Every year, I am impressed and amazed by our annual Young Masters exhibition, organized in partnership with the O’Donnell Foundation Advanced Placement Arts Incentive Program. Since 1994, the O’Donnell Foundation has encouraged interest and success in AP Studio Art and AP Art History, adding AP Music Theory in 1998. One of the clearly defined program goals is the recognition and celebration of students’ and teachers’ achievements. This year, fifty-three original works of art were selected for inclusion in Young Masters out of a total of 651 submissions. You can also listen to AP Art History essays and original music compositions on the DMA Mobi web site.
First Place: Michelle Yi, June Infestation, digital, Coppell High School
Second Place: Silvia Zapata-Schleicher, The Dimensions of Cards, playing cards, Creekview High School
Third Place: Trang Tran, Escape, oil paint, Creekview High School
Judges from a variety of arts, cultural, and educational institutions such as the DMA, Meyerson Symphony Center, and SMU selected this year’s winners. View the exhibition through April 8, and share which piece is your favorite.
One goal for the Teaching for Creativity series is to present the voice of other educators who can share insights and approaches to teaching that nurture creative behavior. Meet Lorraine Gachelin, Artistic Director at the Dallas International School and participant during the DMA’s 2011 Summer Seminar. Lorraine shares with us a drawing exercise that supports the development of risk-taking, freedom, and creative flow in her middle and high school students.
I have the pleasure of working with Middle and High School students. They display a great deal of energy and enthusiasm when working on creative projects and studying art history. Curious, analytical, and structured, they follow instructions and stay within their guidelines. The challenge arises when I ask them to spend time sketching in their journals. “What should I draw? How large or small? Which tool must I use?” “A free drawing”, I respond, “What is on your mind today? What would you like to express?”
My biggest thrill as an artist and teacher is to offer my students the opportunity to be risk-takers in their art. I want them to open up their minds, take a pen to paper, and doodle with a cause. Go with the subconscious flow! Let the pen move around with one continuous line until an image appears. No planning, no analysis, no critical thinking. Just pure creative freedom and finally, allow an image to spring forth.
One continuous line drawing by teacher
Sounds strange? Not really, it just requires an open mind and a little practice. A ballpoint pen is a great tool because it can’t be erased and the pressure can be varied. The paper can be any size – try to use the maximum space available. Constraints are minimal but important: no reference photos and the pen may not leave the paper as this drawing will be created with one continuous line. The first few minutes of drawing should be very free. Consider it a warm-up. I don’t even look at my paper during this time. Once the pen touches the paper, allow the line to move around as if it is listening to music. After a minute, my eyes are on my paper and I watch the line continue to flow and build. Shapes may begin to appear where the lines cross with textures implied. Patterns and values slowly emerge forming an image in a very organic and natural state.
One continuous line drawing by student
A talented sixth-grade student was intrigued by this approach to drawing. Without question, judgment or any preset expectations of what would result, he quietly sat at his desk and drew for 15 minutes. A flower and butterfly appeared with much energy and grace, all too well symbolizing the metamorphosis that had just taken place in his artwork. It’s all in the continuum of the flow.
Many thanks to Lorraine for contributing to this blog and for being such a wonderful collaborator in the pursuit of creativity!
What creative experiences are happening in your learning environment? Share your ideas with us and spark the dialogue.
Nicole Stutzman
Director of Teaching Programs and Partnerships
Imagine yourself among a group of educators — spirited, inspiring, trusting, supportive, and innovative — all focused on creativity and the nurturing of students. Now imagine this group immersed in the creative environment and resources of the Dallas Museum of Art for one full week. This is the Summer Seminar experience for teachers at the DMA, and we’ll be hosting the 2012 Seminar June 11-15. We invite you to join us!
Teaching for Creativity reached beyond my expectations by exploring how to consider attitudes, ideas, and associations I may have discarded or not considered before this class. – 2011 participant
Designed for teachers of all grade levels and subjects, Summer Seminar: Teaching for Creativity explores education and creativity through experiences in the DMA’s galleries and Center for Creative Connections. The course references creativity from a variety of perspectives, and participants engage in readings about creativity from various authors, including Robert Sternberg, Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Through conversations and workshops centered on creative attitudes and thinking, the Seminar supports teaching skills and approaches that foster imagination, curiosity, an open mind, and a natural drive for creating in students. UT Dallas professor Magdalena Grohman and DMA staff lead workshops and gallery experiences. Participants reflect on and further develop their own creativity, as well as focus on how to teach for creativity.
I will use the tools in order to push myself further with my projects, rather than staying in [a] comfort zone. – 2011 participant
This definitely helped me tap into more creative thinking. The exercises and activities were very helpful. – 2011 participant
2011 Summer Seminar gallery experience
Throughout the Seminar, the DMA galleries serve as a kind of laboratory space, in which we consider the creative process and relate creative thinking techniques to specific works of art. In-depth experiences with art cultivate our abilities to observe, envision, express, explore, engage, and understand in the arts and other disciplines. Through these experiences, we may become more persistent, flexible thinkers, better problem explorers and problem solvers—overall, more creative beings.
Unlike most professional development, the focus is not on ‘making a better teacher’ but on providing good teachers with better tools to bring out the best in their students. – 2011 participant
The one-week Summer Seminar experience serves as a catalyst for an extended relationship between participating educators and the DMA as we continue the dialogue about education and creativity throughout the academic year. This blog is one venue for the continued dialogue — view posts from a series titled Teaching for Creativity to learn more and hear about the creative journeys of several educators in the classroom. The blog post this Thursday will feature 2011 Summer Seminar participant, Lorraine Gachelin.
