Picturing Place: Photographs by Gregory Schaffer and Mike Williams

The Art Museum
June 6-September 8

The Museums of Los Gatos presents Picturing Place: Photographs by Gregory Schaffer and Mike Williams, June 6 – September 8, 2013.

Picturing Place is an exhibition that draws on two contemporary photographers’ explorations of their environments. In his landscapes, Seattle photographer Gregory Schaffer explores where people, commerce, economy and natural environment intersect and ultimately define their surroundings. Mike Williams focuses on the intersection of image and text in making observations about the world around him. What emerges is often the humorous and absurd, the tragic and surreal elements of human life. Through sophisticated and intuitive observations about their immediate environments, both photographers use their artwork to suggest shared connections to something much larger.

Schaffer and Williams have studied with William Jenkins, curator of the seminal exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape, which debuted at George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in January, 1975. New Topographics transformed landscape photography in the United States and globally.

Picturing Place also incorporates a gallery for community photographs of the greater Los Gatos area. Picturing Los Gatos will be a rotating selection of images contributed by the community throughout the exhibition period. This growing collection of images can be added to and viewed in The Art Museum and online: Picturing Los Gatos on Flickr.

Picturing Place will close by celebrating a photographic book publication. Brian Taylor, artist and professor at San Jose State University School of Art & Design and Gregory Schaffer will both contribute images taken in and around Los Gatos that artistically describe our Place.

Foto Fun: A BIRD’S EYE TO A WORM’S EYE VIEW (AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN) is a week-long summer photo camp for children ages 6-10. Kids engage in hands-on learning with expert instructors using digital cameras, including smartphones and iPads.

art:inFOCUS Lecture Series
“Where Is Photography Now?” with Brian Taylor
The Art Museum
May 16, 2013
6pm – Reception
7pm – Lecture

Opening Reception
The Art Museum
June 20, 2013
6-9pm

Foto Fun: A BIRD’S EYE TO A WORM’S EYE VIEW (AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN) Kids’ Summer Photo Camp
The Art Museum
July 15-19
9am-noon

Family Art Day
The Art Museum
July 28, 2013
12-3pm
Our Family Art Day will feature a photography project for all ages.
Turn something ordinary into something extraordinary

Closing Reception featuring artist publication with photographs by Gregory Schaffer and Brian Taylor
The Art Museum 
September 8, 2013
6-8pm

Kids’ Summer Photo Camp!

Download the registration form and mail back to:

The Museums of Los Gatos
Kids’ Summer Photo Camp
4 Tait Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95030

If you are paying with a credit card, you may also scan/email the completed registration form to: operations@museumsoflosgatos.org

 Catherine Politopoulos

Catherine was born to the late Paul Kraai and Marion Kraai on May 6th, 1946. She graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1964 and attended San Francisco State University. She married Anthony Politopoulos in 1971 and they lived together in San Francisco, CA until their separation in 1994. Catherine then relocated to Los Gatos.
Catherine was heavily involved in, and was the curator for, the Art Museum of Los Gatos for several years until her retirement last year. She was very successful in bringing in new shows and artists to the museum.

Catherine was an extremely accomplished artist in her own right. She began working with watercolors in college in the late 60′s and continued until the last year of her life.
Catherine is survived by her son, Pavlos, and her daughter-in-law Kristen, her sister, Lila Kraai and her mother, Marion Kraai.

Catherine will be greatly missed by the community and by her Museums family.

April 25 – May 19

Fremont High School senior Danielle Chan won “Best in Show” and a $5,000 scholarship award Thursday evening, April 25 at the second annual Santa Clara County-Wide High School Art Exhibition sponsored by The Museums of Los Gatos.  Awards were presented at the exhibit’s opening reception held at the Museum.  Her winning piece, titled The Future is Encrypted, was selected from 70 artworks juried into the show from 450 submissions.

The exhibition theme of this second annual competition, “Art+Tech+Culture” asked student artists to visually communicate their perspectives about the impact of technology in their lives. A total of $10,000 in professional development scholarships and gift certificates were awarded by the Museums.

