Why not start off 2022 with a free look at some of the best art in town? This Friday, the San Jose Museum of Art gets the year started right with three hours of complimentary art, ranging from vibrant abstract paintings (Break + Bleed) to inquisitive looks at the human body (Our Whole, Unruly Selves). The evening also includes live music from San Jose Jazz, and light bites and hefty pours from el cafecito. It’s a great opportunity to take in Do Ho Suh: Karma one last time, before the mind-bending sculpture leaves the museum later this month.

First Friday
Fri, 6-9pm, Free
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose

Summer really adds color to downtown, and this Friday is a chance to see just how colorful SoFA District can be. Under the blooming jacaranda, Anno Domini, KALEID, Works/San José, Art Ark Gallery, The Citadel, ICA and SJ Museum of Quilts and Textiles will be open and ready for your foot traffic. All that’s missing is a closed off South First Street and booths full of makers and shakers. All of that will be back this August, when Street MRKT returns with food and entertainment to boot. But for now, it’s the dawn of summer, and these galleries are providing one of the most essential services ever known.

South First Fridays #ArtwalkSJ
Fri, June 4, 5pm-9pm, Free
SoFA District, San Jose

San Jose’s glorious Museum of Art stays open late one night a month for an evening of live music, night bites and encounters with art. This month’s First Friday celebration, sponsored by Facebook, features music by Guera/April Garcia and DJ Chale Brown. The museum cafe is open, as are all the current exhibitions at SJMA, including Speed City, an archival look back at the civil rights struggle through the prism of athletics; and the related exhibit With Drawn Arms, in which San Jose State sprinter Tommie Smith collaborated with artist Glenn Kaino to explore the dimensions of Smith’s famous raised-fist protest at the 1968 Olympic Games.

First Friday
Fri, 5pm, Free
San Jose Museum of Art

It is time once again for the monthly South First Friday Art Walk in downtown San Jose’s SoFA District. This month features a reception by artist Mike Egan at Anno Domini; Egan’s third solo show, “Where Death Goes to Die,” is opening there. Also featured this time around at MACLA, an open mic youth showcase for aspiring rappers, spoken word artists, photographers, singers and other creatives. As usual Phantom Galleries will take over Pho 69—with “Out of the Darkness” by Whisper, while artist Monica Valdez will host a reception at The Pierce Apartments to showcase her new work, “Symbiosis.”

South First Friday
Fri, 7pm, Free
SoFA District, San Jose