Ralph and Sheila Pickett were mainstays on San Jose’s burgeoning art scene in the 1980s and ’90s and the couple’s vast collection of art is a fascinating embodiment of how arts culture evolved around here and the influence they had.
“If you look around, this is the evolution of art in the San Jose area,” said Kathryn Funk, who curated “For the Love of Art,” an exhibition of the Picketts’ collection that is being auctioned Saturday at the Art Object Gallery in San Jose’s Japantown.
Portraits of Ralph Pickett, left, and Sheila Pickett at the entrance to the Art Object Gallery on North Fifth Street in San Jose’s Japantown, the venue for a silent auction, “For the Love of Art,” on Saturday, July 27, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
When Funk joined San Jose’s Institute of Contemporary Art as its director in 1989, Ralph Pickett was on the board. She quickly appreciated the couple’s eye for contemporary art and local artists. Originally from the East Coast, the couple’s work in tech brought them to Santa Clara Valley in the 1960s and they became early supporters of the nascent art movement here. In a 1998 interview with the Mercury News’ Leigh Weimers, Ralph Pickett said the couple honed their art taste while serving as docents for the San Jose Museum of Art and also developed a love for contemporary art there.
“Together, Ralph and Sheila Pickett were incredibly important leaders and volunteers in the arts in San Jose, helping the San Jose Museum of Art, Works, ICA San Jose and several other organizations in our area,” James G. Leventhal, executive director of the ICA San Jose, said during a social-media tour of the collection. “They ended up amassing an extraordinary collection of both world renowned artists and those who are very important here as leading regional artists in our area.”
About 90 artists are featured in the auction, including several familiar local names like Tony May, Stephanie Metz, Erin Goodwin Guerrero, Fanny Retsek, Harry Powers, Lynn Powers, David Middlebrook and Al Preciado. Most of the pieces are thought-provoking, requiring a second or third look from a different angle, and there are lots of unusual materials used like wax, wires and even insect wings.
Artwork by Stephanie Metz is among the dozens of pieces by about 90 artists that will be up for bid at “For the Love of Art” silent auction of the collection of Ralph and Sheila Pickett on Saturday, July 27, 2024 at the Art Object Gallery in San Jose. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Sheila Pickett died last year, preceded by her husband in 2019, but their legacy lives on in the collection. Funk worked with the Picketts’ four children to put together the auction, which Funk says was challenging to curate because of its size and eclectic nature. The silent auction starts at 6 p.m. Saturday at Art Object Gallery, 592 N. Fifth St., with proceeds from “For the Love of Art: The Ralph and Sheila Pickett Collection,” benefitting the Institute of Contemporary Art (Not every piece on exhibition is part of the auction as the family is keeping some of them). You can get more information and register for the auction at www.icasanjose.org.
FUN FUN FUN: Dan Pulcrano, impresario of San Jose’s Music in the Park series, is hoping that when the Beach Boys play Plaza de Cesar Chavez on Sunday night, they come away more impressed with the city than they must have been on their last visit in 1965. The iconic California band played in San Jose five times in 1964 and ’65, performing at the San Jose Civic and the County Fairgrounds. But on the last visit, Pulcrano recounted recently, then-San Jose Mayor Joe Pace gifted the band with a bag of dried prunes — an agricultural staple in the Valley of Heart’s Delight.
Perhaps, Mayor Matt Mahan will gift them with something a tad more Silicon Valley this time around.
The show starts at 4 p.m. with North Bay folk trio the Rainbow Girls opening the show, providing a little gender equity along with their own harmonies. Tickets are still available at www.mitpsj.com for that show and upcoming shows featuring Steel Pulse (Aug. 16), Cuco (Sept. 20) and J Boog (Sept. 22).
NIGHT MARKET DEBUTS: The Story Road Night Market is being launched this Friday and Saturday at the Grand Century Mall in San Jose, bringing live music, street food, a vendor market and a beer garden to the shopping center in the largely Vietnamese community.
San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan, whose office is sponsoring the series, said he’s thrilled to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of San Jose through the event, which will include local vendors like Hết Sẩy, A&M Patisserie, Hot Boi Chili Oil, Peachisekai, Kyla Camille Candle and Leila Divine Designs. The night markets run from 4 to 10 p.m. at 1111 Story Road and return Sept. 6-7 and Oct. 11-12.