In addition to “Best in Show,” thirteen winners shared $5,000 in awards that included first and second place winners in six categories: painting, photography, drawing and prints, mixed media, new media and 3D-sculpture and ceramics. A “People’s Choice” award was determined by public voting online through the Museum’s Facebook page and in person. Congratulations to Connor Church!

The Museums received entries from students representing 23 Santa Clara county high schools.  A panel of three jurors selected the 70 works exhibited.  The jurors, all artist/educators, were: Kenny Mencher, Professor of Art at Ohlone College, Lynn Powers, artist and former Lecturer at San Jose State University and James Morgan, Instructor in Digital Media, San Jose State University and Director of Ars Virtua.

Community sponsors of the exhibition are:  The Mike and Alyce Parsons Foundation; University Art; Heritage Bank; Del Grande Auto Group; Saratoga Rotary; Los Gatos Morning Rotary, The Waitte Foundation.

“The Museum is proud to host such an impressive group of talented artists in an ever expanding circle of Santa Clara Valley high Schools,” states Museum Director John Agg.  “The quality of work and the variety of creative ideas and media was everything one could have wanted, congratulations.”

Adds juror James Morgan,  “I have been teaching digital media art for six years now and worked in the space for another decade. I was impressed by the quality and variety of works that were submitted.  We were faced with difficult decisions in the jurying process because of the skill, content, and the experimental and expressive nature of the work presented.”

Next year’s exhibition theme and dates will be announced early September 2013.

The winners by category are:

Painting:
1st place: Connor Church, Homestead High School
2nd place: Stephany Sanchez-Perez, Del Mar High School

Photography:
1st place:  Elizabeth Fuchs, Los Altos High School
2nd place: Fiona Stolorz, Los Altos High School

Drawing & Prints:
1st place:  Gabriela Taccir, Leigh High School
2nd place:  Freja Mickos, Los Altos High School

Sculpture/Ceramics:
1st place: Alissa Wilson, Ann Sobrato High School
2nd place: Taylor Groves, Homestead High School

Mixed Media:
1st place: Samir Kothari, Palo Alto High School
2nd place: Chaieun Lee, Westmont High School

New Media
1^st place:  Phoenix Suranofsky, Westmont High School
2^nd place:  Catherine Huang, Homestead High School

Danielle Chan, Best in Show

2013 First and Second Place Winners

Healthy Food that Tastes Great!

• Multicultural cuisine prepared by local chefs (for a reasonable price)
• Healthy, seasonal snack demo by Chef Laura Stec
• All-natural ice cream making
• With healthy ingredients from local farms and producers

Family Entertainment!

• Award-winning singer-songwriter Andy-Z, Cornish-Lauder Bluegrass Duo, Mariachis and Lion Dancers are scheduled to perform!
• Interpretive hikes and games galore!
• A green, zero-waste event with free admission and parking.

Experience the taste of fresh farm foods in the beautiful 348-acre Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve!

REGISTER for this free event at: familyfarmfeast.eventbrite.com

Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve
550 Palm Avenue • Morgan Hill
408-224-7576 | www.openspaceauthority.org

SPONSORED BY

 
 
 
 
 
 
PRESENTED BY

Peter Carter

The Museums of Los Gatos family will greatly miss our dear friend Peter Carter. In sorrow, and in celebration of his life, we remember how Peter motivated the community with his enthusiasm and his warm, mischievous spirit. His reputation was inextricably tied to arts, music and photography in Los Gatos. We deeply hope that Peter’s family and friends find comfort in the love and support of the community that surrounds them.

Richard Walker, author of The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area

The History Museum
May 8, 2013
6:00 pm – Reception with refreshments
6:30 pm – Lecture
FREE

The Museums of Los Gatos presents a history:inFOCUS lecture  Wednesday, May 8th from 6:00-8:00pm at the History Museum of Los Gatos, 75 Church Street.

The lecture features UC Berkeley professor and author Richard Walker in conversation with Sempervirens Fund Executive Director Reed Holderman.

Professor Walker and Holderman will discuss Walker’s 2010 book, The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area and the history of environmentalism in the Bay Area. Despite a population of 7 million people, the San Francisco Bay Area is more greensward than asphalt jungle, more open space than hardscape. The Country in the City tells the story of how the complex geography of this greenbelt has been preserved and created over time.