Archive for November, 2011

Teaching for Creativity: Two Cool Web Sites

One of the ways that I like to inspire and motivate my own creativity is to surf the web and see what’s happening at other places and museums in the world.  When I find something I like, I will periodically revisit a web site to see what is new and also reconnect with some of the creative sparks that caught my mind on the first visit.  For this post in the Teaching for Creativity series, I am sharing with you two art museum web sites that are quickly becoming regular stops on my web surfing adventures, and are particularly relevant to the themes of art, artists, and creativity.

Tate Modern: turbinegeneration
This innovative website is based on the idea of international exchange and collaboration. Designed for schools, artists, and galleries, the Tate’s Unilever Series: turbinegeneration project is an offshoot of their annual Turbine Hall installation sponsored by Unilever.  Each year, the Tate Modern commissions an artist to create an installation for this colossal space.  The most recent Unilever Series artist featured on the turbinegeneration website is Ai Weiwei.  The next artist to be featured is Tacita Dean.  The installation created by each artist serves as the catalyst for students, teachers, and artists participating in the turbinegeneration project.  Through basic social media, participants can connect and share ideas and artworks that are inspired by the work of artists featured in the Unilever Series.  An online gallery of artworks created in response to the work of Ai Weiwei includes participants from Brazil, United Kingdom, Korea, Portugal, and India.  How cool is it to see how students across the world respond to the work of this contemporary artist!

Denver Art Museum: Creativity Resource for Teachers
This website from the Denver Art Museum launched several years ago on the premise that the creativity of artists can inspire the creativity in each of us.  The site houses a wealth of resources that can be sorted by artwork or lesson plan topic and grade level. Each featured artwork includes information about the maker and the inspiration for the piece, as well as things to look for and multimedia resources that may be useful for teaching.  

What websites inspire you?  Which ones do you find yourself returning to over and over again for creative ideas?  Share your websites in the comment section below – I would love to hear about them and add them to my web surfing adventures.

Nicole Stutzman
Director of Teaching Programs and Partnerships

Friday Photos: Haute Couture at the DMA

Jean Paul Gaultier is known for his attention to even the slightest details when it comes to dressing his runway models; he often reworks and adds accessories at the very last second during his fashion shows. He understands the significance of that ever important “finishing touch”. From handbags to headbands, necklaces to neckties, accessories can transform a dull outfit into a dazzling ensemble. Our final installment of Haute Couture at the DMA highlights some of the finest accessories that the DMA has to offer.

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I hope that these posts will inspire you to find your own fashion favorites the next time you visit the DMA!

Jessica Kennedy

McDermott Intern for Gallery Teaching

Images used:

Sarah Badger Noyes (1747-1788), Attributed to Joseph Badger, c. 1760-1765, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection, gift of Faith P. Bybee

Art Beauty Shoppe, Isaac Soyer, 1934, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Public Works of Art Project

Necklace, Tanjore, Tamil Nadu, India, 19th century, gold, pearls, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of David T. Owsley in memory of his mother Lucy Ball Owsley via the Alconda-Owsley Foundation

Single snake armlet, Roman, 2nd century B.C., gold, chased, Dallas Museum of Art, Museum League Purchase Funds, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green in honor of Virginia Lucas Nick

Figure of a dancer, Mohini, 10th-12th century, marble, Mount Abu area, Rajasthan, India, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation

Bust of a bodhisattva, Kushan, 2nd-3rd century, gray schist, Gandharan region, Pakistan, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Margaret J. and George V. Charlton

Manjusri, Nepal or Tibet, 18th century, gilt bronze, semiprecious stones, Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Mrs. E.R. Brown

Spanish Woman Wearing a Black Cross, Édouard Manet, 1865, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection

Pair of ear pendants, Greek, Hellenistic Greek, 2nd century B.C., gold, Dallas Museum of Art, Museum League Purchase Funds, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green in honor of Virginia Lucas Nick

Lion head bracelet, Etruscan, Archaic Etruscan, late 6th century BC, gold, blue glass, filigree, Dallas Museum of Art, Museum League Purchase Funds, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green in honor of Virginia Lucas Nick

