GEOFF BENNETT: Women have played a vital role in# building the technologies that shape modern life,## yet their contributions have# at times been overlooked,## minimized or left out of the historical record.

A new exhibition seeks to tell a fuller story# featuring artists from California and beyond.## It draws connections between the work performed# in Silicon Valley's laboratories and the## generations of labor women have carried out in# factories, offices and homes around the world.

Special correspondent Mike Cerre reports from# San Jose for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

MIKE CERRE: The old analog clock atop the historic# wing of the San Jose Museum of Art is considered## to be one of the early examples of high technology# here in the capital of the Silicon Valley.

JEREMIAH MATTHEW DAVIS, Executive Director,# San Jose Museum of Art: It's a representation## of the importance of the marriage of# art and technology in our.. MIKE CERRE: Jeremiah Wilson (sic) Davis, the# executive director of the San Jose Museum of Art,## is trying to bridge the technology# and art gap, real or imagined,## with exhibits appealing to both cultures.

JEREMIAH MATTHEW DAVIS: The idea that# art and technology are divorced I think## is a fallacy.

Art and technology have# been present since the very beginning.## But the two are not separate.

They're# born from the same human impulse, and## that's why they share a root in# the ancient Greek word technic.

MIKE CERRE: The museum's current Motherboards# exhibit, titled after a computer's main## circuit board and nervous system, shows how# connected women and technology have been## since the early days of computing and# the evolution of the Silicon Valley.

Rhonda Holberton was originally a sculptor## before adopting some of the digital# art tools to advance her craft.

RHONDA HOLBERTON, Digital Artist: The piece that# I made for Motherboards is partly inspired by my## own familial history.

My great grandfather# was both an engineer.

He also had orchards## here in Silicon Valley.

And, in fact,# before Silicon Valley was Silicon Valley,## it was known for its orchards as# the Valley of the Heart's Delight.

The sculpture itself is a plum branch,# which is a nod to that agricultural## history.

So I have translated that plum# branch from a 3-D scan of an actual tree## that are then 3-D printed# with bioplastics and resins.

MIKE CERRE: Her exhibit, Collateral Influences,# includes a digital representation of the plum## branch in honor of the early role# women played in computer technology.

RHONDA HOLBERTON: Ada Lovelace is largely known# as the world's first computer programmer or## at least author of the first algorithm.

So# on the screen, on the face of the sculpture,## on top of the 3-D model of the plum branch is a# representation of Ada Lovelace's Note G algorithm,## the first algorithm turned into binary code# and then turned into black-and-white pixels.

MIKE CERRE: Silicon Valley A.I.

chipmaker Nvidia# recently named one of their high performance chips## after this mid-19th century mathematician.

SARAH BUCKIUS, Digital Artist: As a child,## I loved problem-solving, I loved math,# I loved science, I lov.. MIKE CERRE: It doesn't look like anything like## a computer.

It looks like an# inverted couch or something.

SARAH BUCKIUS: Yes.

(LAUGHTER) MIKE CERRE: Sarah Buckius earned de.. in both mechanical enginee.. SARAH BUCKIUS: Human computers, who were women who# did a lot of computational work before the actual## physical computer, they were# humans who were computers,## and so their work is sort of like# the mother of the computer industry.

MIKE CERRE:## Her digital audiovisual collages included early# technology drawings and patents filed by women.

SARAH BUCKIUS: You can do a lot of things# with physical art, but in the digital space,## you can work in this three-dimensional computer# program and you can add texture to the models,## and you can move them around in certain ways, and# you can collage them together in a digital space.

MIKE CERRE: This physical representation# of her collages with pink fur accents## is called Kitchen Computer Plushy.

It was# inspired by this 1969 Neiman Marcus catalog ad## for an early Honeywell kitchen computer the# size of today's kitchen islands with a tagline## "If she can only cook as# well as Honeywell computes."

SARAH BUCKIUS: I love to use humor in my work,## because it can take really challenging# ideas and make them more accessible.## It can also make them amusing, and there's# a history in art of using humor for that.

MIKE CERRE: This traditional Navajo# weaving of the Pentium microchip## recognizes the contributions of# Navajo women's arts and craft skills## to computing while they worked at Intel's chip# fabrication facilities in Arizona and New Mexico.

SARAH MILLS, Textiles Art Curator: Unlike some art## forms that might stay on the# computer or stay in a screen,## digital weaving comes off the screen and it# comes onto the wall and you have a physical wall.

MIKE CERRE: Sarah Mills curated the# companion Woven Pixel exhibition## at the nearby San Jose Museum# of Quilts and Textiles.## It represents how full circle a traditional art# form like weaving has come because of technology.

The entire process is now computerized# as much or as little as the artist wants.

SARAH MILLS: The interesting thing# about weaving is that you can go## back and forth.

You can go from a computer# to a handloom.

And so now weavers embrace## both, because it is easy to work# with your hands and a computer.

MIKE CERRE: When not creating digital art,## Rhonda Holberton is an assistant professor# of digital arts at San Jose State University,## one of the first universities to combine fine# arts and digital technology into a degree program.

RHONDA HOLBERTON: I think the# genesis of art and technology,## the integration started in places where# technology is located, because artists,## universities were able to play around# with some of the first computers.

MIKE CERRE: The growing popularity# of the city's First Friday Art Walks## is testimony to how connected the# tech and arts communities can be## in the Silicon Valley when it comes# to breaking rules and creating things.

For the "PBS News Hour," Mike# Cerre in San Jose, California.