Make + Mingle

Thursday, April 20 |  6-8pm  |  $25 General, $20 Members  |  21+

Enjoy a glass of wine or two and pull up a stool at the craft table where local leatherware maker Khoi Le will help you make a personalized stamped leather key chain. All materials provided. And while you're here, you can explore the galleries. Oh, and bring your friends!

Ticket includes gallery admission, two drinks and craft materials. Your ticket(s) will be reserved under your name and available at the door. 

Indigo Dye Night Workshop

Thursday, March 30  |  6-8:30pm  |  Ages 13+

$30 NUMU Members, $35 General

It will be a night to dye for! Take advantage of this pop-up evening workshop to explore the basics of dyeing with indigo, learn new folding techniques, and practice creating patterns and varying color depth. 

Each participant will be provided with one yard of muslin fabric, but participants are encouraged to bring their own un-dyed cotton, linen, or silk fabrics as well, including t-shirts and napkins. Please wear clothes you don't mind getting messy, as indigo will stain fabrics.

Zoë Umholtz is a graduate of the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland Oregon majoring in Fiber Arts. She has been living in California for the past three years, and has been rediscovering her love for natural indigo dyeing and working with small, local communities.

Make + Mingle  |  St. Patrick's Eve with Loma Brewing Co. 

Thursday, March 16  |  6-8pm  |  $25 General, $20 Members  |  21+

We will be serving up a specialty craft brew generously offered by Loma Brewing Co. with a complementary arts + craft chaser. Explore the galleries and check out the Black Box Theater's current film screening. Oh, and bring your friends!

Ticket includes gallery admission, two drinks and craft materials. Your ticket(s) will be reserved under your name and available at the door. 

Make + Mingle  |  Valentine's Second Chance Sponsored by The Lexington House

Thursday, February 16  |  6-8pm  |  $25 General, $20 Members  |  21+

Pre-sale tickets available here

We will be serving up a specialty love potion offered by The Lexington House. Discover your destiny and have your tarot cards read by exhibiting artist Andrea Borsuk. Then create your own tarot cards in the craft studio and explore the galleries. Oh, and bring your friends!

Ticket includes gallery admission, two drinks, craft project and materials. Wine and water will also be served. Your ticket(s) will be reserved under your name and available at the door. 

Let's Go to the Moon with Dennis Wingo + Casey Harper

Thursday, February 2  |  7-8pm  |  Free with Admission to NUMU

“Let’s Go to the Moon!” In 1960, president Kennedy challenged the country to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In order to reach this daunting goal, NASA needed high-res photographs of the lunar surface to pinpoint the first Apollo moon landing. The images taken by the unmanned Lunar Orbiter in 1966 were almost lost to history until 2008, when a band of rogue scientists and some twelve-year-old summer interns worked together to save them in an abandoned McDonald’s building on the NASA campus. Come hear this lively tale of how this team saved lunar image history.

Mackenzie "Casey" Harper is the current Project Lead for LOIRP, where she began working as an intern in 2008 at age 12. LOIRP is where she developed her love for how engineering, machinery, and how things work. She then became fulfillment manager on the ISEE-3 Reboot Project in 2014, before becoming the LOIRP Project Lead. She will study robotics engineering at UCSC. 

Make + Mingle

Thursday, January 19  |  6-8pm  |  $25 General, $20 Members  |  21+

Presale tickets HERE

Our first Make + Mingle is generously sponsored by Charley's LG. We will be serving up a specialty cocktail with a complementary arts + craft chaser. Make your own custom felt coaster set. Explore the galleries and check out the Black Box Theater's current film screening. Oh, and bring your friends!

Ticket includes gallery admission, two drinks, craft project and materials. Wine, beer, and water will also be served. 

Stories of American Indian Relocation

Thursday, January 12  |  7-8pm

Free with Admission to NUMU*
 

Between 1952 and 1980, thousands of American Indians left their reservations to one of six major cities in the United States.  The program was designed to offer economic opportunities, assimilation into mainstream society and eventually end the reservation system.  Many thrived in the cities, while others facing loneliness and cultural erosion.  Ultimately, it united native peoples from diverse tribes, creating the modern Pan –Indian identity. 