“The Golden Fleece” ring, Giovanni Corvaja, 2008, 18-karat gold, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Deedie Rose

Man’s necklace (kalabubu), Nias, Indonesia, 19th Century, wood, gold, gold leaf, and brass(?), Dallas Museum of Art, gift of The Nasher Foundation in honor of Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher

Folding fan with a courting scene and musical trophies, French or German, c. 1770s-1780s, gouache on double silk leaf, brass, metallic thread, mother-of-pearl, gilding, and paste gems, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection

THANKS!

Dear Teachers,

In honor of Thanksgiving, we’d like to express our appreciation for some of the people who made an impression on us throughout our lives.

I have always had great teachers in my life, and they’re part of the reason I wanted to go into Education in the first place.  I would especially like to thank my high school Humanities teacher, Ms. Hall, for giving me my first exposure to art.  Without her excitement and enthusiasm, I never would have taken art history courses in college and probably wouldn’t be working at the DMA today!

I am thankful for three special teachers who have always been in my life (two of my sisters and one of my brothers-in-law), who inspired me to become involved in all of the arts including theater, literature, music and visual arts. They gave me the confidence to do what I love!

Thank you to my junior high math teacher, who encouraged, challenged, and rewarded me both in and out of class.  I aspire to be an educator who can blend all of those things and inspire hard work and a sense of accomplishment in her students.

Educators, you deserve the biggest THANK YOU of all!  I appreciate the dedication to your students, and the inspiration you instill in them.  Thank you for making the Museum a part of your classroom, and I look forward to seeing you and your students.

Happy Thanksgiving,
DMA Educators

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

Doris Lee, Thanksgiving, 1942, Lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg

DMA Dinner Guests

As educators in the museum, we get the wonderful opportunity to spend lots of time with the collection. So much so that the art works begin to feel like family. And just like in every family, there are plenty of characters. From the silly to the serious, emotional to adventurous, happy to sad, all the subjects in our collection have a lot of personality. With Thanksgiving coming up, I began to wonder what it would be like to have all of these quirky individuals come together for a Thanksgiving feast. Naturally, there were some I would be more excited about having in my home than others; after all, there’s a black sheep in every family.

So I decided to ask the other authors who in our collection they would invite to Thanksgiving dinner?

Here were their responses:

Sarah Coffey:

I would welcome the Banquete chair with pandas to my Thanksgiving dinner. I imagine this lovely lady to be so warm, playful, and inviting, that she’d be sure to get along with everyone. Also, if we ran out of seats at the table, I just know she would offer up herself.

Banquete chair with pandas, Fernando Campana and Humberto Campana, 2006, stuffed animals on steel base, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund, 2009.9

Melissa Nelson:

I would invite the Indonesian couple from the video installation The World Won’t Listen by Phil Collins.  Not only do they sing one of my favorite songs by The SmithsThere is a Light That Never Goes Out – but they also seem like they would be really cool people.  I like their style, and I love the way they sing this somewhat dark love song as a duet.

The world won't listen, Phil Collins, 2005, synchronized three-channel color video projection with sound, Dallas Museum of Art, Gayle and Paul Stoffel Fund for Contemporary Art and gift of Marguerite Steed Hoffman, 2008.12.2.A-M

Amy Copeland:

I’d invite Still Life with Landscape for dinner, and Yinka Shonibare’s Un Ballo in Maschera for dramatic entertainment.

I think that I would invite Shiva Nataraja because he would be the best at passing around my favorite Thanksgiving dishes with all those arms!

Shiva Nataraja, 11th century, bronze, Chola dynasty, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mrs. Eugene McDermott, the Hamon Charitable Foundation, and an anonymous donor in honor of David T. Owsley, with additional funding from The Cecil and Ida Green Foundation and the Cecil and Ida Green Acquisition Fund, 2000.377

I don’t know who I would invite to Thanksgiving dinner, but I can tell you who I wouldn’t invite: the Xipe Impersonator.  He wears the flayed skin of a sacrificial victim until it rots off, and I wouldn’t want his stench overpowering the yummy smells of turkey and pumpkin pie!

