Delicately composed drawings, abstract paintings, complex sculptures, and provocative photographic images adorn the gallery celebrating an inspiring and influential generation of San Jose artists. These dedicated individuals living and working in San Jose were instrumental to the very establishment of the San Jose Museum of Art in 1969. Not only did they help shape what SJMA has become today, they encouraged and fostered the future of artistic practice and appreciation through years of teaching at San Jose State University.

This exhibition pays tribute to our very own innovative artists in San Jose. The dynamic energy they brought to our community is palpable in the gallery. Drawn from the permanent collection, the artworks on view take very different forms, but share an intrepid push to the vanguard. They demonstrate tremendous depth and diversity: whether creating formal painting, large installations, or conceptual art, these San Jose artists have all been forerunners in their field. Their many contributions have been fundamental to our South Bay community and their impressive work continues to inspire us.

By the 1960s, San Jose was in the midst of rapid-fire transition from a small agricultural community to a sprawling metropolis. The tech industry was swelling, and by the end of the decade the population had grown five-fold. This era also brought to town a new, innovative community of artists, many of whom were recruited from across the country by San Jose State College (now San Jose State University). Fresh from top graduate schools and conversant with the radical artistic thinking of the time, this generation of artists brought new vitality and a proclivity for experimentation to town.

These forward-looking artists all lived or worked in San Jose. They were instrumental to the establishment of the San Jose Museum of Art in 1969, in the midst of the counterculture revolution, and are part of the history of this Museum in many ways. Artists in Residence pays tribute to an inspiring, dedicated, and especially influential generation of San Jose artists who helped ignite the contemporary artistic life of the city, founded its galleries and artistic spaces, and fostered generations of students, artists, and collectors.

Drawn exclusively from SJMA’s permanent collection, the artworks in Artists in Residence reflect an intrepid push to the vanguard. The works on view are as varied as the artists themselves, however. From the formalist abstract painters to the wry conceptual artists, these San Jose artists were forerunners in the field whose long careers are marked by a sense of continual aesthetic evolution.

Included in the exhibition are works by Geoffrey Bowman, Rupert Garcia, Erin Goodwin-Guerrero, Sam Hernandez, Tony May, Gail Nanao, Harry Powers, Lynn Powers, Fred Spratt, and Jacqueline Thurston alongside new acquisitions by David Middlebrook and Stephen French. Their work continues to impress us, as do their longstanding contributions to the South Bay community and to this Museum.

Sponsored by University Art, Eileen and Alfred Fernandes, and Deloitte LLP.