San Jose Mercury News
Monday, January 16, 2006
Sal Pizarro

You could feel the creative electricity coming through the walls Friday night during the Pacific Art Collective's "Cultural Xposure'' event at the San Jose Museum of Art.

Lovers of cultural art forms -- painting, poetry, hip-hop and dance -- could find something to enjoy. Poets Jason Bayani and Anthony Miller were big hits. And a lot of people showed up to catch 49ers wide receiver Brandon Lloyd perform live hip-hop. DJs entertained the partygoers, who circled around and filled the lobby at 9 p.m. to watch a crowd-pleasing break dance demo by Machine Gon Funk.

Meanwhile in both the Wendel Center and the museum cafe, guests could watch art in progress, thanks to painters Marissa Arterberry, Michael Foley, Sylvia Liu, Sam Rodriguez, Charlie Alan Kraft, Karen Pike, Jeff Branschreiber, Dylan Kelly and Yoshi. Passersby could watch the paintings take shape as they worked on their canvases throughout the evening.

PAC has been organizing the events for more than three years, and PAC art director William Rowan said this one was the most successful at SJMA, with more than 1,200 people coming through the doors.

``Everybody's getting exposure out of it. Everybody wins,'' he said of the cross-pollination of music, poetry, dance and painting.

Based on the diverse crowd, the evening also exposed the downtown museum to a lot of 20-somethings and families. If you missed it, the next ``Cultural Xposure'' night is April 7.

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/sal_pizarro/13636992.htm

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