The Los Gatos History Project is NUMU’s unprecedented effort to catalog and dive deeper into its permanent collection. This exhibition, the first to come out of the project, presents a selection of objects that have given the museum more questions than answers. By taking a critical look at these objects and the stories they tell, the exhibition will prompt visitors to ask: Who made these objects? Why did the museum collect them? What can we learn from them? And whose stories are missing? Through this exhibition, visitors will gain a greater understanding of museum collecting practices, and a greater appreciation for the hidden complexities of Los Gatos history.

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Opened in September 2023, this demonstration and prep lab serves as a dedicated space to display artifacts, conduct conservation efforts, and present public educational programs. In this space, NUMU demonstrates that history is anything but static! The Collections Lab is open Friday-Sunday during museum hours.

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Incollaboration with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and San Jose State University, this art exhibition about the vitality of the Muwekma features photography of tribal members by their Tribal Photographer Kike Arnal. The project promotes deeper understanding of local indigenous art, culture, history, and contemporary issues in Los Gatos and the greater Bay Area, and preserves and shares knowledge about critical issues of federal recognition that the Muwekma Ohlone continue to fight for.

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Stitches & Wiggles: Unraveled and Reimagined Mixed Media Art by Jody Alexander and Thomas Campbell invites us to participate in an object-based dialogue that speaks to the similarities of vision, intention, and ways of creating.  Alexander and Campbell gather materials to reuse, repurpose, repair, mend, patch, or stitch together to make compelling artworks that use the language of our time.

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Long known as “the Valley of Heart’s Delight”, Santa Clara Valley was the world’s largest producer of fruit, with acres of farmland providing a bounty of produce in an ideal climate. This decade saw a huge increase in population that came about for several reasons, including the growing technology industry that developed into what we now know as Silicon Valley. We asked our community to loan photos, stories, objects, or momentos from life in Los Gatos in the 1960s to be featured in an exhibition celebrating the museum’s 60th anniversary.

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For over a decade, the artists of Salon Jane have explored their artwork with the consistent presence of a dedicated working group for critiques, discussion and encouragement. Their meetings are a place to think seriously about photography, challenge the boundaries of the medium, and open new paths of creative expression. While each artist independently develops their own artwork, the Salon’s ongoing dialogues draw unexpected connections and resonance between each other’s ideas and aesthetics. 

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