San Jose transforms its SoFA Distric in Downtown San Jose into a lively showcase of creativity during the First Fridays ArtWalk + Street Mrkt on September 5, 2025, from 5pm to 10pm. Spanning the SoFA District, Historic District, and Martha Gardens District, the free, family-friendly event features new gallery exhibitions, live performances, and interactions with local artists. Attendees can stroll through venues hosting fresh works, enjoy music at various spots, and support the indie urban art faire on South First Street, where hyper-local creators display and sell their pieces.
In the SoFA District, highlights include Anno Domini's opening reception for Kazland's solo exhibition A love letter to all the cars that could have hit him, but didn’t, with mixed-media pieces exploring mortality and magic created during the artist's recovery from an accident. KALEID Gallery presents Jeffrey Bramschreiber's Portraits from the Wild, a series of paintings reflecting his journey through personal challenges by connecting with nature. MACLA opens There Are New Suns, an interactive exhibition on cultural resilience and gentrification using animation, augmented reality, projection mapping, phenakistiscope sculptures, and quilted cyanotypes by artists Cecelia Perez, Claudia Blanco, and Samantha Saldana, accompanied by a DJ set from The Homegirls of Soul led by DJ Soulera. Phantom Galleries displays Jerry Berkstresser's landscape photography at The Pierce, along with murals like Danny Feliz Hanson's Romance and the Urban Abstractions series by multiple artists.
Opera San Jose at the California Theatre offers opera arias in the courtyard, Mighty Wurlitzer organ performances by Jerry Nagano, a scavenger hunt, and complimentary refreshments starting at 5:30pm. San Jose Jazz hosts the Michael Webster Quartet at 6:20pm followed by an all-ages jam session. The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles features Kay Sekimachi: Ingenuity and Imagination with over 40 works blending Japanese heritage and textile innovation, plus Virginia Davis: Art and Illusion showcasing 21 textiles exploring optic phenomena and resist techniques.
The Historic District includes Chopsticks Alley Gallery's Flow in Secret Garden with batik tapestries by Voonbin Leow and wearable art by Yachen Xie, alongside Works/San Jose's Climate Interrelations Imaginative by five artists addressing the climate crisis. In Martha Gardens District, Art Ark Gallery shows Hargun Mahal Mann's In Search of Our Mothers Garden on migration and belonging with an artist talk at 6:30pm, Fuse Presents exhibits Trieu Hai Dao's Echo of Life, and Machu Picchu Gallery displays Peruvian arpilleras preserving Amazon themes.
Street Mrkt turns South First Street into an open-air gallery with over 30 artists like Animate One, Bay Area Glass Institute, and Danny Feliz Hanson demonstrating their crafts. DJs spin in the beer garden, while food trucks such as Barya Kitchen, Daily Grind Burger, and Luvs Brownies provide diverse bites. This gathering strengthens San Jose's creative economy, uniting people through art that inspires and connects. All ages are welcome and again it all goes down on Friday from 5-10pm.
