2025 Marcus Festival: Montalvo Funk

Join us for our FREE community Marcus Festival, Montalvo Funk, on Friday July 18th from 6 – 10 pm, featuring live music curated by Universal Grammar, presented on the Boombox Stage by San Jose Jazz. DJs, dancers and interactive performances will take place throughout the night, along with hands-on art making, a scavenger hunt, vendors, and delicious food trucks throughout Montalvo’s gardens and grounds. Montalvo Funk is a public celebration of the Marcus Exhibition When the World is Beautifully Strange featuring art works by twelve contemporary artists who create fearless new forms in ceramics. Free parking and shuttles available from West Valley College.

NO PARKING AT MONTALVO.

It’s a term used in visual art and music but hard to pin down… you know it when you see it or hear it. It has a vibe that is instantly recognizable. For this evening’s entertainment, Tommy Aguilar of Universal Grammar, has been invited to curate a series of performances responding to the exhibition that are sure to ‘bring the funk’. Presented on the Boombox Stage provided by San Jose Jazz, the night promises to be full of beautifully strange funk!

The influence of the West Coast/Bay Area clay movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s known as “Funk ceramics” can be seen in the works presented in our 2025 Marcus Exhibition, When the World is Beautifully Strange. The exhibition explores the possibility that each of us is beautiful—even if we are strange. In this moment, when the world is chaotic, when truth is distorted, and we face policies that seek to divide and diminish us, we need art more than ever. In this exhibition, twelve contemporary artists who sculpt with clay—stretching the properties of this earth-bound medium to create fearless new forms—intentionally draw viewers into their worlds with humor, play, and even strange motifs.

No Parking On-Site

Designated parking is available at West Valley College in lots 4 and 5. To simplify your arrival, Montalvo provides complimentary shuttle service from the West Valley College parking area directly to the Marcus Festival.

NOTE: The last shuttle from West Valley College to Montalvo will depart at 9 pm for the event, while the final return shuttle from Montalvo to West Valley College will leave at 10 pm.

Rideshare (Taxi/Lyft/Uber) drop-offs will be allowed, but no pick-ups. If you are using a rideshare service, please take the shuttle to West Valley when you depart and call from there.

• Hands-on art making: 6 – 9 pm
• Art Passport Scavenger Hunt (Available at our Info Table): 6 – 9 pm
• Ashwini Bhat’s Earth Under Our Feet Interactive Performance: 7 – 8 pm
• Timna Naim‘s Mankala Darbuka Games: 6 – 9:15 pm
• DJs perform: 6 – 10 pm

Join Ashwini Bhat in Creating a Clay Mandala 

Experience Earth Under Our Feet, a performance and community created artwork with artist Ashwini Bhat, from 7 – 8 pm, presented in partnership with the Palo Alto Arts Center.

For the evening entertainment, Tommy Aguilar of Universal Grammar, has been invited to curate a series of performances responding to the exhibition that are sure to ‘bring the funk.’ Presented on the Boombox Stage provided by San Jose Jazz, the night promises to be full of beautifully strange funk!  

Performances presented by Universal Grammar @ungramr on the Boombox Truck provided by San Jose Jazz include: 

• DJ Chale Brown @thereal_chalebrown
• Be Movement Collective @bemovementcollective
• LAP 2023 CA Music & Composition Fellow SōLauren @solaurenadams
• DJ Sake One @sake1derful presents a James Brown Tribute
• Mama Bear DJ Set @mmmamabearrr

About Universal Grammar:

Thomas Ramon Aguilar, and his sobriquet Chale Brown, is an artist, curator, and DJ based in San Jose. Since 2001 he has presented and promoted visual artists, DJs, filmmakers, literary authors, and musicians from all over the globe under the moniker Universal Grammar (UG). On the music front, he has always produced with a forward-thinking mission to present quality artistry and emerging contemporary voices. UG has helped introduce artists into the Bay Area market and influence music festivals around the country. Since 2007 he has worked with San Jose Jazz to curate performances on the Jazz Beyond Stage at the annual SummerFest and Winterfest. He is also co-founder of the groundbreaking culture hubs Sonido Clash (2009) and POW! WOW! San Jose (2017). From 2010-2013, UG’s “Live at the Pagoda” music series transformed the San Jose Fairmont’s seldom-used Chinese restaurant into “a temple for fine music,” creating an environment for an eclectic lineup of musicians. In 2014 he launched the weekly gathering The Changing Same, an exploration of the black music diaspora focusing on emerging, future, and past influential sounds, through the presentation of DJs and live performances. 

Soda, beer, and wine will be available for purchase at the bar on the Villa’s Veranda. Alcohol service ends at 9 pm (non-alcoholic drinks will still be available).

Food will be available in Parking Lot 2 from the following food trucks:

• Waffle Roost
• Curveball
• Lucy’s Fruit
• Twisted Chill
• Thai Thai

A ceramics marketplace will be hosted in the Montalvo main festival area, featuring a curated selection of handcrafted pottery and ceramic art from local artisans.

• AG Nwosu Ceramics
• Zen Shway Studio
• Alex Beck Ceramics
• El Bazar Azteca

The 2025 Marcus exhibition, When the World is Beautifully Strange, and festival, Montalvo Funk, 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.