First Fridays ArtWalk SJ November 6th 5pm–9pm
SoFA District (& beyond!) downtown San Jose
Bring your family and friends out for a creative night of art, performance and connect with our amazing creative community!
Galleries and museums are open late & free entry with great art exhibitions on view & special programming to experience. All free entry and all ages welcome.
Free street parking after 6pm. Free 90 minute parking in City garages (So. 3rd & San Carlos streets)
SoFA District
ANNO DOMINI // the second coming of Art & Design – 366 S. First St. map
Opening reception: An Empire of the Lost
Joseph Loughborough (1981–2025) Tribute Exhibition
“Honesty, expressionism, and possibly exorcism can be read in Loughborough’s impulsive, intuitive, rapid-fire mark-making, which strives to grasp an understanding of the human condition.” — Deciphering the Ash of Effigies, Joseph Loughborough solo exhibit 2013 A.D.
Joseph Loughborough is a pillar in the soul architecture of Anno Domini. We had the honor of hosting four stunning solo exhibitions spanning 13 years of his genius and friendship. It was devastating to learn of his passing in June 2025 from his partner, Audrey, in London.
During our time together, we would watch Joseph put charcoal to paper and then smudge, rub or erase particular areas with a rag or his bare hands. He would move up and down the surface, his whole body engaged in the mark-making over and over again until his intended image emerged. His figures seem to inhabit a realm familiar to us, yet utterly strange. They would ascend from a cavernous darkness, slowly illuminated by the light Joe bestowed upon them. They were beyond beautiful…they were otherworldly.
His depiction of the human condition wasn’t one of those who had been abandoned by the gods. His figures were defiant. They peered into you and revealed new mythologies full of contradictions and distortions that we could understand in these modern times.
Joseph leaves behind a body of work imbued with the spirit of the master painters of German Expressionism whom he admired, the contemplations of existential writers like Camus and Kierkegaard, skater culture, and the derelict boatyards of his youth in Portsmouth …all the things he loved.
Each artwork is a marked communication from Joseph—the artist in the past—to us, the viewer in the present. It is here that we can have an enduring conversation with the Artist: between the light and the dark, solitude and connection, between the humor and absurdity of existence.
“Stability is an illusion. The moment is everything. The present.” — Joseph Loughborough, from a notation in his sketchbook.
KALEID Gallery – 320 S. First St. map
Artist’s reception: The Winter Solstice
David Mejia Solo Exhibition
In an Age of Ice and Darkness, a man named Feroule has lost his clan to the great Frost. Fleeing South, he encounters the clever and long-living Dwarves, who migrate with mighty herds of reindeer. Some reindeer have a special gift for flight. Having created the first drums, Dwarves invoke shamanistic powers over nature and commune with the spirit world. A sacred covenant exists between them and Twin Reindeer Deities, to watch over the reindeer herds, who in turn pull their sleighs.
Igythar, the oldest shaman who once flew with reindeer, tells of the sun which traversed the sky a thousand years ago in his youth. Deformed shamans emerged from beneath the earth and stole it, cursing The North Pole with Frost and consuming the world beneath clouds. Today the Frost moves to engulf the planet, and everyone must escape South, despite dark magicians impeding their path. Igythar has dedicated his life to retrieving the sun, or finding the one who can. Feroule’s unique talents might make him the last hope, if he can conquer his fears in time.
My story is loosely based on Northern European myths about deities riding through the sky, the ancient winter solstice rituals to ensure the sun’s return, Sami culture, and Shamanism. While not the direct influence of Santa Claus (Bishop Nicholas of Myrna), these elements played a part in shaping the Winter gift giver. I was inspired to create a proto-Santa legend focusing on those elements. I’ve set it in a mythic Stone Age to play with the full range of primitive themes. It has become a long labor of love, and this art show is what I have done so far. The final result will be an illustrated story book for purchase and a feature length animated film.
MACLA Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana – 510 S. First St. map
Poetic Utterances: Work by Viviana Paredes
A renowned figure in contemporary art, San Francisco-based sculptor and multimedia artist Viviana Paredes creates transformative works that honor Indigenous and Latinx ancestral traditions. Supported by the Creative Work Fund, Poetic Utterances uses glass, light, sound, and organic materials to explore Indigenous practices, language, and our relationship to climate change.
The evening includes a performance by Venezuelan dance group Dulce Tricolor
Opera San José at California Theater – 345 S. First St. map
Join us for Opera on First, our free community event presented in partnership with the South First Fridays ArtWalk SJ at the historic California Theatre!
