San Jose Museum of Art gala will showcase South Bay arts groups
The virtual event will feature performances by "Hamilton" actor Ryan Vasquez, Vietnamese musician Van-Anh Vo, Opera San Jose and the New Ballet.
The San Jose Museum of Art’s annual gala is normally one of the fall’s most visually stunning events, with the Circle of Palms outside the downtown gallery filled with eye-catching performances and guests who take the suggestion of “creative formal” attire to interesting lengths. But for this year’s gala, you won’t need a peacock-feather print dress or a midnight-blue tuxedo. You won’t even need a ticket.
The gala and auction Saturday will be virtual and free for everyone to tune in. The 6 p.m. event will honor longtime patrons Cheryl and Bruce Kiddoo and artist Pae White, and it will include the unveiling of a new sculpture for the museum’s atrium — a mobile created by White that’s been described as “dazzling” by those who have seen it.
But a real treat for audiences will be a lineup of performances from South Bay arts groups and artists with ties to the Bay Area. That includes Bellarmine College Prep alum and Broadway actor Ryan Vasquez, who will perform excerpts from “Hamilton”; Vietnamese musician Vân-Ánh Võ, accompanied by the Blood Moon Orchestra, who created an original song for the gala; and a dance-along flash mob with choreographer Jadell Lee.
Other performances will feature Mosaic Silicon Valley, an initiative of Sangram Arts; New Ballet; Opera San Jose and San Jose Jazz.
There’s also a silent auction that opens Thursday and closes Sunday, and a live auction that will close during the broadcast Saturday night (10 percent of auction proceeds will support the Black Lives Matter Global Network.). Go to sjmusart.org/2020gala to register and get more information.
JAZZY COLLABORATION: Before their appearance at the Museum of Art gala, San Jose Jazz and Silicon Valley nonprofit Sangram Arts are collaborating this week on the first program in “Making the Mosaic,” a series that allows diverse audiences and guests to explore what being “American” means to them.
The debut program at 7 p.m. Thursday will feature saxophonist George Brooks and sitar player Arjun Verma exploring — in both discussion and performance — improvisation, which is a key element in both jazz and Indian classical music. You can register for the Zoom event at both sangamarts.org or sanjosejazz.org/events.
INSPIRING EVENT: The legendary Neil Young, Ozomatli’s Raul Pacheco and indigenous vocalist Calina Lawrence are lending performances to Green Foothills’ annual Nature’s Inspiration celebration on Sunday. The online event will honor Valentin Lopez, who has been chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band since 2003 and has worked tirelessly to bring international awareness to the experience of indigenous people.
A major part of that work has been protecting Juristac, land just south of Gilroy that is at the heart of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band’s ancestral lands. Now known as Sargent Ranch, the land is being eyed for development of a sand and gravel mining operation. The fight also brought Lopez to the attention of Young, who is providing a recorded performance.
“This is a celebration of the people in our community who are fighting for a livable planet,” Green Foothills Executive Director Megan Fluke said. Tickets to the 6:30 p.m. fundraiser are $150 each and can be purchased at greenfoothills.org/natures-inspiration.