SAN JOSE WALKING TOUR–Public Art as Resistance

SAN JOSE WALKING TOUR–We are pleased to announce the opening of our “Public Art as Resistance in San José” in-person walking tour. Register to join a 9 am, 12 pm, or 3 pm for April 10, 2022, starting at “The Arch of Dignity” at San Jose Staté University campus. Space is limited to 20 participants per tour. Registration opens on March 30. This project adds to the Geography of the Arts, H&A in Action programming by engaging community members in the history of resistance and public art in downtown San José. Generously supported for this first phase by California Humanities, the Spring 2022 activities around downtown San José (free and open to the public) include three in-person, guided walking tours of public art; a self-guided tour (using an artistically-designed map & Linktree); a culminating panel discussion about the art of resistance and resistant public art, monuments, and memorials; and an exhibit at the downtown San José Hammer Theatre curated from a social media hashtag campaign #SJResisArt that invites participants to define resistance in public art for themselves. The walking tour, map, audio tour, social media campaign, exhibit, and panel considers how San José’s communities actively challenge narrow and exclusionary interpretations of local history through public art creation, through both impermanent creations, such as graffiti murals, and more permanent large scale public sculptures, and utilize public art as a space of resistance, resisting both colonialist histories and recent narratives of urban demise through the beautification of urban space via art that showcases the diverse and vibrant life of the city. Self-Guided Tour Available March 30, 2022 – indefinitely. In-Person Tours, April 10, 2022 – 9-11am, 12-2pm & 3-5pm Meet at: “The Arch of Dignity,” San José State University One Washington Square San Jose, CA 95192 To register for an in-person tour, go to this site. For more information, go to Public Arts as Resistance or contact Dr. Katherine D. Harris, Director of Public Programming, College of Humanities & the Arts, Katherine.harris@sjsu.edu. This project is supported by a Humanities for All Quick Grant.