Join us as we talk to members of the San Jose Indian community who migrated to the area as a part of the relocation program. We will discuss their struggles, successes, and current methods of maintaining their heritage, both for themselves and future generations.

*all proceeds go to support programming + exhibits, NUMU is a nonprofit 501(c)3.

Anne Brigman Story Share + Curatorial Tour

Thursday, December 8  |  6:30pm - 8:00pm  |  Free for Members + NonMembers

Come explore the art of storytelling and poetry, inspired by our current exhibition In the Heart of the Wild: Anne Brigman and her Inner Circle. For this Story Share, we will be led on a tour of the exhibit In the Heart of the Wild by NUMU Art Curator Marianne McGrath. Then, the group will create stories individually or collaborate to build a story, inspired by the work of Anne Brigman. 

Born in 1869, Anne Brigman moved to Los Gatos when she was 16 years old. She first studied painting, but gravitated to photography and began exhibiting in 1902. Brigman focused on rugged landscapes and the female body, which resulted in new ways to explore feminine identity. She exhibited nationally and abroad, was published both as an artist in the photo journal Camera Work, and as a poet in her book Songs of A Pagan. All of her work reveals a love of nature, a connection to the mystical and an element of freedom. 

NUMU hosts a monthly gathering celebrating the oral tradition of storytelling. Led by experienced members of the Storytelling Association of California (SAC), participants, from novice to expert, can both listen and have the opportunity to share their own stores. No experience necessary. Second Thursday of each month downstairs, in the NUMU Studio. Adult content, may not be appropriate for children.

Songs of a Pagan: Anne Brigman and the Figure in Photography

Thursday, December 1  |  7-8pm
$10 Members  |  $15 General

Anne Brigman depicted ethereal, nude women in wilderness landscapes, hauling her heavy camera equipment into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. She won accolades from traditionally male arts organizations, defied early twentieth century conventions of photography, and challenged the role of women in the arts. Complementing our current exhibition, In the Heart of the Wild: Anne Brigman and Her Circle, art historian and museum consultant Ami Davis will present an overview of Anne Brigman's artwork within the context of the figure in photography. 

Ami Davis is committed to making art relevant and accessible to all audiences. An independent museum professional and consultant, Ami has worked in art museums since 1998, with a focus on art history, exhibitions, education, leadership, and community partnerships. She has served institutions such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Monterey Museum of Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art, and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. 

Black Box Theater  |  Reel Injun Screening

Friday, November 18  |  11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm
Free with Admission

13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. 

In support of our exhibition Cement Prairie: The History and Legacy of the 1952 American Indian Urban Relocation Program, NUMU's Black Box Theatre will be screening Reel Injun. 

Reel Injun (2009) is a 2009 Canadian documentary film directed by Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, and Jeremiah Hayes that explores the portrayal of Native Americans in film. 

Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hour 26 minutes Genres: Documentary, Western

Black Box Theater  |  Reel Injun Screening

Thursday, November 17  |  11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 6:00pm
Free with Admission

13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. 

In support of our exhibition Cement Prairie: The History and Legacy of the 1952 American Indian Urban Relocation Program, NUMU's Black Box Theatre will be screening Reel Injun. 

Reel Injun (2009) is a 2009 Canadian documentary film directed by Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, and Jeremiah Hayes that explores the portrayal of Native Americans in film. 

Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hour 26 minutes Genres: Documentary, Western

Pop-Up Day of the Dead Altar + Crafts

Thursday, October 27  |  6-8pm
Free with admission, $5 materials fee for crafts

Join NUMU and Galeria Arte as we build our own Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead altar. Day of the Dead altars are built during Dia de los Muertos to honor the lives of those who have passed. They are beautiful creations, constructed with love and care. The altar installation will be led by the staff of Galeria Arte from 6-7pm, and we will create traditional crafts from 6-8pm.  

Design beautiful paper flowers, decorate sugar skulls, and create papel picado, or perforated paper, a Mexican art form that can add some color to your altar. These creations are traditionally used to decorate the altar, but you can choose to take your creations home with you or leave them on the altar at NUMU. 

Pop-Up Indigo Dye Night

Thursday, October 20  |  6-8pm
$20 Members  |  $25 General

This program is sold out, please email education@numulosgatos.org if you would like your name to be added to a wait list. 