Xipe impersonator, Aztec culture, Late Postclassic period c. A.D. 1350-1521, volcanic stone, shell, and paint, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott, the McDermott Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1973.65

Loryn Leonard:

I would invite That Gentleman in Andrew Wyeth’s painting.  That Gentleman reminds me of my grandfather: someone who was oftentimes quiet, but when compelled to speak, his words were profound. I can imagine the interesting stories he would tell about his life, and maybe even past Thanksgivings. It would be an honor to share stories and a Thanksgiving feast with That Gentleman, for that is what Thanksgiving is all about, sharing.

That Gentleman, Andrew Wyeth, 1960, tempera on panel, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase, 1962.27

Nicole Stutzman:

I would enjoy having the presence of Tlaloc at my Thanksgiving table for several reasons.  First, he’s really old and he’s a god. That’s pretty cool.  He’s “been around the bush” as they say and I suspect he may have some harrowing and interesting stories to share about his impact on the weather and agriculture.  Because of this, I imagine him to be someone who really knows and understands thankfulness.  Second, I would just love to look at him with that crown, the nose decoration, and those serpents in his ears.  And technically, he has no body.  Would he just hover at the table?  Third, I have no doubt that he would bring some delicious maize dish to share.  Corn pudding perhaps, or corn bread.  Mmmm…

Head of the rain god Tlaloc, North America, Mexico, Teotitlan del Camino, A.D. 1300-1500, ceramic, tufa, stucco, and paint, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marcus in memory of Mary Freiberg, 1967.5

Hannah Burney:

As for me, I would invite The Reveler. As the life of the party, this goofy fun-loving party animal would keep all of my guests dancing, laughing, and having a good time.

The Reveler (Le Festoyeur), Jean Dubuffet, 1964, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Clark, 1966.14

 Who would you invite?

Wishing you a yummy Thanksgiving!

McDermott Intern for Teaching Programs and Partnerships

A week of Gaultier at the DMA

We held several special events for the opening of The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, not only the first exhibition on the French couturier but the first contemporary fashion exhibition for the DMA. The week started off with a “Welcome to Texas” reception for Jean Paul Gaultier presented by the members of the Jean Paul Gaultier Host Committee complete with the high-kicking Kilgore Rangerettes, country music, Stetson hats, cowboy boots, and a “Welcome to Texas” themed  tequila bar with corny dogs appetizers.

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M. Gaultier attended a Parisian luncheon with Eiffel Tower statues, pink tulle and black leather tablecloths inspired by the French Cancan ensemble worn by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy from his Ze Parisienne spring/summer 2002 Haute Couture collection located in the Skin Deep gallery of the exhibition. Later that evening excitement was in the air when M. Gaultier and Dita Von Teese entered the Museum for the Donor Circle reception greeting 700 eager guests. M. Gaultier shared stories from his childhood and entertained the fashionable dressed crowd, including the DMA’s Interim Director Olivier Meslay and curator Kevin W. Tucker in Gaultier ensembles. M. Gaultier finished his visit to the DMA on Thursday during the press preview where he discussed his inspiration and the exhibition.

Thursday was also the first opportunity for DMA members to explore the exhibition before the opening on Sunday, November 13. The Friday night General Membership reception drew over 1,500 members who dressed to impress and danced the night away to DJ Andre 7.

There are still two and half months to explore the acclaimed exhibition and number of programs to attend including a Jean Paul Gaultier themed Late Night on Friday, January, 20. For information on upcoming events, and on DMA memberships, visit DallasMuseumofArt.org.

Graffiti Couture

There are six exciting galleries inside The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk exhibition, from a red light district to a motorized runway. For the Punk Cancan room, we decided to tag the walls with details of Gaultier and Dallas with the help of graffiti artist Jerod DTOX Davies for Blunt Force Crew/Beastmode Squad. Below is a behind-the-scenes look at the tagging process.

