Bold Mural Project Inspires Community-Building and Celebrates Creativity
San Jose, CA –Acclaimed multi-media artist Jaque Fragua of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico is transforming the museum’s massive stucco covered-entry into a pallet of brightly colored imagery and bold symbols inspired from community input. The artist created the iconographic motifs based on design ideas submitted by 50 Rocketship Alma Academy 2nd – 5th grade students, EY corporate volunteers, and museum staff. The mural will cover the length of the portico from ceiling to pillars, creating a dramatic and immersive experience as visitors approach the museum. The project supports the museum’s strategic commitment, Creativity through the Arts.
The mural is part of Community Pathways, the museum’s pilot program funded by San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affairs to activate the spaces outside the museum. The grant came from the city’s Creating Connections initiative designed to celebrate creativity throughout San Jose.
“We celebrate children’s creativity every day at the museum and we’re grateful for the city’s support to express this in such a remarkably public and beautiful way,” said Marilee Jennings, executive director of Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. “The museum has always seen itself as part of the fabric of downtown and this project furthers the collaborative work we’ve begun with our neighbors.”
Community Pathways is part of the larger collaboration with CommUniverCity and the Delmas Neighborhood Association, whose aim is to adopt, activate, and beautify the neighborhood surrounding the museum in support of Mayor Sam Liccardo’s goal of “beautifying San Jose.” Fragua’s work joins the recent mural on the north end of the portico facing San Carlos Street, a stunning portrait of a young Sophie Cruz by the renowned muralist El Mac, funded by the San Jose Museum of Art.
