The San Jose Museum of Art is Purple House Blog Museum of the Month.
I enjoyed my visit to the San Jose Museum of Art and would recommend it to anyone. A docent there told me that the oldest piece of art that they own is from 1959, so although they don’t call themselves a contemporary art museum, they only display new art.
Exhibits
The museum is mostly comprised of temporary exhibits with added pieces from their permanent collection. The museum could take on a whole new look and feel with each traveling exhibit. The main two exhibits Hidden Heroes and Around the Table were fantastic!
Hidden Heroes: The Genius of Everyday Things
This exhibit told the history of household items using vintage commercials and print ads. The creatively decorated exhibit boxes were as innovative as the inventions they displayed.
Around the Table
I thought an art exhibit about food would be boring, but the pieces were surprising and creative. The exhibit even smelled of food. Fantastic!
Information about the museum
Tickets: Adults $8, Students and Seniors $5, Children (six & under) Free, Museum members Free
Hours: TUES– SUN 11 AM – 5 PM, CLOSED MON
Tours: Public tours of exhibitions are offered Tuesday–Sunday at 1 and 2:30PM.
Location: The museum is located in downtown San Jose at 110 South Market Street.
Parking: The museum does not have its own parking lot. You must park in one of the many public parking spots in downtown San Jose.
Photography: Non-flash photography is only permitted in: lobby, café and skybridge landing.
Time allowance: I was there for less than two hours. You may need more or less depending on your museum going style.
Gift shop: There is a nice gift shop at the San Jose art museum. It’s on the small side, however. I wanted to buy a postcard of some artwork that I saw in the Around the Table exhibit and I couldn’t find anything in the gift shop. I did notice that they had some cool jewelry and housewares by local artists.
Cafe: There is a cafe in the museum that serves sandwiches, salad, and soup. I had a nice cup of coffee and a warm cherry turnover.
Ice Skating: They set up an ice skating rink in front of the museum in late November. They sell joint museum and skating tickets at the museum.
Photos come from the San Jose Museum of Art website.
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