Major gift boosts S.J. Museum of Art collection
The collection of the San Jose Museum of Art has become more diverse thanks to a major gift from San Jose attorney and art collector J. Michael Bewley that includes Robert Arneson’s “Five Times for Harvey,” a series of five mixed-media portraits of assassinated San Francisco City Supervisor and LGBT activist Harvey Milk.
Bewley, a former trustee of the museum and longtime member of its acquisitions committee, contributed 12 works from a personal collection that San Jose Museum of Art Executive Director Susan Krane says represents his deep belief in social justice.
“Mike’s donation reflects his legacy of support for challenging art that does not shy away from tough personal and political topics,” Krane said.
The donation includes works by Christopher Brown, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Luis Cruz Azaceta, Lesley Dill, George Grosz and Fritz Scholder. The Arneson piece is the 12th by the artist in the museum’s collection. It had been prominently displayed in Bewley’s downtown office on West Santa Clara Street, which could well pass for a gallery itself. GREAT AMERICA GOES CAJUN: We had a lot of fun over the weekend at the new Taste of Orleans festival at California’s Great America. There was some great music — zydeco specialist Andre Thierry and the Left Coast Syncopators among the acts — as well as a bevy of New Orleans-inspired food, including shrimp po’boys, chicken gumbo and beignet.
Chalk artists created colorful pieces on the paths of the amusement park’s Orleans Place, adding to the Mardi Gras vibe. San Francisco artist Nicole Terzic created a fantastic masked harlequin, and San Jose’s Lacey Bryant delighted the kids with an image of Snoopy in the traditional purple, green and gold garb.
The festival continues Saturday and Sunday. Go to www.cagreatamerica.com for details. EVENT ON THE MOVE: There’s a new venue this year for the fourth annual Wipeout Cancer Sports Day for Charity, which will take place Saturday at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara.
The event was founded by Caroline Lee, a 2010 winner of the reality show, “Wipeout,” who was diagnosed with colon cancer three years later. After surgery and chemotherapy, Lee continues to fight her way back to health.
Children and adults can sign up to take part in a volleyball tournament, bike rides and an “Wipeout”-style obstacle course for designed for kids ages 4 to 12. Proceeds benefit Cancer CAREpoint, a Silicon Valley nonprofit that provides counseling and other support to cancer patients and their families. Get details or register at www.wipeout-cancer.org. MUSICAL MEMORIES: Foothill Music Theatre will be celebrating its past and looking ahead to its future in song at “Oh, What a Beautiful Evening!,” a one-night event on Saturday at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. The 8 p.m. show will include performers both familiar and new to the Smithwick Theatre audience singing pieces from previous and future shows. Tickets are $30 ($15 for students and $75 including a VIP postparty) and are available at http://foothill.edu/theatre.