San Jose Museum of Art, Art museum in downtown San Jose, California.
The San Jose Museum of Art consists of a 33,000-square-foot 1892 Richardsonian Romanesque wing by Willoughby J. Edbrooke, built of Greystone Quarry sandstone, and a 45,000-square-foot 1991 New Wing by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill that holds most exhibition space.
Founded in 1969 by artists including Ann Marie Mix and Susan Hammer, the Civic Art Gallery saved an 1892 Richardsonian Romanesque post office by Willoughby J. Edbrooke. Renamed San Jose Museum of Art in 1974, it became a California Historical Landmark in 1972 and joined the National Register in 1973. A 45,000-square-foot New Wing by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill opened in 1991.
The museum's name changed from Civic Art Gallery to San Jose Museum of Art in 1974. From 1994, exhibition information appeared in English, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, matching the city's patrons. In 2019 it framed the year around women artists, with shows by Jay DeFeo, Catherine Wagner, Rina Banerjee and Pae White.
The museum sits at Circle of Palms Plaza beside Plaza de César Chávez in downtown San Jose. The historic wing, a former post office and library, connects to the 1991 New Wing, so allow time for both. The 1972 California Historical Landmark building is a short walk from downtown transit stops.
The 1892 wing, built of Greystone Quarry sandstone, lost its steeple and clock tower in the 1906 earthquake; it served as San Jose's main post office, then its library from 1937 to 1969.
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