Queerennial: Identity through Fashion explores how individuals represent themselves through painting, sculpture, and textile. The artists delve into how fashion serves as a means of visibility, resistance, and self-actualization within the queer community. From historical coded dressing to contemporary gender-fluid designs, the exhibition showcases the role of LGBTQ+ individuals in shaping fashion. Visitors are invited to reflect on the power of personal expression and its impact on identity and culture. 

Featured Artists: Manuel Carmona,HouyeeChow-Jiménez, María de Hoyos, Lorena Diosdado, Zachary Fernández, Cynthia González, Kit Robbins, Harpreet Lachhar, Aleo Landeta, Rayne Liska, dani lópez, Humberto Maldonado, Alice Monteiro, Timna Naim, José Nazabal, Raphael Noz, Itzli Ociel, Protein Pussy Girls, Niko Sanrio 

This invitational exhibition is a survey of the very best of contemporary Latinx Art from the Bay Area and beyond. Artists’ work reflects contemporary issues, themes, and perspectives that reflect this moment in time. This exhibition culminates in an art auction, MACLA’s annual fundraising celebration. Our gallery is open Wednesdays-Sundays 12-5PM.

Save the date for our Live Auction: May 16, 2026

Join us for a joyful night of art, culture, and celebration in support of MACLA and our vibrant creative community.

📍510 S. First St. San Jose, CA 95113

✨ Check-in starts at 6 PM

🖼️ Live Auction starts promptly at 7 PM

💃 Reception starts at 8:30 PM

  Buy your tickets today!

MACLA presents, in partnership with Montalvo Arts Center, From Their Hands to Ours our new exhibition highlighting how ancestral wisdom and childhood experiences shape identity. Debuting new work by Estefania Ajcip, Miguel Arzabe, rafa esparza, Edra Soto, and Arleene Correa Valencia, the exhibition weaves together stories of tradition, trauma, and growth through painting, sculpture, textile art, and video.

Do not miss the opening reception December 5 from 5–9 PM with an Artist Talk with participating artists and a DJ set by Los Ritmos Calientes.

RSVP Today!

Support MACLA today and receive an invitation to our VIP preview. Your donation helps us continue our mission and helps keep Latinx arts thriving in our community!

Tríptico del Valle is a three-day interactive experience by San José-based Argentinian visual artist TATANE. The event invites the public to create a unique digital archive to explore how physical and digital technologies mediate our reality and determine hegemonic representations. What happens in those in-between spaces—between what we think, what we do, and what digital algorithms record and predict?

October 3, 2025 | 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM  (during South First Friday)
October 4, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
October 5, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

RSVP Today!

There Are New Suns is an interactive exhibition exploring cultural resilience and gentrification at the intersection of art and technology. Cecelia Perez uses current technology such as animation, augmented reality, and projection mapping. Referencing one of the first forms of animation, the phenakistiscope, Claudia Blanco creates a series of wall sculptures, and Samantha Saldana’s quilted cyanotypes combine craft and technology.

Support MACLA today as we strive continue to bring impactful and transformative art to our community. Your donation helps us continue our mission and helps keep Latinx arts thriving in our community!

It’s easy to find parking in Downtown San Jose. Go to ParkSJ.org
There is limited metered ($2/hour) street parking adjacent to MACLA. First Street & I-280 lot is FREE on weekdays after 6 p.m. and all day on weekends and holidays.
Visit ParkSJ.org for real time parking information, maps and more.

Jet Martinez’s latest body of work, El Arbolito, draws from the state of Mexico’s árbol de la vida sculptures and papel amate paintings from the states of Morelos and Guerrero. Created during a time of global uncertainty, the work became a personal act of resistance for him. Making something beautiful—especially in moments of conflict—feels radical to Martinez. Art, he believes, asks us to keep going. This series explores time, repetition, and renewal. In repetition, Martinez feared stagnation but found evolution. Each gesture, though familiar, offered new meaning. The process has become a mirror for vulnerability and through it, he creates space for others to connect, reflect, and belong.

Join us and artist, Jet Martinez, for the opening reception,
June 6 from 6:00 — 9:00 pm

El Arbolito is on view in our Gallery from June 6, 2025 to August 10, 2025.
For inquiries, please email gallery@maclaarte.org

Exhibition April 4 – May 17, 2025 | Auction Saturday, May 17, 2025

MACLA’s annual curated exhibition surveys the very best of contemporary Latinx art from the Bay Area and beyond. Over 30 artists with works ranging from sculpture and paintings to mixed media, that celebrate the diversity of Latinx arts and culture and reflect current issues and perspectives. The exhibition culminates in a live art auction, MACLA’s signature fundraising event, May 17, 2025. Learn more about the exhibition