It will be a night to DYE for! Take advantage of this pop-up evening workshop to explore the basics of dyeing with indigo, learn new folding techniques, and practice creating patterns and varying color depth. 

Each participant will be provided with one yard of muslin fabric, but participants are encouraged to bring their own un-dyed cotton, linen, or silk fabrics as well, including t-shirts and napkins. Please wear clothes you don't mind getting messy, as indigo will stain fabrics. 

StoryShare

Thursday, October 13  |  6:30pm - 8:00pm  |  Free for Members + NonMembers

Come explore the art of storytelling. NUMU will host a monthly gathering celebrating the oral tradition of storytelling. Led by experienced members of the Storytelling Association of California (SAC), participants, from novice to expert, can both listen and have the opportunity to share their own stores. No experience necessary. Second Thursday of each month downstairs, in the NUMU Studio. Adult content, may not be appropriate for children.

Normandy and French Landscapes through the eyes of the Impressionists with Celine Glon

Thursday, September 29  |  7pm - 8pm  |  $10 Members, $15 Non-Members

This lecture is a voyage to Normandy, which was for most impressionist artists their birthplace, and home. Its proximity to Paris together with the burgeoning number of fashionable seaside resorts like Honfleur, Deauville or Trouville along its coast meant that artists came to the region by train and stayed, producing an artistic legacy which would be hard to rival anywhere.

Discover painters such as Eugene Boudin and his influence Claude Monet’s work upon introducing the latter to natural light. Impressionist painters used this natural light to concentrate on landscapes, towns and scenes of daily life. 

Finally, travel to Giverny and discover where Claude Monet lived and gardened. Claude Monet was widely considered to be one the best-known Impressionists and certainly a major character in Normandy’s artistic heritage. Giverny became the perfect place for quiet reflection and then spent the rest of his days capturing it in oils.

Celine Glon is the founder and CEO of Et Voila Paris which offers customized tours of France with expert guides. She has collaborated with the Dallas Museum of Art to give a series of lectures and has taught diverse cultural classes to adults at Southern Methodist University Continuing Education Programs. Celine is involved with the Silicon Valley French Alliance through which she gives lectures on a variety of French cultural subjects. 

Funding for this program provided by: Silicon Valley Creates and The Borgenicht Foundation. 

"A True Poet in Paint": Arthur F. Mathews and the California Decorative Mythography

Thursday, September 8  |  7-8pm  |  $15 Non Members, $10 Members

The histories of epic poetry and pastoral landscape painting converge in this lecture on California artist Arthur Frank Mathews (1860-1945) and his career as a leading painter, writer, and art educator in San Francisco at the turn of the nineteenth century. The lecture focuses on Mathews's interest in mythology and considers what may have informed his "California Decorative" visions of California as Arcadia.  

Mary Okin is a scholar of American art specializing in the social history of California painting and the rise of women artists during the Gilded Age. Her master's thesis at San Jose State University, "Uncovering 'New Man' Feminism: Arthur F. Mathews at the San Francisco School of Design, 1890-1896," engages in the first feminist reading of Mathews and his contributions to the rise of women artists in California. After presenting at the New Museum Los Gatos, Mary will be continuing her study of American art at UC Santa Barbara, where she will join a new cohort of doctoral students in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture this fall. In her scholarship, Mary aims to complicate our understanding of the development of California painting in a regional, national, and international context, and to explore California's inherited and distinct aesthetic and cultural traditions.

Funding for this program provided by: Silicon Valley Creates and The Borgenicht Foundation. 

Indigo Dye Night

Thursday, September 1  |  6-8pm  |  All Ages

This program is full! Please email education@numulosgatos.org to add your name to the wait list. Thank you. 

Rethink your Thursday evenings with NUMU Nights! Come try your hand at our Shibori indigo dyeing vats in our MakerSpace. Explore the basics of dyeing indigo, learn new techniques and practice creating patterns and varying color depth. Muslin fabric will be provided and participants are welcome to bring their own un-dyed cotton, linen, or silk fabrics as well. Please wear clothes you don't mind getting messy, as indigo will stain fabrics.