Photography by Adam Gingrich, Dallas Museum of Art Marketing Assistant, and George Fiala.

Friday Photos: Haute Couture at the DMA

Jean Paul Gaultier is well known for his creative use of unusual materials when crafting his clothing lines. While he employs many materials that are typical  of the fashion industry, such as silk, furs, tulle, and lace, he also experiments with more uncommon items such as wheat, chicken feathers, aluminum cans, trash bags, and human hair. It is this wide use of sometimes strange materials that inspired this Friday Photos edition of Haute Couture at the DMA.

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What types of materials would you use to make your own line of clothing?

Jessica Kennedy

McDermott Intern for Gallery Teaching

Images used:

Pair of Lokapalas (Heavenly Guardians), early 8th century, earthenware with three color (sancai) lead glazes, China, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., in honor of, Ellen and Harry S. Parker III

Nature or Abundance (La Nature or Fécondité), Léon Frédéric, 1897, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund

Joan of Arc, Anna Hyatt Huntington, n.d., bronze, Dallas Museum of Art, Kiest Memorial Fund

Emma in a Purple Dress, George W. Bellows, 1920-1923, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase

Mink and Mannequin, Reginald Marsh, 1940, watercolor, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase

Portrait of Two Children, Probably the Sons of M. Almeric Berthier, comte de LaSalle, Jean-Joseph Vaudechamp, 1841, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Patsy Lacy Griffith Collection, gift of Patsy Lacy Griffith by exchange

Xipe impersonator, Aztec culture, Late Postclassic period, c. A.D. 1350-1521, volcanic stone, shell, and paint, Mexico City area, state of Mexico, Mexico, North America, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott, the McDermott Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated

Takenouchi no Sukune Meets the Dragon King of the Sea, Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912), 1875-1879, bronze and glass,  Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, The John R. Young Collection, gift of M. Frances and John R. Young

Community Connection: Sport as Art

We first met artist Tom Russotti in July, after he contacted us about working together during his time at CentralTrak, The University of Texas at Dallas’ Artists Residency program.  We were immediately intrigued by his interest in combining art and sport, and have collaborated with Tom on multiple programs including the Art & Games Teacher WorkshopC3 Artistic Encounters, training for docents, Thriving Minds After-School program, Booker T. Washington Partnership Learning Lab, and Late Night Creativity Challenges.

Art & Games Teacher Workshop

Describe what you do.

I’m interested in the connection between art and sport, the idea of sport as an art form, and how all the different elements can be combined to have individual expression.  I’m also interested in my own history of playing sports and games, connecting that to other people through playing, and using play as an educational tool.

How did you get into games?

I invented a sport as a way of getting more active and more social in my artmaking. I was a documentary photographer previously, so I was driving around by myself and taking pictures, and editing alone in the darkroom.  I hadn’t played sports in a while, and thought it would be fun to get out and play and make sports fun for me again.  I also realized this could be an art form, something I could pursue artistically, and I could get other people involved by creating events.

My first invented game was called Wiffle Hurling, a new version of the sport of hurling, one of Ireland’s national sports. Hurling is a dangerous sport – it looks like rugby with large baseball bats.  I lived in Ireland for a year, and tried to join the hurling team at University College Dublin.  They said I would lose all my teeth and wouldn’t let me join the team.  Fast forward seven years: I had all these wiffle ball bats, and happened to walk by a practice football field with the same lines as a hurling field.  It dawned on me to put the two together and make it a social event with uniforms, cameras, and friends.  It turned into spectacle and was really fun.

What motivated you to contact us?

I was involved in a project in England, where kids made up their own sports and played them in a festival.  Since I couldn’t go to England, I told them I’d work with some youth groups here and have these groups invent sports and send them over.  They would have this international festival/competition, and bridge the gap between England and Dallas.  I started by calling the YMCA, and they said I should talk to the DMA because they do all sorts of afterschool programs, and they’d probably be into this.

What has been your most memorable project?

