Viva CalleSJ is coming back Nov. 7, closing several miles of San Jose streets to vehicle traffic and giving them over to cyclists, skateboarders and strollers.
And if it feels like the city’s “open streets” event just happened, it’s not your imagination. This edition is quickly following one that took place in mid-September, and the city’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services department is planning for two more next spring.
It’s all part of a program called “Abierto” — which means “open” in Spanish — that aims to activate parks and other outdoor spaces to get residents engaged again after more than a year of COVID-19 closures for businesses and some public spaces. Daniel Lazo, spokesperson for PRNS, says the city is using American Rescue Plan funds to quadruple public space activations through the program.
The four Viva CalleSJ events are part of that, plus 100 other events taking place in city parks under the “Viva Parks” umbrella. The department is also facilitating $1.4 million in grants to arts organizations to provide other activities throughout San Jose.
The Nov. 7 Viva CalleSJ will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The route is different than September, with three activity hubs at Parque de los Pobladores in downtown’s arty SoFA District, Kelley Park on Story Road and Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen. Those three points will be connected along Alma Avenue, Keyes Street and South First Street. As usual, there will be spots along the route where vehicles can cross and the northbound lanes of South First Street will remain open from Alma to Humboldt St.
Some drivers will gripe about the inconvenience, but these events have been overwhelmingly popular since the city started holding them in 2015 and provide a great way to explore a different part of San Jose in a way that’s just not possible in a car.
You can get more details and check for updates at www.vivacallesj.org.
TAPESTRY OF A CAREER: Nancy Bavor will be retiring as executive director of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles at the end of the year, bringing to a close an eight-year relationship with the institution, including the past four at its helm.
She told me this week that it seemed like the right time to step away with the museum on stable financial ground and its collection expanded. She forged partnerships with other groups including Opera San Jose, Local Color, Veggielution and Somos Mayfair that raised the museum’s profile in San Jose’s arts community and definitely brought newcomers through its doors.
If you haven’t been to the museum at 520 S. First St. in the heart of San Jose’s SoFA District, you really should check it out. The current exhibitions are “More Impact: Climate Change,” featuring work by members of Tapestry Weavers West that explore the changing global environment, and “Layered & Stitched: 50 Years of Innovative Art,” a showcase of 50 art quilts from around the globe. Go to www.sjquiltmuseum.org for hours and admission prices.
BIG DEALS IN BOOKS: Several years ago, Mary Pacifico Curtis — who founded the Silicon Valley communications firm Pacifico, began devoting more time to her writing, resulting in the poetry book, “Between Rooms,” and “The White Tree Quartet,” a collection of four poetry cycles. Now, she’s excited to get the word out that her memoir told in essays, “Understanding Moonseed,” is being published by BlazeVOX. “This 12-year project has been a deeply personal labor of love, the product of many changes in my life along the way,” she said, adding that the book should be available in time for the holidays.
Meanwhile, bestselling crime fiction author Gregg Hurwitz, a Bellarmine College Prep grad, has scored a deal with Paramount Players, which has optioned eight books from his “Marked Man” series to make modern noir thrillers with a variety of up-and-coming filmmakers. Hurwitz will co-produce the series with Scott Frank, the Emmy Award-winning director and writer of “The Queen’s Gambit.” Sounds like a winning move to me.
VALLE MONTE TRIES SOMETHING NEW: Valle Monte League has reimagined its traditional two-day, three-event Christmas Tree Elegance fundraiser for 2021 into a European Christmas market. Instead of taking place in a hotel ballroom packed with people, the Dec. 3-4 event will be outdoors at Hearts & Minds Activity Center in San Jose, one of the mental health charities that benefits from the annual event.
There will be merchandise and food vendors, entertainment from the Harker School’s “Downbeat” band and a special visit from Santa Claus himself. Of course, the designer Christmas trees — the highlight of Christmas Tree Elegance every year — will still be part of the event, with seven professionally decorated trees on display that will be given away through a donation drawing. And instead of mountains of gifts, each tree has been paired with an experience like a weeklong Las Vegas stay, club seats to a Warriors game, front row seats to a Sharks game and a package of tickets to Disneyland, Great America and the Winchester Mystery House.
Tickets to “A Merry Christmas Market” are available for $35 for adults and $10 for children through Nov. 24, when the price goes up. Go to www.vallemonte.org/christmas-market-2021 for details.
