Holiday art highlights South First Fridays
This week’s South First Fridays art crawl in downtown San Jose is free as usual, but this is one time to bring your wallet because there are some good opportunities for holiday-shopping art lovers.
This month’s lineup includes “HARK!,” the 11th annual holiday show and sale at Kaleid Gallery (88 S. Fourth St.). There are hundreds of works available from 50 invited artists, including Jenifer Renzel, Michael Foley, Michelle Waters, Al Preciado and Mike Borja. They’re priced at a good range for gift-giving, too.
A few blocks away, Works/San Jose (365 S. Market St.) is kicking off its 40th year with an opening reception for its annual art auction benefit, running from 6 to 10 p.m. The community art center is showcasing more than 100 works from regional artists — including Charlotte Kruk, Bill Gould, Tony May, George Rivera, Andre Hart and Kathryn Dunlevie — and they’ll be on display all week until the Dec. 10 auction. Over at Higher Fire Clayspace and Gallery (499 S. Market St.), check out the hand painted ceramic work of Bay Area artist Chris Ostrom. There’ll be a reception for the exhibition, as well as a holiday gift gallery, starting at 7 p.m.
And if you’d rather look than buy, head over to MACLA (510 S. First St.), which will feature the sixth Chicana/o Biennial — an event that brings out the latest in Latino art. Artists talks begin at 7 p.m., and Melanie Cervantes and Eugene Rodriguez, who juried the show, also will be around to talk to visitors.
There’s plenty more at galleries throughout downtown. Get the full lineup and a walking map at www. southfirstfridays.com.
TOAST TO THE TWELFTH MONTH: South Bay composer/lyricist Ted Kopulos is back right when we need him. After a two-season hiatus, he’s bringing back “Decembrance,” a revue filled with songs dedicated to everything that happens in the final month of the year. We’re not just talking about the biggies, either. “Everything from Walt Disney and Beethoven’s birthdays to the shopping rush, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s and more,” Kopulos says.
The one-night-only show Friday is at the Black Cat Licorice Theater in San Jose, which is also home base for American Improv Theatre. The small venue is at 260 McEvoy St., at the corner of West San Carlos Street in Midtown. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $10 and you can get them online at www. americanimprovtheatre. com.
SOUNDS OF THE SEASON: The 25-member Stewart Tartan Pipes and Drums will present its 23rd annual Holiday Scottish Concert on Saturday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Saratoga. The free show starts at 3 p.m. and will feature Scottish ballads, caroling and appearances by the Peninsula Scottish Fiddlers, vocalist Burr Nissen and the San Jose School of Highland Dancing. Peninsula residents can catch them at Trinity Presbyterian Church in San Carlos at 3 p.m. Dec. 10.
TRANSITIONAL THOUGHT: Many of us have been attentive — perhaps too attentive — to the various Twitter missives launched by Presidentelect Donald Trump. Los Gatos resident Elisa Gerston muses that the transition from President Barack Obama — known for his more eloquent speeches — is already apparent. “We’re going from teachable moments,” she said, “to tweetable moments!”