Public Arts

Creative Expression for Social Impact

SJSU artists and creators collaborate with communities to transform public spaces and amplify underrepresented voices through innovative art. Our faculty lead participatory art, community murals, performance initiatives, and multimedia installations that address pressing social issues and celebrate innovation and the cultural fabric of our area. Below is a rotating selection of our standout creative practitioners and community-engaged artists.

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• Selected Publications

  • Harris, K., et al (2023). Public Art as Resistance in San Jose. 

    Harris, Y. (2020). Sound Is Round: A Waterfall of Falling Sounds That I Catch Dreaming. Resonance: The Journal of Sound and Culture, 1(2), 121–131. 

    Luna-Mega, C. (2020). Aural Shores. Edgetone Records.

    Mendoza, V. (2020). “Our Agents” from the larger installation "O Custo de Vida". “de Young Open” Juried Exhibition, de Young Museum.

    Norris, K. (2022). The Confession of Copeland Cane. Unnamed Press.

    Rael, R. & San Fratello, V. (2018). Printing Architecture: Innovative Recipes for 3D Printing. Princeton Architectural Press.

• Award Highlights

  • Harris, K., "Abierto Placemaking Grant" — City of San José, 2021

    Harris, K., et al., “Public Art as Resistance in San Jose,” for H&A in Action “Geography of the Arts,” — California Humanities Council, 2021

    Harris, Y., "Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption" — Artist in Residence, Art|Sci Center, UCLA, 2020. With exhibition at Getty Initiatives Southern California PST ART 2024

    Holberton, Krishnaswamy, “Hiding in Plain Sight: To Support the Production & Exhibition of Multidisciplinary Interpretative Responses to Historical Archives in Silicon Valley” — National Endowment for the Arts, 2022

    Luna-Mega, "Abierto Placemaking Grant" — City of San José, 2022

    Rael, San Fratello, “Teeter Totter Wall” at U.S.-Mexico Border, Design of the Year 2020, Design Museum in London

• Affiliates

  • Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies

    King Library Digital Humanities Center

    Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies

Featured Faculty

Katherine D. Harris
Professor of English
Digital Humanities, Public Humanities, Community Engagement, Social Justice, Emerging Technology, Interdisciplinary
ORCID: 0000-0001-9212-0939

Yolande Harris
Lecturer, Art and Art History
Sound, Listening, Environment, Underwater Sound, Ocean, Whales, Sound Art, Digital Media Art, Video Art
ORCID: 0009-0006-5203-786X

Rhonda Holberton
Associate Professor, Digital Media Arts
Multimedia Installations, Digital and Interactive Technologies, Virtual Reality, AI, Political Ecology
ORCID: 0000-0001-9147-8998

Robin Lasser
Professor of Art
Photography, Video, Sound, Site-Specific Installations, Public Art, Environment, Health, Culture
ORCID: 0000-0001-7740-6381

Christopher Luna-Mega
Assistant Professor of Music Theory, Technology, and Composition
Musical Translation of Environmental Sound
ORCID: 0009-0009-4965-7015

Valerie Mendoza
Associate Professor of Art and Art History
Photography, Installation, Artist, Image Maker, Affordable Housing, Social Practice, Photographer, Narrative, Personally Rooted
ORCID: 0000-0002-3176-3575

Virginia San Fratello
Professor of Design
3D Printing, Additive Manufacturing, Robotics, Architecture, Interior Design, Design, Art, Activism, Border Wall
ORCID: 0000-0003-3914-2391

Adam Shiverdecker
Associate Professor of Spatial Art
Art, Ceramics, Sculpture, Militarism, Contemporary Culture
ORCID: 0000-0001-8928-6196

Potential collaborators and members of the media may contact us at officeofresearch@sjsu.edu.