Half of NUMU's Reawakening Closes With Thanksgiving Weekend. Here's the Order to See It In

In its October coverage of New Museum Los Gatos, the Los Gatan said "Reawakening" is up through Jan. 3. That is accurate for half of it. Reawakening is two companion exhibitions in two different rooms, and NUMU's own page says the first one, Muwekma Ohlone Culture and Connection in Pursuit of Recognition, closes Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026.

So the museum at 106 E. Main St. has a deadline this fall. It is open Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed Sunday, Nov. 8, for a private event and on Thanksgiving Day. From this Thursday, Oct. 29, through Nov. 29, that comes to 18 open days. Those are the only days when every gallery show NUMU has up this season is on view at the same time, including a brand-new main-gallery show that runs into March.

Two Rooms, Two Closing Dates

The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, the San José State University Department of Anthropology, and NUMU developed both Reawakening exhibitions together. Each one covers a different part of the story.

The show that closes first follows the Tribe's "Trail of Truth," a horseback trip from California to Washington, D.C., to push for reinstatement of the Tribe's federal recognition. NUMU's page says the riders traveled with sacred horses gifted to them by the Lakota Nation. Several tribal nations welcomed them onto their land along the way and backed their message to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The companion show stays through the holidays. It covers cultural burns, growing native plants for regalia, food and healing, and the revival of Chochenyo language, dance, music, song and ceremony. NUMU's June publicity included photos of Trail of Truth riders credited to the Muwekma Ohlone Preservation Foundation, along with tribal photographer Kike Arnal's images of tribal youth at the Stanford Powwow and Julie Dominguez making regalia.

One caution on dates. NUMU's June 4 announcement listed the two closing dates the other way around, with Culture and Connection running to Jan. 3. The museum's live exhibition pages now give Nov. 29 for Culture and Connection. If the horseback show is the one you came for, call 408.354.2646 before a late-November trip.

The Same Visit Picks Up a Show That Opened Last Week

Seeing Reawakening before the end of November also catches the main gallery's newest exhibition. CommUnity Ignition: Partnership and Artmaking in the Disability Arts Community opened Oct. 16, 2026, and runs through March 21, 2027.

It is meant to be handled. The Los Gatan's review describes videos, an interactive loom, a fabric wall that visitors add to, and soft, sand-filled "Resting Rocks" you can pick up and rearrange. The exhibition page names AbilityPath and lists a cohort of artists under it. The full list of exhibiting artists runs from Madelyn Covey, Jillian Crochet and Leeza Doreian to Leroy Moore, Katherine Sherwood, Heather Shaw, Jonathan Velasquez and Krishna Washburn. Some individual artists link to Creativity Explored, Creative Growth and NIAD.

Between now and Thanksgiving weekend, the building holds two shows about the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and one about disability arts, all in the same afternoon. In December, one of those rooms changes over.

Downstairs, Nothing Is on a Clock

History Hall is the part of NUMU you can save for later. NUMU's pages for both of its exhibitions say they are open indefinitely.

• Reclamation: Resilience of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has been up since Dec. 19, 2024. It is a photographic exhibition of tribal members by Kike Arnal, developed with the Tribe and San José State University.
• Los Gatos History Project: Uncovering Untold Stories opened Oct. 15, 2021. It looks at objects from NUMU's permanent collection and the stories, and gaps, behind how they were collected.
• The Collections Lab opened in September 2023 and works as both a preparation space and a public display. Visitors browse permanent-collection art and history objects in shelves, cabinets and interactive drawers, with QR codes linking to the online catalog. One pictured piece is a "Money Vest" from the 1850s.

The Lab keeps shorter hours than the rest of the building. It is open Friday through Sunday, so a Thursday visit misses it. For the most complete single trip in November, pick a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

November's Dates, Then One in December

Here are the scheduled programs between now and the holidays, in order:

1. Sunday, Nov. 1: Free First Sunday. Free general admission with registration, plus guided art and history tours.
2. Saturday, Nov. 7: Reawakening Community Day, noon to 4 p.m. Free with registration. Family-friendly activities, refreshments, games and activities based on the exhibitions. NUMU says more details are still to come.
3. Sunday, Nov. 8: Closed for a private event. The day after Community Day is not an option for a follow-up visit.
4. Saturday, Nov. 14: Katherine Sherwood talk. A program on disability and art history with one of the CommUnity Ignition artists.
5. Thursday, Nov. 26: Closed for Thanksgiving. That leaves Nov. 27, 28 and 29 as the last three days for Culture and Connection.
6. Friday, Dec. 11: Festive Night at the Museum, 5 to 8 p.m. Extended hours, refreshments, holiday crafts and music. The listing advertises free admission, but the same page also carries a ticket schedule, so check with NUMU about price before you go.

Community Day is the date with the clearest tie to this season's Reawakening galleries. NUMU's event page bills it as a celebration of both companion exhibitions, and it falls three weeks before the first one closes.

Festive Night is a different kind of visit. It doubles as a stop on the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce Holiday Trolley. The Chamber's trolley page describes a free, hop-on, hop-off downtown loop that takes 15 to 20 minutes, needs no reservation, and has four marked stops, with volunteers helping riders at Town Plaza Park. The 2026 schedule:

On Dec. 11 the trolley starts an hour before the museum's evening opens, so you can ride a loop first and step off at 106 E. Main when the doors open at 5. By then Culture and Connection will have closed. Reciprocity, CommUnity Ignition and History Hall will still be up.

What It Costs If You Live Here

For Los Gatos residents, nothing. NUMU's admission page lists free entry for Los Gatos residents, NUMU members, visitors under 18, Muwekma Ohlone tribal members, and active-duty military personnel and their families. Santa Clara County Library District and San José Public Library cardholders also get in free if they pre-register through Discover & Go. General admission is $10, and seniors, military and students pay $6 with valid ID.

A free visit means you can go twice, once in November for the shows that close Nov. 29 and once in December or later for whatever replaces them. Bring an out-of-town guest on the second trip. The museum also posts a parking zone map for the Civic Center block.

The building itself has local history. It used to house the Town library. NUMU executive director Kimberly Snyder told the Los Gatan that the Michael & Alyce Parsons Art Endowment Fund, which the Parsons started with a million-dollar gift, "helps to keep NUMU running." The gallery that holds the closing show carries their name.

NUMU is closed again on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Reciprocity closes Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027.

The Amanda Vang team keeps track of what is opening, closing and happening around downtown Los Gatos so neighbors have a clear calendar. For more on the town, see our Los Gatos neighborhood page and our look at how Los Gatos splits into three zip-code markets. If you have questions about your own Los Gatos home, you can Schedule a Consultation with us.