Featuring the works of:

Abby Aceves 
Stephanie Barajas  
Jesus Barraza  
Irene Berrones Kolb
Elizabeth Blancas
Ruby Bloo 
Athena Calvillo 
Irene Carvajal 
Melanie Cervantes 
Houyee Chow Jimenez 
Arleene Correa Valencia 
Yvonne Escalante 
Esteban Garcia Bravo 
Cynthia Yadira Gonzalez 
KLAWD 
Alex Knowbody 
JDUH 
Pancho Jiménez 
Stephen Longoria 
Rayos Magos 
Adriana Martin 
Jet Martinez 
Kristina Micotti 
Mario Montes Pozo 
Imara Osorno 
Lenin Olavarria 
Miguel Ozuna 
Viviana Paredes 
Sam Rodriguez 
Erin Salazar 
kaory santillán bueno 

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Exhibition

Exhibition April 4 – May 17, 2025

View the very best in contemporary Latinx art from the Bay Area and beyond. Free and open to the public during gallery hours.

Gallery Hours:

Wednesday – Friday 12-7 PM

Saturday-Sunday 12-5 PM

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Art Auction

Saturday, May 17, 2025

$100 Advance Tickets/ $125 Regular Tickets / $500 for a Table Host

* Table host option is a table for you and three friends. Includes reserved seating, table recognition, and bottle service.

If you are unable to attend the auction, but would still like to bid on art, you can be assigned a proxy bidder. For more information, please contact our office at 408-998-2783 M-F between 9am and 5pm or email info@maclaarte.org.

For an easier check-out process, staff will be collecting payment information during check-in. All credit card info is securely encrypted through the Square app.

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Buy It Now!

Artwork designated as BUY IT NOW! Can be purchased between April 4 – May 17, 2025

Tickets on Sale Now!

In this inspiring all-women exhibition, five artists examine how cultural beliefs have shaped and constrained women’s roles. Through painting and mixed media, the transformative power of breaking societal confines celebrates a collective movement towards liberation.   

Featured artists: Abby Aceves (Los Angeles), Tiffany Alfonseca (New York), Ruby Bloo (San José), Monica Hernandez (New York), and Elba Raquel (San José) 

Support MACLA today as we strive continue to bring impactful and transformative art to our community. Your donation helps us continue our mission and helps keep Latinx arts thriving in our community!

It’s easy to find parking in Downtown San Jose. Go to ParkSJ.org
There is limited metered ($2/hour) street parking adjacent to MACLA. First Street & I-280 lot is FREE on weekdays after 6 p.m. and all day on weekends and holidays.
Visit ParkSJ.org for real time parking information, maps and more.

Featuring San José-based artists, Irene Carvajal and Imara Osorno, this exhibition examines the overlooked conflict between Nicaragua and Costa Rica’s border along the San Juan River. Their collaborative work transcends divisions through painting, video, and site-specific installation.

Irene Carvajal is a Costa Rican-American mixed media artist and educator based in the San Francisco. Her work examines labor, gender and colonialism and their intersections with politics, globalized economies and identity. Her practice is rooted in print media, materiality and story telling. Carvajal has exhibited and participated in residencies in the United States, Japan, Mexico, Greece and Costa Rica. She currently teaches at San Jose State University.

Imara Osorno is a Nicaraguan-American multidisciplinary artist based in the San Francisco. Her work spans painting, printmaking, and sculpture, exploring themes of identity, immigration, and memory, often infused with a deep appreciation for mythology and storytelling. She has exhibited her work both locally and internationally, completing a residency in Costa Rica. Osorno holds a BA in Studio Practice from San Jose State University.

From Where I Stand

Gallery Exhibition June 7th – August 11th, 2024
Exhibition Opening June 7th | 5 – 10 PM

Featuring the works of:
Stephanie Barajas
William Camargo
Alex Knowbody
Adriana Martin
Xelestiál Moreno-Luz
Miguel Ozuna

This exhibition shares each artist’s perspective considering issues that will be up for debate in the upcoming election season. Visitors of the exhibition will be able to take their own photos in the gallery and have them displayed within the exhibition, encouraging dialogue and reflection. Join us to witness the intersections of art and politics, and see how images can influence and reflect the public conscience during this pivotal time.

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Daily Hours

Monday – Tuesday: Closed, open by appointment only.

Wednesday – Friday: Open 12pm to 7pm.

Saturday – Sunday: Open 12pm to 5pm.
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It’s easy to find parking in Downtown San Jose. Go to ParkSJ.org
There is limited metered ($2/hour) street parking adjacent to MACLA. First Street & I-280 lot is FREE on weekdays after 6 p.m. and all day on weekends and holidays.
Visit ParkSJ.org for real time parking information, maps and more.