San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose

This museum is worth looking into for its varied exhibitions. I've seen some interesting things here, which often, but not always, include California or West Coast tendencies. For example, a recent exhibit on suburban sprawl, which is supreme here, posed strong questions to the visitor without being condemning or condescending. The current exhibition, which I am eager to see, is "Road Trip." ("Road Trip offers a broad exploration of real and imagined journeys, which often entail not only a physical displacement but also a psychological and emotional passage." from their web page) That sounds very VT appropriate!

The museum also hosts an annual lecture series which brings in thought provoking speakers that reflect contemporary art and culture. They have an above average cafe "Cafe Too", which is much better than a cafeteria. The cafe is worth eating at, even though downtown has many good dining options.

The Richardson Romanesque portion of this building in downtown San Jose (right next to the Fairmont Hotel) dates back to the late nineteenth century, when it served as the post office of San Jose. The other half, a modern addition of golden-hued sandstone, was built about ten years ago. A splendid combination of new and old, the museum employs state of the art temperature and humidity controls that allow it to share exhibits with New York's Whitney Museum and others. The museum focuses on twentieth and twenty-first century artworks, with an emphasis on West Coast artists. There's something new going on at the San Jose Museum of Art almost every day, whether it's lectures, poetry readings, events for children, classes, or concerts. Docent tours are available and the collection is constantly changing. Best of all, it's centrally located in downtown San Jose and it's free. Open Tuesday-Sunday.

One of the best things about this museum is that it's free. That's right free. It's not the bigest museum in the world, in fact it's one of the smaller ones that I've been to. You can probably make it through the wole thing in under an hour depending on how long you spend at each exhibit. None the less it's a nice little activity to break up the day or to fill some time while you're in downtown SJ.

Check the website below to see what's showing and what events might be happening or just pop in for a quick look.

This little impressive museum showcases local Bay Area and Californian artists, including Long Nguyen, Tino Rodríguez, Michael McMillen and others. Although there's no "big names" here, it's great to check out. The building itself is unique, with half of the building in an old 19th century structure, and the other in an ultra-modern setting.