Drop by between 5:30 PM and 8:30 PM to enjoy live performances, hear the historic Wurlitzer organ played by Jerry, and catch an exclusive preview of Opera San José’s upcoming production of Fiddler on the Roof.
Featured Performers: Carly Passer (soprano), Arden Hearne (soprano), Adellyn Mae Geenen (mezzo-soprano), Spencer Greene (tenor), Nicolas Vasquez-Gerst (tenor), Michael Jesse Kuo (baritone), and Veronika Agranov-Dafoe (pianist).
Celebrate local art and live music in the heart of downtown San José—we can’t wait to see you there!
Phantom Galleries at The Pierce Apts. Lobby Gallery – 2 Pierce Ave. map
Artist’s reception: Points of Perspective
Eddie Ramirez Solo Exhibition
I look at San Jose with a unique point of view, as all San Joseans do. Painting San Jose has always reminded me of my own connections to this place where I was born and raised, but something unexpected happened as I started to share my art with the public. I got to hear the perspectives of so many people. Unintentionally, I made strong connections with so many people, and putting a spotlight on the locations of San Jose brought out stories from both the past and the present. I consider it a gift to hear these stories from so many people, to know that my work has brought a little nostalgia back. It’s a wonderful thing to create something that people connect to.
The reception features live music by Mike Huguenor
Mike Huguenor is a musician and writer from San Jose, CA, known for playing in a variety of punk and indie rock bands, including Shinobu, Hard Girls, and Jeff Rosenstock (as well as making solo music under his own name).
San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art– 560 S. First St. map
To Give and Take
Greg Ito Solo Exhibition
To Give and Take is a new solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based, Bay Area–trained artist Greg Ito that explores cycles of sacrifice, inheritance, and renewal through personal narrative and collective memory. Drawing inspiration from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Ito traces how the story’s meaning shifts over time: from a childhood story of generosity into a meditation on the emotional and physical exchanges that shape generations. Driven by his own recent experience of becoming a father, Ito creates work dedicated to the future, exploring what we leave behind for the next generation.
The exhibition features new paintings, sculptures, and a video installation alongside previous works, rendered in Ito’s signature graphic style. Using flat exterior house paint with meticulous precision, he builds layered, surreal scenes that move between domestic interiors and shifting environmental landscapes where time feels compressed and overlapping. Within these environments, carefully constructed paintings function as symbolic windows, inviting us to consider our relationship to climate change, resilience, and what we carry.
Please join us on Friday evening, November 6 from 6-9pm for the Silent Auction Closing Event. All artwork for this year’s Benefit and Art Auction is installed and available for bidding in the David Pace Gallery. You can participate in the silent auction online, but you will have more fun if you join us in person! On November 6, we will be closing the silent auction lots with a celebratory event, including snacks, drinks, and music. This event is free and open to all.
San Jose Jazz – 310 South First St. map
SJZ Break Room Jazz Jam
SJZ U19s and Michael Webster Group
San Jose Jazz brings free live music to the First Fridays ArtWalk SJ The night opens with sets from the SJZ U19s and the Michael Webster Group, then moves into an all-ages jam session featuring some of the South Bay’s best amateur players. Bring your instrument and sign up to play, or drop in anytime to listen.
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles – 520 South First St. map
Soft Structures: The Female Body as Labor and Resistance
Participating Artists: Flo Oy Wong, Kayla Dantz, Sydney Kleinrock, Maddie Duda, Zoey Mubiru, Rose Sellery, Victoria May, Robin Lasser, Tana Quincy Arcega, Tiersa Nureyev, Liz Harvey, Tien Chiu and artists from our collection
Soft Structures: The Female Body as Labor and Resistance examines the female experience through textile art, emphasizing work about women’s bodies, labor, and resistance. This exhibition brings together contemporary and historical female artists working with quilts, wearables, sculptures, mixed media, photography, hand weaving, and textile painting.
Historic District
Chopsticks Alley Gallery – 38 S. 2nd St. map
Flavors of the Diasporas: A Culinary Journey of Belonging
Participating artists: Hadi Aghaee, Ryan Boun, Eileen, Wong Cervera, Hang Huynh, Saraswathy Lakshmivaraham, Pragati Sharma Mohanty, VC Tang, and Justin Tran.