Elizabeth Greer has been working with elementary and middle school students for over 15 years. She is a long-time member and past president of the Art Docents of Los Gatos. An active Maker, Elizabeth enjoys exploring the intersection of art, science and technology with students while creating projects like rockets, digital art and photography, and LED artworks in classes at NUMU and the Los Gatos Recreation Department.

Karen Harlan has been drawing, sewing and creating since childhood. She was an art director at Papyrus greeting card company for seven years and still freelances for them today.  She has also been a member of the Art Docents of Los Gatos since 2007 and enjoys sharing her love of art with children.

Mitchell vs. Steinbeck: Literary Rumble

Thursday, August 25  |  7pm-8pm  |  $10 General, Free for Members

Steinbeck Center Director, Susan Shillinglaw, and Los Gatos historian, Peggy Conaway discuss fabled Los Gatos residents, John Steinbeck and Ruth Comfort Mitchell. Despite the fact that Steinbeck and Mitchell lived six miles apart from one another in Los Gatos, where Steinbeck wrote his enormously influential novel, The Grapes of Wrath, they never met. Mitchell published her novel, Of Human Kindness, in response to Steinbeck's work. Join us for an evening of literary controversy!

Los Gatos History's Mysteries

Thursday, August 18 |  6:30pm-7:30pm  |  Free with admission  |  Free for Los Gatos Library Cardholders and Museum Members

Come help NUMU and the Los Gatos Library identify historic photographs of Los Gatos! Join us for light refreshments and music as we search through unidentified photographs from the Los Gatos Library's archives, and unidentified objects in NUMU's permanent collection. 

Et in Arcadia Ego  |  A Panel Discussion

Thursday, August 11  |  7-8pm  |  $15 Non Members, $10 Members

Our current exhibition Et in Arcadia ego, explores the timeless myth of Arcadia as it has been represented by artists and writers, employing concepts such as idealized landscapes, liminal figures, and a contemplation of mortality. Join our panel of Et in Arcadia Ego exhibiting artists, David Ligare, Stephanie Peek, Holly Lane, and Seamus Conley as they discuss these themes in their work. The panel will be moderated by our Executive Director Lisa Coscino and our Art Curator Marianne McGrath. 

Funding for this program provided by: Silicon Valley Creates and The Borgenight Foundation. 

Black Box  |  "Moneyball" Film Screening

Thursday July 28  |  6pm  |  Free with Admission

13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. 

Moneyball (2011) was directed by Bennett Miller and based on Michael Lewis' 2003 nonfiction book of the same name. It tells the story of the Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players. 

Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 2 hours 13 minutes Genres: Biography, Drama, Sport

Los Gatos History's Mysteries

Thursday, July 21 |  6:30pm-7:30pm  |  Free with admission  |  Free for Los Gatos Library Cardholders and Museum Members

Come help NUMU and the Los Gatos Library identify historic photographs of Los Gatos! Join us for light refreshments and music as we search through unidentified photographs from the Los Gatos Library's archives, and unidentified objects in NUMU's permanent collection. 

Black Box  |  "42" Film Screening

Thursday July 21  |  6pm  |  Free with Admission

13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. 

42 (2013) is an American biographical sports film written and directed by Brian Helgeland about the racial integration of the American Professional Baseball by player Jackie Robinson. The movie follows the story of Jackie Robinson from his signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1945 to his historic 1947 rookie season when he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 2 hours 8 minutes Genres: Biography, Drama, Sport

StoryShare

Thursday, July 14  |  6:30pm - 8:00pm  |  Free for Members + NonMembers

Come explore the art of storytelling. NUMU will host a monthly gathering celebrating the oral tradition of storytelling. Led by experienced members of the Storytelling Association of California (SAC), participants, from novice to expert, can both listen and have the opportunity to share their own stores. No experience necessary. Second Thursday of each month downstairs, in the NUMU Studio. Adult content, may not be appropriate for children.

Thursday July 14 | 6pm | Free with Admission

13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. 

Field of Dreams (1989) is an American fantasy-drama film directed by Phil Alden Robinson. An Iowa corn farmer (Kevin Costner), hears voices, and interprets them as a command to build a baseball diamond in his fields. Coining the famous phrase "If you build it, he will come." After completion of the diamond, the Chicago White Sox come. 

Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes Genres: Drama, Family Fantasy