The Art and Architecture of Maybe

June 26 – November 8, 2026

Visitors can explore seven works installed on the grounds of Montalvo from 8 am to sunset. An additional four installations will be on view inside the Cottage Gallery, Thursday through Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm, or by appointment. The Cottage Gallery is located next to Parking Lot 2.

The Art and Architecture of Maybe, Montalvo’s 2026 Marcus Exhibition, examines the role that art, when integrated with architectural elements and sensibilities, can have in building community. While art is an act of personal communication, architecture has a functional purpose as well as an explicit commitment to connect people to each other and the landscape. When art meets architecture, magical thinking can result. 

The fourteen contemporary artists featured in this exhibition are actively engaged in this social experiment by encouraging us to see and move from/through/around our immediate worlds, environments, and homes. Their work consists of clever portals and whimsical structures. Their materials of expression include wood, metal, glass, fabric, and video. Equally intentional is their use of built forms that play with light, shadow, color, transparency, void, and mass to encourage viewers to enter physically and emotionally into these “spaces” and engage with the works.  

Two wildly different installations– one by this year’s Marcus Prize Winner, Lead Pencil Studio, an artist collective led by Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, and the other by Rebeca Méndez— challenge us to reconsider existing landscapes through an artist’s perspective. Lead Pencil Studio’s Double Vision: Doorway is deliberately sited in the Italianate Garden, a formal garden that exists at the base of a sweeping hill that begins at Montalvo’s historic villa. Providing a bold visual counterpoint to the villa and the nearby Love Temple, it dares us to approach Montalvo’s formal grounds with a critical eye. Rebeca Méndez’s immersive video in the Cottage Gallery plunges us into a wholly different world— one devoid of built structures. When viewed through her stark and minimalist lens, assumptions about a land’s origins and subsequent claims to it are upended.  

Other artworks installed throughout Montalvo’s grounds consist of structures that blend the language of contemporary art with motifs rooted in everyday, functional architecture to envision new spaces for community gatherings. These include Edra Soto’s rooms constructed of metal screens alluding to Puerto Rican vernacular architecture, Viviana Paredes’ glass house made of repurposed tequila bottles, and Taro Hattori’s spare and elegant wooden teahouse. These are structures rooted in specific cultural histories, socio-economic representation, and provide commentary on sustainability. Visitors are invited to engage with these works through contemplation, meditation, movement, performance, or social gatherings. 

Finally, whimsical and fantastical structures demonstrate what is possible when art meets architecture: the encouragement of collective future dreaming, and even playful rebellion. Robin Lasser and Adrienne Pao present a hummingbird dress tent and a newly planted native garden, while Cameron Hockenson’s site specific installation of bird houses underscores the theme of biocultural diversity within a formal landscape setting. 

Inside the Cottage Gallery, architectural models by Terry Berlier, Stephan Fried and Lee Mingwei imagine daring perspectives and radical views of Montalvo’s woodlands. Conceptual artist Tony May’s follies and a project led by Jonathan Bout and built by children who attended this summer’s fort-making camp, bring contrasting generational perspectives to works rooted in creativity and grounded in play. 

This exhibition explores community building at the intersection of art and architecture. It challenges us to look at our habitats and immediate environment through artists’ perspectives, invites visitors to approach these spaces on their own terms, and encourages us to dream, play, and engage with a world that is filled with infinite possibilities. 

Curators of the exhibition: Kelly Sicat, Director of the Lucas Artists Program, and Judy Koong Dennis, Assistant Curator and Program Manager.

2026 Marcus Festival — Enter if You Dare

Friday, July 17^th, from 6 pm – 10:30 pm

FREE Public Arts Festival celebrating the exhibition.

Get ready for an exciting night of music, movement, and art… Dance the night away across multiple sound stages featuring DJ Chale Brown, Ritmos Calientes, and Lucas Artists Fellow Rashid Zakat, who closes out the evening with an unforgettable Video DJ set.  Lucas Artists Fellow Melecio Estrella in collaboration with Damara Ganley brings site-responsive performances to life across the grounds. The night will be filled with surprises animating the art and gardens in unexpected ways.  

There will be hands-on artmaking and playful activities for all ages. You won’t want to miss out! 

Stay the whole night and fuel up with a no-host bar and an incredible lineup of food trucks — The Waffle Roost, Yakito Harue, Rocko’s Ice Cream Tacos, a special selection by Lucas Artists Program Chef Jose Ortiz, and more! 

NOTE: Parking is only available for FREE at West Valley College, with shuttle service to and from Montalvo!

Thresholds of Memory

Thursday, August 20 – October 25, 2026

Thresholds of Memory, a solo exhibition of works by Namita Paul organized by Montalvo Arts Center’s Lucas Artists Program in conjunction with The Art and Architecture of Maybe, will be presented at Miro Gallery located at 181 E. Santa Clara St, San Jose. This related exhibition opens on August 20 and continues until October 25, 2026.  

Paul’s artistic practice explores memory, care, and transformation— shaped by years of intimate, often invisible labor as a mother, immigrant, and maker. She is drawn to the emotional imprint of architecture— the way that built environments hold our stories, form us, and become part of who we are. Rooted in thresholds—between home and displacement, containment and unraveling—her work searches for quiet forms of endurance and grace.  

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

The exhibition is made possible by the George and Judy Marcus Family Foundation, the Lipman Family Foundation, and the Jo and Barry Ariko Fund for Artistic Programs. It is presented with gratitude and appreciation for the Lucas Artists Program Committee, the Montalvo Acquisition Committee, and the many partners who invest in Montalvo Arts Center.