Food carries memory. A familiar scent can recall a childhood moment, a dish can bring back a person or place, and a recipe passed through generations can keep traditions alive. This exhibition brings together artists from Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Iran, and India who now call the Bay Area home. What begins with food expands into an exploration of cultural memory, migration, identity, and belonging. Together, the artists invite us on a multisensory journey through food, movement, image, sound, and story, revealing the many ways we carry culture with us and make a place our own.
7pm presentation: Mortar, Pestle, and Lights : Cooking and Light Show with Artists VC Tang and Combsy
Works/San Jose – 38 S. 2nd St. map
Under the Same Roof / Bajo el Mismo Techo
Opening on First Friday night, Under the Same Roof / Bajo el Mismo Techo speaks to the complexities of basic needs insecurity in California.
Through diverse media, Valerie Mendoza, Samantha Saldaña, and Oscar Lopez each reflect on their experiences with systematic failures that contribute to domestic instability. This exhibition confronts the pitfalls of the implied security of the American Dream through narrative and storytelling. Each segment of the exhibition is one piece of a larger mosaic that defines security. Perspectives of duplicity, precariousness, and resilience demonstrate the intricacies of establishing permanence in America. Visitors will also be invited to participate in the art-making process through a screen printing workshop.
Martha Gardens District
Art Ark Gallery – 1035 S. Sixth St. map
More the Merrier 2026
Participating artists: Amanda Brannon, Art by Laury, Aster Vale Studio, Charmaine Hussain, Christopher Lee Denise, Cosmo Rahn, David Benaroya Helfant, Francisco Ramirez, Fusion Folk Art of India, Gianfranco Paolozzi, Helena Ljoljic, Jaben Hastings-Melville, J.B. Lambert, John Gayler, Jonathan, Ketaki Adi, Lalima Srivastava, Mara Catherine Sippel Art, Michael Stewart, Miguel Espinosa, Monica Waldman, Mykola Kulishov, Nona Weiner, Quality HDR Photography, Robert Windle, Sarabjit Singh, Showing Up for Racial Justice: SURJ, Sujata Tibrewala, Tamara Danoyan, Tanya Momi, Tom Shulruff, Yeung Ha
Join us for our most anticipated event of the year! Discover and collect one-of-a-kind artworks for yourself or loved ones while celebrating the incredible creativity of our local artists and enjoying live music!
Fuse Presents at the Citadel – 199 Marth Street map
MONOCHROME BLAU
All in blue in an all blue space!
An immersive installation by Mo Crowe, Heiko Greb and Ken Joye featuring multiple sculptures, paintings and costumes. Come wander thru a surreal large blue art space and be part of this multi disciplinary art installation.
MONOCHROME BLAU is accompanied by a group show of many supporting artists in the adjacent gallery
Machu Picchu Gallery of the Americas at The Citadel – 199 Marth Street map
DIA de los MUERTOS Celebration: REMEMBERING our LOVED ONES
by Brian M. Smith and Olga Enciso Smith
DIA de los MUERTOS or DAY of the DEAD along with All Souls Day is commemorated throughout Mexico and Latin America in November of each year. It is a time of sharing the pain and sorrow of losing a loved one. Also, a time of joy for the happy memories their lives have brought to us.
In the spirit of this Latin American tradition, a special OFRENDA (Offering) has been constructed at Machu Picchu Gallery of the Americas by Brian M. Smith (the gallery’s founder’s son) and the founder Olga Enciso Smith . A display of colors, aromas and typical artifacts including fresh marigold with papel picado (delicate cut paper), corn stalks, candles, gourds, and handmade skeleton figures that border on the humorous representing the occupations of the deceased persons. Various foods favored by him/her also are added in keeping with the belief of life after death.
The gallery’s original Ofrenda was dedicated to two Latino children and a college student who had tragically died in car accidents in 1986. Since then the Ofrenda is dedicated to the community. It has served as a process of healing for parents, families and friends who have experienced the pain of losing a loved one. Family and friends rally with moments of joy to have had a loved one’s gift of life with us on earth.
Relatives or friends who wish to have a loved one’s memory commemorated are invited to bring a photo of him/her for the Ofrenda’s dedication which will take place Friday November 6, 5pm-9pm. The public is asked to bring the photo with a self-addressed envelope.
First Fridays ArtWalk SJ is produced by CURATUS in partnership with the participating galleries, museums and the indie arts community.
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South FIRST FRIDAYS
366 S 1st Street
San Jose, CA 95113
408-271-5155
info@southfirstfridays.com