, and selling your work, just in time for tax season.

February 10, 2019- Free Community Open House- What’s Tech Got To Do With It? 11am – 3pm. Join SJMQT for all-age activities concerning fiber art and technology, music and deals in the museum’s store.

March 16, 2019- Quilt Identification Day, 11am – 3pm. Visitors who seek more knowledge of their quilts may sign up for 15 minute apointments to learn more about fabrics, patterns, styles and age. Visitors will have their piece documented by quilt experts. Pre-registration required at www.sjquiltmuseum.org

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These exhibitions and related programs are supported in part by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Silicon Valley Creates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and California Arts Council; by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San Jose; Applied Materials Foundation; Mission City Community Fund; Severns Foundation and the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association.

(October 10, 2018) San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) announced today that it will showcase an innovative array of exhibitions and events.

SJMQT will be displaying Excellence in Fibers (in collaboration with Fiber Art Now Magazine), Suture and Stitch: Mark Newport, and Seeing the Threshold: Jayoung Yoon from October 19-January 13, 2019. The opening reception is from 3:00-5:00pm on Sunday, October 21, 2018 at SJMQT. Miriam at MoMA: Miriam Nathan-Roberts, Public and Personal is on view in the Porcella Gallery from October 19- November 25, 2018 and Hey, Are you Free? by Wu Yu Jung is on view November 28, 2018- January 13, 2019.

Excellence in Fibers

Fiber Art Now and SJMQT are pleased to present the third annual juried exhibition, Excellence in Fibers. The jurors represent a group of well-respected artists and leaders in the fiber arts and fine art community. They include Marcia Young (Editor in Chief, Fiber Art Now), Art Martin (Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Muskegon Museum of Art), and Louise Allrich (Allrich Gallery, San Francisco). The Paul J. Smith Award for Excellence in Fibers was awarded to Patricia Kennedy-Zafred. The categories of this exhibition are Installation Works, Sculptural Works, Vessel Forms/ Basketry, and Wearables.

Suture and Stitch: Mark Newport

Newport’s mending work explores a variety of topics involving aspects of identity, protection, masculinity, vulnerability and the development of both emotional and physical scars. He illuminates the relationship between skin and textiles through mending and repair, exploring traditional darning patterns. Mark Newport was appointed Artist-in-Residence and Head of the Fiber Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2007.

Seeing the Threshold: Jayoung Yoon

Jayoung Yoon’s work explores the medium of human hair with the intent to focus the viewer’s attention to the body. Since hair does not decay after death, it is a symbolic form of remembrance. Yoon presents work that seems to blur and fade away, placing emphasis on her desired message of a transcendent reality. Compositions of grids, and geometric shapes with repeated hair-lines intend to convey dissolving thoughts, touching on states of both unconscious and conscious minds.

Miriam at MoMA: Miriam Nathan-Roberts, Public and Personal

SJMQT commemorates Miriam Nathan-Roberts, the late Bay Area art quilt pioneer. The exhibit includes several of her iconic works as well as quilts and personal articles never before shown. Nathan-Roberts was well-known for illusions of 3D shapes on a 2D surface. Her later work was distinguished by striking, digitally-printed images. The exhibition’s title piece imagines a radical departure for the Museum of Modern Art in New York as a venue for Nathan-Robert’s art quilts.

Hey Are You Free? Wu Yu Jung, New Terrains: Migration and Mobility Project

Wu Yu Jung lives in San Jose’s Sister City Tainan, Taiwan’s “Cultural Capital.” In conjunction with New Terrains: Migration and Mobility, a Silicon Valley-wide project organized by San Jose Museum of Art, Wu Yu Jung spent a week in October, riding a bicycle around various San Jose neighborhoods, asking “Hey, are you free?” Her bicycle was equipped with sewing supplies and she asked if people wanted their clothes mended on the spot. Her artistic practice promotes meeting new people through sewing in public places and focuses on the relationship between the artist and society, and the symbolism of mending and clothing. This exhibition documents the artist’s practice and will include her custom bicycle created exclusively for her visit to San Jose

Please contact info@sjquiltmuseum.org with any questions.

Additional Events

December 1, 2018 - Gun Buy Back

In collaboration with the San Jose Police Department and the San Jose Police Foundation, officials will hold a gun buy back event on December 1, 2018. The public will have the opportunity to anonymously trade in their handguns, rifles, shotguns and assault weapons in return for cash and a quilt. As celebrated programming for SJMQT’s spring exhibition, Guns: Loaded Conversations, SJMQT has pledged $20,000 to support this community event and is collecting quilts. Each participant turning in a gun on this day will receive cash and a quilt. For more information on how to donate cash or quilts please visit: https://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/cashandquilts/

December 2, 2018 – Free Community Day Open House

Please come to SJMQT for a free, family friendly community day on December 2, 2018 from 11-3 pm. Celebrate the season with us and enjoy art activities, presentations, exhibitions and enjoy stress-free holiday shopping in our unique store, filled with gifts created by local artists.

