When Rick Holden died suddenly in April, it became clear very quickly to many people that he should be honored with the city of San Jose’s Cornerstone of the Arts award, which will be presented next Thursday at the downtown Hammer Theatre.

A longtime educator and arts supporter, Holden’s deep impact on the city’s cultural offerings made him a worthy recipient, and his wife, Sandra Moll, will accept the award in his honor.  And I think Holden would have appreciated being one of two Cornerstone of the Arts recipients this year along with sculptor Ken Matsumoto, who owns the Art Object gallery in Japantown.

Sculptor Ken Matsumoto will receive the Cornerstone of the Arts award from the City of San Jose on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group) 

In his own way, each man championed the arts in this region and recognized the value of having artists living and working here. That sentiment is shared by the event’s other two honorees: 3Below Theaters, which is receiving the Creative Impact Award, and Paul J. Gonzalez, a muralist who will be the first recipient of the new Luminary Artist Award.

SAN JOSE, CA – November 18: Sandra Moll, right, and her husband, Rick Holden are photographed in their backyard on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021 as Holden shows how high the 2017 Coyote Creek flood waters reached in their backyard, in San Jose, Calif.(Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) 

Despite significant hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic, 3Below’s Scott and Shannon Guggenheim valiantly have kept the theater’s doors open, offering a variety of live theater, movies and special events. And through more than 100 murals, Gonzalez has shared his talent widely, helping to beautify schools and other public spaces where he can inspire young artists to express their own creativity.

All four will be recognized at the 5 p.m. ceremony, which is free to attend. You can register at www.hammertheatre.com.

MUSEUM’S BIG NIGHT: The Circle of Palms in downtown San Jose was alight with glamor and glitz Saturday night as the San Jose Museum of Art held its annual gala and auction, chaired by Tammy Kiely and Nadia Ahmad. The stylish dinner brought together a mix of the art and tech worlds by honoring artist Chitra Ganesh and Visionary Award winner Glenda Dorchak.

Guests mingle in the Circle of Palms outside the San Jose Museum of Art before the museum’s gala and auction on Sept. 21, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group) 

Dorchak, who was CEO of e-retailer Value America before building a career as an executive in the semiconductor industry, has had a 20-year relationship with the San Jose Museum of Art, first attending the auction gala in 2004 as the guest of longtime SJMA supporters Mike and Yvonne Nevens. She and her husband, Gary Dorchak, sponsored several exhibitions in recent years, including “Rina Naerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World” in 2019 and “Barring Freedom” in 2020-21.

Glenda Dorchak and Mike Nevens pose in the Circle of Palms at the San Jose Museum of Art Gala and Auction on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group) 

San Jose Museum of Art Executive Director S. Sayre Batton said the museum was fortunate to have Dorchak serving as board chair during the COVID-19 pandemic, a challenging period during which the museum still made big strides toward its goal of growing outside its walls.

San Jose Museum of Art Executive Director S. Sayre Batton, left, and artist Chitra Ganesh pose in the Circle of Palms at the San Jose Museum of Art Gala and Auction on Sept. 21, 2024. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group) 

Ganesh, meanwhile, is a Brooklyn-based visual artist whose work encompasses many media from video and prints to woodcuts. The San Jose Museum of Art featured her piece “Melancolia (Sorrows Refrain)” in its 2022-23 exhibition, “A Pointed Stretched: Views on Time” and “Sultana’s Dream” in “South East North West: New Works from the Collection” in 2021-22. Recently, the museum acquired “She the Question,” a suite of 25 works originally published as a comic book in 2010.

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FIERY POLITICS: Plumes of black smoke in downtown San Jose is usually a cause for alarm, and that seemed to be the case last Thursday when three fire trucks — sirens blaring — rolled up to 31 E. Julian St. and the beautiful, restored Victorians that serve as the Mezzetti Law Firm offices.

Fear not, Rob Mezzetti reports, the alarms were false — unless you were waiting for dinner. The smoke coming from between the buildings was only Mezzetti grilling sausages from Sunnyvale’s New York Sausage Co. they hosted hosted for Johnene Stebbins, who is running for Superior Court judge.

“I had just put on the second batch of sausages and went to talk with some friends when cries from the crowd alerted me to the fire,” said Mezzetti, who learned a lesson about cleaning the grill before using. “The entire BBQ was engulfed in flames,”

Next time, he might want to stick to cold cuts.