Every time an event works, it’s memorable.  In Sweden this past August, we had an amazing game of forty people playing soccer with ten balls in this old forest that once was a soccer field.  The first Wiffle Hurling was amazing.  The first Drinking and Dancing Competition was amazing.  The first Straitjacket Softball was amazing.  (You can view all these projects on the Institute for Aesthletics web site.)

MegaSoccer in Dals Langed, Sweden

Where do you see yourself in five years?

One of the reasons I’ve become an artist is so I can avoid answering that question.  I go where projects take me – five years ago, I could never have imagined  the projects that I’ve done.  Every time I try to over-rationalize what I do as an artist, the projects get boring. When you tap into something you’re doing naturally, that’s when you really create a project that has legs.

Take part in Tom’s upcoming gallery exhibition Hatchjaw and Bassett LLP at Conduit Gallery, open from November 19-December 31.

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier Has Arrived

After months of preparation and anticipation, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk is now open to the public.  The DMA’s galleries have been transformed into an immersive fashion environment, complete with singing mannequins and a moving catwalk.  I couldn’t stop saying “wow” my first time through the exhibition–I kept forgetting that I was inside the DMA.

Les Vierges collection, Apparitions dress, Haute couture, spring/summer 2007, copyright P. Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier

The exhibition celebrates a 35-year span of Gaultier’s career (from 1976 to 2011), and is divided into six distinct galleries:

  • The Odyssey of Jean Paul Gaultier, which is an introduction to Gaultier using three of his favorite motifs: sailors, mermaids, and virgins.
  • The Boudoir, which explores Gaultier’s reinterpretation of corsets and lingerie for the modern woman’s wardrobe.
  • Skin Deep, which celebrates how skin (our first garment) and its various types of decoration have inspired Gaultier.  This section is also devoted to Gaultier’s take on male fashion, including his men’s skirts.
  • Punk Cancan, which reflects the influence of Paris and London on Gaultier’s designs.
  • Metropolis, which explores the worlds of technology and science fiction.  This section of the exhibition also includes Gaultier’s collaborations with artists in the fields of film and dance.
  • Urban Jungle, which demonstrates the influence of world cultures and peoples in the fashions of Jean Paul Gaultier.

Les Actrices collection, Barbarella body-corset, Haute couture, fall/winter 2009-2010, copyright P. Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier

Of course, Jean Paul Gaultier’s name is forever tied to Madonna, and the gold corset from her Blond Ambition tour has pride-of-place in the Boudoir gallery.  The labels in the exhibition reveal a “who’s who” of other celebrities who have worn the designs in the exhibition, including Kylie Minogue, Dita von Teese, Sarah Jessica Parker, Anthony Keidis and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Catherine Deneuve, and Beyoncé.  Several of the labels also list the number of hours required to make that particular garment.  For me, that is the most fascinating part of the exhibition.  I spend my weekends sewing, and I get annoyed if something takes me longer than a day or two to complete.  I can’t imagine spending 200+ hours working on one garment!  I guess that’s the distinction between haute couture and something home-sewn.

Les Indes galantes collection, Lascar dress, Haute couture, spring/summer 2000, copyright P. Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier

If you would like to experience The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier, I encourage you to sign up for our full-day Art & Fashion Teacher Workshop on December 3rd.  I am co-leading the workshop and we’ll explore the exhibition, as well as other examples of fashion from the DMA’s collection.  There are still spaces available, and it’s guaranteed to be a fashion-filled day (bonus points if you arrive for the workshop wearing sailor stripes). If you’re not able to join us for the Teacher Workshop, keep an eye out for Jessica’s fashion-inspired Friday Photo Posts in the month of November.

Jean Paul Gaultier's love note to Dallas

The DMA’s Uncrated blog also has a behind-the-scenes peek at Gaultier’s time at the DMA last week, including photos and video.  Of course, I also encourage you to come check out the exhibition for yourself.  This is the DMA’s first-ever fashion exhibition, and it truly is phenomenal.  Don’t let these fashions walk off the catwalk on February 12th without seeing them in person.

Shannon Karol
Manager of Docent Programs and Gallery Teaching


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