ADMISSION: Admission is $8.00 general; $6.50 students and seniors; and free to Museum members and children 12 and under. Admission is ‘pay what you can’ on the first Friday of each month (excluding January and July). For more information, call 408-971-0323 or visit www.sjquiltmuseum.org.
These exhibitions and related programs are supported in part by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Silicon Valley Creates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and California Arts Council; by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San Jose; and the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association.

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles New Exhibits

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) announced today that it will showcase an innovative array of exhibitions and events.

SJMQT will be displaying the exhibitions The Art of Labor (In collaboration with the Surface Design Association), CUT IT OUT! (a paper cutting exhibition), and Maggy Rozycki Hiltner’s expansive project Vantage Point. The Opening Reception, located at SJMQT, is from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. onSunday, July 22, 2018. Frau Fiber vs. the Machines is on view July 22– September 2, 2018 in the Porcella Gallery.

The Art of Labor: Surface Design Association’s Juried Members Exhibition

Co-curated by Carole Frances Lung aka Frau Fiber and SJMQT Curator of Exhibitions, Amy DiPlacido, The Art of Labor: Surface Design Association’s Juried Members Exhibition presents a powerful display of fiber-based or textile-inspired works that depict the multi-faceted definition of labor. From the very idea of creating a time-intensive art work, to the act of being in labor, to the industrialization of textile and garment companies, The Art of Labor highlights the most contemporary, cutting-edge textile artists and showcases the exciting future of the fiber medium.

CUT IT OUT! Explorations in Contemporary Paper Cutting

With reference to printmaking, sculpture and illustration, the subtractive art of paper cutting is going through its own Renaissance. As society moves into the digital age, paper, which was once part of our everyday lives, is fading out to more environmentally friendly alternatives. This exhibition pays homage to the art of paper cutting, an activity that has been celebrated since the 4th century.

Frau Fiber vs. the Machines

The works in this exhibition document Frau Fiber's on-going battle with contemporary apparel manufacturing. In video, photography and artifacts, the exhibition makes space to witness Frau Fiber's attempt to spin yarn, knit a tube sock and knit a sweater as fast as a machine. This series of textile productions are inspired by the folklore of the ultimate working-class hero: John Henry. Henry, who was immortalized in verse and myth in the 1800’s, fought and lost a valiant battle against the drill machine that took his life and ultimately replaced the jobs of tireless railroad workers. This exhibition is curated by Carole Frances Lung, Frau Fiber’s biographer and archivist.

If you have any questions, please contact info@sjquiltmuseum.org.

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING

On Sunday, July 22, 2018, 1-3 p.m., San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles will present a ‘2 for 1’ back-to-back lecture from Carole Frances Lung followed by Maggy Rozycki Hiltner. Admission to both lectures is available at $15.00 for Members and $25.00 for Non-Members. These lectures are followed by the opening receptions of all four exhibitions from 3-5 p.m.

On August 24, 2018 at 7pm SJMQT will screen the documentary film, “Who Does She Think She is?” followed by a discussion. Admission to this special event is available at $10.00 for Members and $15.00 for Non-Members.

The weekend of September 22 & 23 SJMQT is free to the public. On September 22, 2018 the museum celebrates Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day, a national effort of museums to waive admission fees making them accessible for all. The next day, on September 23, 2018 the museum will be open one hour earlier, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. to celebrate Viva Calle, a local San Jose initiative that transforms six miles of city streets into an urban park for the day! https://www.vivacallesj.org/

COINCIDING WITH THE 19th ANNIVERSARY OF THE COLUMBINE TRAGEDY,
SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF QUILTS & TEXTILES ANNOUNCES
GUNS: LOADED CONVERSATIONS EXHIBIT + UNIQUE QUILT-THEMED GUN BUY-BACK; PARTNERSHIPS WITH STUDIO ART QUILT ASSOCIATES,
THE SOCIAL JUSTICE SEWING ACADEMY, SAN JOSE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND MORE

Rest in Power, Trayvon, 2012 photo credit: Sara Trail
Batik, silk, cotton, lace, organza
Quilted and appliquéd

SAN JOSE, CA (April 11, 2018) – San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) announced today that it will unroll a trailblazing array of exhibitions and events intended to spark dialogue in relation to the complicated and multifaceted topic of gun violence in America. SJMQT will be displaying the exhibitions Guns: Loaded Conversations (in collaboration with Studio Art Quilt Associates) and Generation of Change: A Movement, Not a Moment (from the East Bay-based Social Justice Sewing Academy), with an Opening Reception from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, 2018. The exhibitions will be on display through July 15, 2018. Co-curated by Studio Art Quilt Associates juror Vicky Clark and SJMQT Curator of Exhibitions, Amy DiPlacido, the exhibition presents a powerful display of art works and related in-gallery programming, intended to promote conversation, understanding and reflection on gun issues facing this country. Guns: Loaded Conversations is supported by the prestigious X Factor Arts Grant from SV Creates.

