WORKS/San José is a nonprofit, member-run art space, located in the

SoFA district SoFA (South of First Area) is an arts, cultural, and entertainment district of Downtown San Jose, California. Home to numerous cultural institutions, art galleries, and theatre companies, including the Institute of Contemporary Art San José, the ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. It was founded in 1977 by community members.

History

WORKS/San José began in October 1977, by a group of artists and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

faculty and students in downtown San Jose. Early members of WORKS/San José include: Tony May, Erin Goodwin Guerrero, Ruth Tunstall Grant,

Jan Rindfleisch Jan Rindfleisch is an American artist, educator, author, curator, and community builder. Rindfleisch is known for the programming she initiated and oversaw at the Euphrat Museum of Art; for her book on the history of art communities in the South Ba ...

, George Rivera, Rebecca Schapp, Anna Koster, Fred Shepard, Albert Dixon. WORKS/San José was originally an offshoot of the short lived MERZ gallery and Wordworks, started by Jessica Jacobs, the then San Jose State University gallery director. Jacobs was instrumental in the establishment of the nonprofit status and acquisition of the initial space. When Jacobs left WORKS/San José, the organization structure changed towards a more democratic approach. Gallery operations are run by member volunteers. San Jose State University art professor Tony May became the first president of the board of directors. WORKS has occupied many locations in downtown San Jose including at Vine and Auzerais Streets (from 1977 to 1985); the Leticia Building at 66 South First Street (from 1985 to 1990); a warehouse space at 260 Jackson Street in Japantown (from 1990 to 1996); the Sperry Flour Building at 30 North Third Street (from 1997 to 2007); 451 South First Street (from 2007 to 2011); and at the current location at 365 South Market Street since 2011. The gallery was moved to the historic Zanotto's Grocery South Second Street location in 2022.

Exhibitions and work

Notable artists showing at WORKS/San José, many early in their career, include

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

, Binh Danh, Jim Campbell, Annie Sprinkle,

Alan Rath Alan Rath (1959–2020) was an American Electronic art, electronic, Kinetic art, kinetic, and Robotic art, robotic sculptor. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982, with a BS electric ...

Lynn Hershman Leeson Lynn Hershman Leeson (née Lynn Lester Hershman; born 1941) is a multimedia American artist and filmmaker. Her work combines art with social commentary, particularly on the relationship between people and technology. Leeson is a pioneer in new med ...

, Holly Lane,

Mark Pauline Mark Pauline (born December 14, 1953) is an American performance artist and inventor, best known as founder and director of Survival Research Laboratories. He is a 1977 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Pauline founded SR ...

of Survival Research Laboratories, Malaquis Montoya, Ed Osborn,

Yolanda Lopez Yolanda may refer to: * Yolanda (name), a given name derived from the Greek ''Iolanthe'' Places * Yolanda, California * Yolanda Shrine, monument located at Barangay Anibong, Tacloban, Leyte Film * ''Yolanda'' (film), a 1924 film starring ...

, and

Linda Montano Linda Mary Montano (born January 18, 1942, Saugerties, New York) is an American performance artist. Early life Montano was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic household, partly Irish and partly Italian, surrounded by artistic activity. Both her ...

. Throughout its history, WORKS/San José has presented performance art, music, film, theater, spoken word, visual and conceptual art, workshops, panels, and lectures. Most exhibitions are produced by guest curators from the community.

References

External links

* {{Bay Area Arts Organizations Art museums and galleries in California 1977 establishments in California Downtown San Jose Art in the San Francisco Bay Area Non-profit organizations based in California Arts organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area

History

Exhibitions and work

References

Further reading

External links