San Jose Pride
(le petite chapeau)
foam core, acrylics, mixed media, and glitter. A lot of glitter.
4' x 3'





Created to honor a landmark birthday being celebrated in 2007 by the incomparable Miss Lucy Manhattan, (an observance which nicely coincided with the San Jose Pride Festival), this hat is a love letter to our home town. As Lucy said while debuting her new hat in the parade, "San Jose has gone to my head!".


I enjoyed bouncing ideas around with Lucy about which of our favorite San Jose visuals should be included, and it was only the realization that the hat actually had to be wearable that made us edit down our selections (reluctantly).


My work on this project brought back to me incredible memories of building theatrical set models with scenic designer Ken Holamon quite a few years ago. Thoughts of Ken are always with me in the studio. But it was a special joy to commemorate his love of glitter (a love we shared) by using so much of the wonderful stuff on this project. Once again glitter has invaded EVERY part of our household, and I couldn't be happier!



LEGEND - San Jose Sites Circa 2007





1. Sunburst from city logo.

2. New San Jose City Hall on East Santa Clara Street: Richard Meier & Partners, Architects. Opened 2005. Current occupants include Peregrine Falcons Clara and Jose with fledglings.

3. Historic Bank of America Building at 1st and Santa Clara Streets. Built in 1926, it's green beacon was seen throughout the valley.

4. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph on South Market Street: completed in 1885.

5. Fairmont Hotel, South Market Street, opened 1987.

6. Tower Hall, San Jose State University: downtown since 1870.

7. Adobe Systems Headquarters on Park Avenue. Since 2006 a kinetic art installation titled San Jose Semaphore by Ben Rubin has lit the top of one of the towers. It is comprised of four lighted discs which "rotate" to transmit a message.

8. Try out for the Saber Kittens! (an annual billboard invitation from the Arena Football League's San Jose Sabercats).

9. Billboard as seen statewide for the Winchester Mystery House on South Winchester Blvd.

10. Hotel De Anza, West Santa Clara Street, opened 1930. Home of the Diving Lady.

11. Obelisk at Rosicrucian Park, Naglee Road. Site of the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum since 1928.

12. Saratoga Capital Building on East Santa Clara Street.

13. The Center for the Performing Arts, Almaden Blvd., designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's architects at the Taliesin Associates. Home to San Jose Ballet and American Music Theater of San Jose.

14. The HP Pavilion (AKA: Shark Tank), at Santa Clara and Autumn Streets, opened 1993. A sports and entertainment venue, home to Sharks and Sabercats.

15. The California Theatre, 1st Street, built in 1927. Home to Opera San Jose and Symphony Silicon Valley.

16. The San Jose Museum of Art on Market Street. Founded in 1969, the older section is the former San Jose Post Office built in 1892, the "New Wing" (shown here) designed by Skidmore, Owings, & Merril opened in 1991.

17. Figure Holding the Sun, sculpture by Italo Scanga standing outside the San Jose Museum of Art.

18. "Danny the Dragon" pulls the train at the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, open since 1961 on Senter Road.

19. The Tech Museum of Innovation (AKA: The Tech) on Market Street. The "mango building" designed by architect Ricardo Legorreta of Mexico City was opened in 1998.

20. Valley Transit Authority (VTA) light rail.

21. The fountain in Plaza de César Chávez.

22. The Circle of Palms located between the Fairmont Hotel and San Jose Museum of Art. The California State Seal in the center of the circle (replaced here with San Jose's seal) suffers the yearly indignity of being covered with ice for the enjoyment of skaters.

23. The San Jose Repertory Theatre (AKA: The Blue Box)on the Paseo de San Antonio, completed in 1997.

24. Palm Trees (not native to Northern California) can be seen marching in orderly formation throughout downtown. Their military ranks were once accorded a mocking salute by author Ken Kesey during a reunion bus trip with his merry pranksters.

25. The "Knight Ridder Building". Tower formerly leased by Knight Ridder Publishing (who owned the San Jose Mercury), now houses other companies as Knight Ridder was bought out and no longer exists. The massive signs remain however as apparently nobody is willing to shoulder the cost of having them removed.

26. The San Jose McEnery Convention Center, West San Carlos Street, opened 1989. Designed by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects. The mural in porcelain tile was designed by Danish artist Lin Utzon.

27. Children's Discovery Museum on Woz Way ("Woz" honors Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer). Opened in 1990, the building was designed by architect Ricardo Legorreta (who also designed The Tech). "Discovery Duck" is often seen roosting her giant inflated self on the roof.

28. Quetzalcoatl statue in Plaza de César Chávez. Though noble in theme, the plumed serpent figure (designed by artist Robert Graham) has been labeled with various nicknames of an unsavory nature.

29. Shark statue from SharkByte, a 2001 outdoor exhibit of decorated sharks which were later auctioned off for charity. (My shark design proposal was not selected for the exhibition. Shown here is that design which was never made. So there.)



update!



Lucy Manhattan, the Diva Deluxe, has chosen to retire her beloved le petit chapeau. As of December 2013, it has been suitably archived in a glass shadow box. Miss Lucy assures one and all that unlike her chapeau, she is most decidedly NOT ready to be hung in a museum, and in fact remains available for almost any public spectacle to which she can wangle an invitation.