Following the exhibitions, SJMQT will be partnering with The Mayor’s Office, multiple City Council Districts, San Jose Police Department and Police Foundation to sponsor a Gun Buy- Back Program entitled Quilts + Cash for Guns. The Buy-Back is slated for early December 2018; further details, including the date of the Buy-Back, will be announced at a later time.

Combining artistry, craft and activism, Social Justice Sewing Academy – which is partnering with the Museum on Generation of Change: A Movement, Not a Moment – has the following mission objectives: to inspire high-school students toward awareness of social injustices; to create young leaders; and to motivate action. The quilts on display, created by teenagers and crafted with the help of adult sewing mentors, remind the viewer that social injustices have a profound effect on all people, regardless of age. SJSA’s goal is to prepare students to solve issues in their communities through innovative thinking and action. By using textile art as a vehicle for personal transformation and community cohesion, SJSA empowers youth to become agents of social change.

“With these powerful exhibitions and programs,” says SJMQT Director Nancy Bavor, “we hope to engage our visitors in conversations about the complex and controversial issue of the Second Amendment and gun use in this country.”

GUN BUY-BACK

The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is partnering with The Mayor’s Office, multiple City Council Districts, San Jose Police Department and Police Foundation to sponsor a Gun Buy- Back Program entitled Quilts + Cash for Guns. The goal of the program is to reduce the number of firearms owned by civilians and provide gun owners with an opportunity to turn in guns without risk of prosecution. Participants will be able to turn in a gun and, in exchange, receive cash and a quilt. The specific date for Gun Buy-Back, scheduled for December 2018, will be announced at a later date.

SJMQT is calling on the community to create quilts that may be exchanged for guns. The Museum is also accepting tax-deductible contributions to be used for the gun buy-back. For information about quilt donations and to make online contributions visit www.sjquiltmuseum.org.

If you have any questions, please contact DonateQuilts@sjquiltmuseum.org.

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING

On Sunday, July 15, 2018 at 3:00 p.m., San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles will present the lecture Bang! Bang! Discussing America’s Second Amendment by Stanford University Law Professor, John J. Donohue III. Admission to this one-time special event is available at $15.00 for Members and $25.00 for Non-Members.

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

WHAT:

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles:
GUNS: LOADED CONVERSATIONS - EXHIBITION
GENERATION OF CHANGE: A MOVEMENT, NOT A MOMENT – EXHIBITION
BANG! BANG! DISCUSSING AMERICA’S SECOND AMENDMENT- LECTURE
QUILTS + CASH FOR GUNS - GUN BUY-BACK

WHEN:

April 22 – July 15, 2018 – GENERATION OF CHANGE and GUNS: LOADED CONVERSATIONS
July 15, 2018 (3pm – 5pm) - BANG! BANG! DISCUSSING AMERICA’S SECOND AMENDMENT
December 2018 TBA – QUILTS + CASH FOR GUNS

Museum Hours:
11:00am-4:00pm Wednesday through Friday
11:00am-3:00pm Saturday and Sunday
Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and major holidays.

WHERE:

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, 520 South 1st St. San Jose, CA 95113

ADMISSION:

Admission is $8.00 general; $6.50 students and seniors; and free to Museum members and children 12 and under. Admission is ‘pay what you can’ on the first Friday of each month. For more information, call 408-971-0323 or visit www.sjquiltmuseum.org.

These exhibitions and related programs are supported in part by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Silicon Valley Creates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and California Arts Council; by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San Jose; and the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association. San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles was awarded the prestigious SV Creates X- Factor Grant to support exhibition and programming for this exhibition.

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A Geographical Journey: The Paul J. Smith Textile Collection
January 19 – April 15, 2018

Beaded and woven bag from Mexico

The Director Emeritus of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, Paul J. Smith is an art administrator, curator and artist. He is also a lecturer, juror for craft competitions and consultant for craft and design projects. Involved with craft and design since the 1950s, Smith is well known for his innovative curatorial and exhibition programming in the American Studio Craft Movement, and has presented more than 200 exhibitions since 1963. His exhibitions expanded the public’s appreciation for art, craft and design. During his career, Smith also collected traditional and ethnographic textiles from Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. Smith’s personal textile collection, never before exhibited, showcases the beauty of textile traditions worldwide.

