![\"Artwork](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SJM-L-PIZARRO-COL-0408-01.jpg\")
Artwork representing San Jose created by about 100 artists will be on display at a show to kick off the eight annual San Jose Day celebration at Noble Gallery in downtown San Jose on April 8, 2024. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\nIf you were given a 10-inch square space and asked to creatively express what \u201cSan Jose\u201d meant to you, what would you do? I\u2019m not sure what I would do, either, but I\u2019m glad that about 100 artists took on that challenge. The dynamic range of their results will be on display to start the eighth annual San Jose Day celebration.<\/p>\n
The art show at the Noble Gallery, which is Local Color\u2019s home base at 500 S. Almaden Blvd., will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday \u2014 that\u2019s 4\/08 for area code nerds like me. Many of the artists will be there, and most of the art will be for sale, too.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s just the start of the San Jose Day festivities, which this year will run through Sunday.<\/p>\n
Artwork representing San Jose created by about 100 artists will be on display at a show to kick off the eight annual San Jose Day celebration at Noble Gallery in downtown San Jose on April 8, 2024. (Sal Pizarro\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to believe nobody came up with the concept for San Jose Day until Haley Cardamon started celebrating her hometown\u2019s culture \u2014 and especially its counterculture \u2014 in 2017. With its roots in the underground art world of tattoos and graffiti, Cardamon operated San Jose Day as a one-woman show for the first few years before recruiting a team in 2023. This year, she\u2019s handed the reins over to co-directors Jorge \u201cJ. Duh\u201d Camacho and Deanna Sisneros.<\/p>\n
Camacho, whose murals and apparel designs have helped define the San Jose look, has been creative director of the San Jose Day nonprofit since 2023; Sisneros, meanwhile, knows how to put on a good party. The freelance creative producer serves on the board of the Friends of the Levitt Pavilion San Jose and works as the special events manager for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.<\/p>\n
Besides the opening art show, here\u2019s what else is going on (you can check for updates at sanjoseday.org<\/a>):<\/p>\n \u2022 Local tattoo artists will be offering special deals and flash tattoo designs to celebrate San Jose all day Wednesday. The participating shops include Blacksuit downtown, Humble Beginnings on The Alameda, Reaper\u2019s Cloak on East Santa Clara Street and Vampire Battle Mansion in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n \u2022 Hapa\u2019s Brewing Company at Creekside is hosting a bikes and brews event from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, with vinyl tunes by Flipside Lovers.<\/p>\n \u2022 On Friday, there\u2019s a photographer\u2019s walk starting at the famed Foto Express at 304 E. Santa Clara St. and finishing at the Hotel De Anza, the venue for a \u201cfashion show and tell\u201d at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n \u2022 The San Jose Day Festival takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with live music, performances, vendors and art at Creekside Socials.<\/p>\n \u2022 Events wrap up at 1 p.m. Sunday with an art show and limited beer release (with cans featuring artwork by Jimmy Paints) at Clandestine Brewing at 980 S. First St.<\/p>\n GETTING CREATIVE: April is the month that San Jose\u2019s Office of Cultural Affairs invites residents to show off their creativity through the WeCreate408 campaign. Previous years had daily prompts for creative acts like writing a poem, taking a photograph and the like \u2014 but this year there are only weekly prompts. We\u2019re in Week 2, \u201cTastes Like Home,\u201d which aims to capture the different flavors of San Jose diverse neighborhoods and the people who live there.<\/p>\n Maybe you\u2019ll share a pic of a huge slice of burnt almond cake from Peters Bakery on Alum Rock Avenue, an overflowing sandwich from Mommy\u2019s Banh Mi downtown or a plate of chicken parmigiana from Original Joe\u2019s. Does a Sharkarita count as something that tastes like home in San Jose? Anyway, you get the picture. You can catch up to the prompts and find out what\u2019s coming up at www.wecreate408.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n HERE COMES HITCH: As far as the Stanford Theatre is concerned, you can\u2019t have enough Alfred Hitchcock in your life. For the fourth year in a row, the Master of Suspense will provide some spring chills for classic film fans at the historic Palo Alto movie palace. This year\u2019s festival kicks off April 17-19 with Cary Grant\u2019s 1959 classic \u201cNorth By Northwest,\u201d paired with the 1935 thriller \u201cThe 39 Steps.\u201d<\/p>\n The seven-week festival manages to pack in all the usual suspects from Hitch\u2019s heyday \u2014 \u201cStrangers on a Train\u201d (May 2-3), \u201cVertigo,\u201d \u201cRear Window\u201d and \u201cTo Catch a Thief\u201d (May 16-17), \u201cVertigo\u201d and \u201cThe Birds\u201d (May 23-24) \u2014 but there are some gems from the 1930s and \u201940s, too. The festival closes May 30-31 with a bloody good pairing of 1960\u2019s \u201cPsycho\u201d and \u201cFrenzy\u201d from 1972, one of Hitchcock\u2019s last films.<\/p>\n