Tara Mechani is getting an extended stay in downtown San Jose.
The 15-foot-high metal sculpture, the most recent Burning Man artwork from the “Playa to the Paseo” partnership, was supposed to be removed from Plaza de Cesar Chavez in early June but Kerry Adams-Hapner, San Jose’s director of cultural affairs, says it will continue to delight visitors through Aug. 13. If you’re checking the calendar, that means Tara Mechani will still be around when thousands of people flock to San Jose Jazz Summer Fest’s main stage in the park.
At a May celebration for the 15-foot sculpture, artist Dana Albany said she appreciated its place in San Jose’s busiest downtown park. “This is a bad-ass woman and she’s sitting in the middle of a park,” Albany said, noting that at downtown parks around the world, most of the statues you see are of men. “They’re dudes, and they’re in war regalia and they’ve got guns and they’re on horses. It’s nice to represent a beautiful female being that represents compassion and have her hang out in our public plaza.”
While the figure is based on Tara, the Buddha’s female form, it’s made out of recycled materials. Look closely and you’ll see bicycle chains, door locks and drawer pulls, along with machine parts, gears and cogs. There’s also a chandelier within the sculpture’s chest that illuminates the piece from within.
“The whole idea was to create this being that encompasses this ancient ideology with future mechanics and technology,” Albany said. “Instead of seeing these worlds at odds but to see the beauty that each one represents and brings to our world is really important.”
TIMELY SPEAKER FOR YWCA: With the #MeToo movement in full force and the future of the Supreme Court on everyone’s mind, the YWCA of Silicon Valley has announced that Anita Hill will be the keynote speaker at its 28th annual Inspire Luncheon this fall. Hill, of course, brought the issue of sexual harassment to the forefront in 1991 when she was a central figure during the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas.
A professor at Brandeis University, Hill is still deeply involved in those issues in the entertainment industry as the leader of the Commission on Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace. The YWCA luncheon will be held Oct. 30 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Registration information is available at www.ywca-sv.org.
BILINGUAL ACHIEVEMENT: A trio of students from Adelante Academy in San Jose are heading to the National Spanish Spelling Bee in San Antonio, July 10-12. Fourth-grader Michael Damian Gomez Trujillo was the winner of a local contest in April, and he’ll be joined by the two runners-up, fifth-grader Victor Heredia and fourth-grader Jovan Sarellano.
They received congratulations and a boost to their efforts from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors earlier this month as Supervisor Dave Cortese presented the mejores deletreadores — that’s best spellers for those who didn’t win a contest — with a $4,500 check to sponsor their travel to Texas.
ARTISTIC COMEBACK: In 1999, Paul and Liz Nyberg led an effort called “Paint the Town” to have local artists create paintings of shops and other businesses in downtown Los Altos. Nearly 20 years later, the Los Altos History Museum is paying homage to it with “Paint the Town II: Echoes of Our Past,” a new exhibition that combines art and history for a three-month run starting July 5.
The show features the work of 50 artists from the area, highlighting historic places, buildings, memorials and homes that tell the story of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and the surrounding area. In addition to paintings, artists sent in textile art and metal engraving. The juried show will have a reception July 19, when visitors can also vote for their favorite piece. Go to www.losaltoshistory.org for details.
LOOKING FOR SCHOLARS: Since 1990, retired South Bay newsman Rigo Chacon has made it his mission to send more kids to college through his Abrazos & Books scholarship program. He founded the nonprofit to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, during which he got to see firsthand both the devastation and reconstruction of the city’s schools.
Though the program’s name includes “abrazos,” the Spanish word for embrace, Chacon emphasizes that the scholarships are open to college-bound Santa Clara County students of any ethnicity. The application window for this year’s scholarships is open until July 30, and you can get more details at www.abrazosandbooks.org.
SINGING THE PRAISES OF VETERANS: Opera San Jose’s Military Veterans Chorus is receiving a nice boost in the form of a $3,000 grant from the California Arts Council’s Veterans in the Arts program. The chorus, which was formed in October 2016 for a fundraising concert for homeless veterans, has gone on to perform at the veterans’ hospital in Menlo Park, on the USS Hornet aircraft carrier in Alameda, and at Santana Row’s Honor on the Row event for Veterans Day.
DRIVEN TO BE PRESIDENT: Former President Bill Clinton and bestselling novelist James Patterson were at SAP Center Thursday evening to promote “The President is Missing,” the new thriller they co-authored. Patterson called the story, which revolves around a cybersecurity threat to the United States, “the scariest book I’ve ever written.”
But, he jokingly confided to the San Jose audience, one thing “scarier than this book” is letting Clinton drive the cart when the two play golf. The former Prez conceded he hasn’t been behind the wheel much in decades — except for teaching daughter Chelsea Clinton to drive at Camp David and, in 2002, driving a 1924 Buick that had belonged to his uncle and had gone up for auction.