Please join SJMQT on January 28, 2018 to hear Paul Smith lecture on “Reflections: Fiber Art History in America” from 2 – 3 pm. Immediately following will be the opening reception from 3 -5pm. Tickets are for sale (Members: $15, Non-members $25) and can be found at: https://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/events/

Without a Net: Susan Else
January 19 – April 15, 2018

Susan Else, Above the Boardwalk, 2007

Each of Susan Else’s figurative sculptures tells a story, capturing the range of human emotions, routines, dreams and realities. In Without a Net, lse presents an old-fashioned circus and sideshow, using three-dimensional figures to narrate the dark underbelly of the circus. Ten circus-themed pieces, many made specifically for this exhibition, incorporate sound, light and motion, to create alternative universe that is full of contradictions. The power and beauty of the patterned cloth surfaces play off the form and content of the work, and the result is a dynamic seesaw of meanings and possibilities.

Please join SJMQT on Sunday, February 18, 2018 to celebrate “A Day at the Circus,” a free, family-friendly open house celebrating Susan Else’s solo exhibition. From 11am – 3pm museum visitors will have a chance to experience highlights from the circus such as clowns and performers, music and art making.

Talismanic Tresses: Vien Le Wood
January 19 – April 15, 2018

Award-winning British textile artist and designer, Vien Le Wood is the founder of Gold Spink Studi, a ashion embellishment concept house based in Brooklyn, New York. Le Wood’s exhibition, Talismanic Tresses, s based on her view of human hair which she believes acts as a conductor to our higher consciousness and intuition. In this exhibition she intimately crafted, stitch-by-stitch, piece-by-piece, and layer-by-layer the act of embellishment with an artistic expression. Le Wood believes that in the process of being gifted precious hair and buying discarded hair, an energy exchange is created that sends the message of mortality.

Vien Le Wood, alismanic Tresses, 2017
Staples, copper, naturally dyed mohair yarn, tie dyed and screen printed human hair

13th Quilt Nihon
July 21 – October 15, 2017

A selection of Quilts from 13th Quilt Nihon

SAN JOSE, California, July 6, 2017 –– The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is excited to present the United States premiere of the 13th Quilt Nihon Exhibition. These quilts are drawn from the winners of the prestigious Japan Handicraft Instructors’ Association (JHIA) competition, the largest quilting competition in Japan.

For more than forty-five years, the JHIA has been dedicated to promoting handicraft arts through training and publication in Japan. The 13th Quilt Nihon Exhibition, in accepting quilts designed along both traditional and contemporary lines, seeks to collect the best examples of modern Japanese quilt making. The JHIA Encouragement Award for quilters under the age of 35 also serves to promote the future of this art form.

The 13th Quilt Nihon Exhibition begins in Tokyo and travels across the United States, allowing an international audience to appreciate the artistry and technical finesse of these prizewinning Japanese quilts.

Linear Intervention: Sabine Reckewell
July 21 – October 15, 2017

2D/3D embroideries by Sabine Reckewell

Sabine Reckewell describes her room-sized installations as “three-dimensional drawings.” Using linear materials, repetition, and geometry, Reckewell creates forms that simultaneously give contradictory impressions of flatness and volume.

These installations, constructed using simple tools and techniques, strike a fine balance between mathematical precision and hand-made simplicity. Based on the dimensions and properties of a room, Reckewell maps out the geometry of the installation with evenly spaced points, and constructs it with soft and pliable linear materials like yarns, ribbons, ropes, and webbing. Repetition gives the work a meditative quality, and the choice of material gives it personality.

Reckewell’s installations are rarely meant to be permanent, movable sculptures: They exist in a particular space for a certain amount of time and then are deconstructed. This will be the case for Reckewell’s site-specific installation at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles on view in the Finlayson Gallery.

Bold Statements: Modern and Historical Quilts from the Collection

July 12 – October 15, 2017

During its 40-year existence, the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles has accumulated a permanent collection composed of over 1200 textiles, including over 450 historic and contemporary quilts.

K.B.A. Log Cabin (Courthouse Steps Variation), 1965
Gift of Lea And Bruce Berman

Bold Statements highlights quilts from the SJMQT collection with strong graphic and geometric sensibilities. This set of quilts speaks to the infinite variety of expression that quilters have achieved through the simplest of shapes. Many of the quilts in this exhibit are from a generous 2016 donation of over 80 quilts by Lea and Bruce Berman and have never been exhibited in the museum before now.

FiberShots 4th Annual Community Challenge and Sale

July 22 - September 3, 2017

Roberta Pabst, Millefiori Madness, 2017 FiberShot

Over 100 artists from around the world have translated their preferred fiber art medium into a 10"x 10" square. The artists' donated work will be sold for $125, with all proceeds dedicated to funding fiber art programs. Please join us for the Champagne Gala Celebration on the night of Saturday, July 22, 2017 from 6 - 9pm. Ticket purchasing information can be found here.