Quilt museum invites community to have its say on gun violence
Visitors to “Guns: Loaded Conversations,” the current, thought-provoking show at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, have been quietly giving their opinions on gun control — with spent bullet casings. They do this by dropping a shell, which can be picked up at the front desk, into one of several clear cylinders placed near the entrance labeled with various positions in the debate.
It’s not surprising in the liberal South Bay that “Civilians should only own firearms for hunting and shooting sports” leads the pack, with “Only the military and law enforcement” in second place. But when I last checked, “Civilians should be free to own and operate any firearm” was third, showing there’s still some diversity of opinion coming through the doors.
On Sunday, the museum will encourage visitors to take a more active stance at a free community day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You could create a protest button or poster, send a postcard to elected officials or even register to vote. Visitors can also sew with visiting textile artist Jen Graham, who is working on a 2018 version of her piece, “Trajectory Patterns,” which documents the addresses where gun fatalities occurred. The original 2016 piece was 137 feet long.
There also will be a community panel on firearms and safety at 1 p.m., followed by a roundtable discussion. You can register to take part at www.sjquiltmuseum.org/events. And for those who want to have a bigger impact than just talking, Museum Executive Director Nancy Bavor points to the “Cash and Quilts for Guns” buyback that’s planned for later this year. The museum is raising $25,000 toward the San Jose Police Foundation and San Jose Police Department’s biennial buyback event and is also accepting donations of handmade quilts that may be exchanged for weapons.
“We have about 25 quilts so far,” Bavor said. “We think it’s kind of an interesting thing to exchange something hard like a gun for something soft like a quilt.”
Both “Guns: Loaded Conversations” and
“Generation of Change: A Movement Not a Moment,” are being presented with the East Bay-based Social Justice Sewing Academy through July 15 at the gallery at 520 S. First St.
CULTURAL CONNECTION >> The 40th annual Dia de San Juan Festival on Saturday will fill San Jose’s History Park with the sounds and flavors of Puerto Rico, while also helping out residents of the island territory that were affected by last year’s devastating hurricanes.
The salsa dance party and fundraiser, sponsored by the Western Region Puerto Rican Council, will include Puerto Rican musicians Tony Vega and Charlie Aponte, as well as Bay Area performers including Orquesta Taino, DJ Helio and Pedro Pastrana and his Jibaro Mani.
Event chairwoman Irma Dominicci says in addition to being an opportunity to celebrate Puerto Rican heritage, the festival “reminds us of how charity and community can make a difference in the lives of others.” Gates open at 11 a.m., and tickets are available for $15-$25 online at www.wrprc.org or $30 at the door.
RECORD NIGHT AT MONTALVO: THE ALLURE OF PARIS — EVEN IF IT WAS JUST RE-IMAGINED IN THE HILLS ABOVE SARATOGA — CREATED A GENEROUS ATMOSPHERE AT THE MONTALVO ARTS CENTER‘S BIENNIAL FUNDRAISER JUNE 16. “MOULIN MONTALVO >> A Gala Night in Montmartre” — with strolling musicians, acrobats and can-can dancers entertaining the black-tie crowd — raised $600,000 for Montalvo’s artistic and educational programs.
Gala co-chairs Marcia Hansen, Deborah Stolle and Sydene Kober — along with committee members Gretchen DiNapoli, Sue Mueller, Debbie Gong-Guy and Gayla Wood — put together quite an evening that included dinner by Le Papillon, French wines and Tattinger Champagne and an entertaining live auction led by “auctiontainer” Letitia Frye.