Registration for the 2012 Summer Seminar: Teaching for Creativity is currently open. For more information, please contact Andrea Severin at aseverin@DallasMuseumofArt.org.
Nicole Stutzman
Director of Teaching Programs and Partnerships
March happens to be Women’s History Month and to celebrate this month-long feminine fiesta, I have posted images of some of the Museum’s leading ladies.
The artistic superwoman, Georgia O’Keeffe is represented in the DMA’s collection and in our current exhibition Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties, which features six of her paintings.
Grey Blue & Black-Pink Circle, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1929, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation
The legendary activist; the one, the only Lady Godiva:
Lady Godiva, Anne Whitney, c.1861-1864, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Alessandra Comini, in memory of Eleanor Tufts
Anne Vallayer-Coster was one of four women who was trained at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1770. You go girl…
Bouquet of Flowers in a Blue Porcelain Vase, Anne Vallayer-Coster, c.1776, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O'Hara Fund and gift of Michael L. Rosenberg
Virgin of the Rosary, Melchor Perez Holguin, late 17th-18th centuries, Dallas Museum of Art, The Cleofas and Celia de la Garza Collection, gift of Mary de la Garza-Hanna and Virginia de la Garza and an anonymous donor
All of these heroic ladies can be found in the galleries at the Dallas Museum of Art. Come explore the Museum this weekend and see if you can find any additional wonder-women.
What comes to mind when you think of America in the twenties?
My first thoughts: jazz music, flappers, The Great Gatsby, the end of WWI, Prohibition, the Harlem Renaissance, Al Capone, and new rights for women. The country was quickly urbanizing and industrializing, and technology was advancing. The twenties in the U.S. were “roaring” indeed – characterized by dynamic change and modernization. Visual artists along with authors, poets, and playwrights responded to all this change through their works. The DMA’s upcoming full-day teacher workshop on March 31 will explore the conceptual and thematic threads that connect 1920s visual art, literature, and a rapidly morphing America.
Elsie Driggs, Queensborough Bridge, 1927, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, Museum Purchase, Lang Acquisition Fund
Lewis Wickes Hine, Power House Mechanic, 1920-1921, Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Walter and Naomi Rosenblum
Gerald Murphy, Razor, 1924, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of the artist
Joseph Stella, The Amazon, 1925-1926, The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchase with exchange funds from the Edward Joseph Gallagher II Memorial Collection
It’s official, today is the first day of spring! Which means I get to do some of my very favorite things.
Like picnics and swimming
Brunch and tennis
Smelling the flowers
And wearing dresses
Playing outside and enjoying nature
Once again, it’s my favorite time of the year.
I guess there’s just something about the sunshine that makes me want to rhyme. In the spirit of the new season, I have paired a few beautiful springtime scenes from the DMA’s collection with poetry. I hope you enjoy!
River Bank in Springtime, Vincent van Gogh
Never Mind, March
Never mind, March, we know
When you blow
You’re not really mad
Or angry, or bad;
You’re only blowing the winter away
To get the world ready for April and May
~ Author Unknown .
Early Spring in Central Park, Nicolai Cikovsky
I Meant To Do My Work Today
I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.
And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand–
So what could I do but laugh and go?
~ Richard Le Gallienne .
Bougival, Maurice de Vlaminick
Sunflakes
If sunlight fell like snowflakes
gleaming yellow and so bright
we could build a sunman
we could have a sunball fight.
We could watch the sunflakes
drifting in the sky
We could go sleighing
in the middle of July
through sundrifts and sunbanks
we could ride a sunmobile
and we could touch sunflakes-
I wonder how they’d feel.
~Frank Asch .
A Host of Golden Daffodils, Charles Webster Hawthorne
Daffy Down Dilly
Daffy Down Dilly
Has come to town
In a yellow petticoat
And a green gown.
~ Mother Goose nursery rhyme .
Jeanne: Spring, Edouard Manet
March
Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat-
You must have walked-
How out of breath you are!
Dear March, how are you?
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell.
~ Emily Dickinson
What do you love about spring?
Hannah Burney
McDermott Education Intern for Teaching Programs and Partnerships
Artworks shown:
River Bank in Springtime, Vincent van Gogh, 1887, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott in memory of Arthur Berger
Early Spring in Central Park, Nicolai Cikovsky, date unknown, lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mrs. Alfred L. Bromberg
Bougival, Maurice de Vlaminick, 1905, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection
A Host of Golden Daffodils, Charles Webster Hawthorne, before 1927, oil on canvas affixed to composition board, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Edna Smith Smrz in memory of Mrs. Ed C. Smith, Sr.
Jeanne: Spring, Edouard Manet, 1882, etching and aquatint, Dallas Museum of Art, Junior League Print Fund
We had a “wild” Late Night this past Friday, March 16, celebrating Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book and the Dallas Arts District’s Spring Block Party. Visitors transformed themselves into wild things in the Art Studio, took in a circus performance by Lone Star Circus in the Atrium, listened to author Laura Numeroff discuss her Jellybeans series, met animals from the Dallas Zoo, experienced many of Dallas’s food trucks on Harwood Street, and raced through the Museum to win the DMAzing Race. We even had our own Wild Thing roaming the Museum’s Concourse. What was your favorite “wild” event?
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Have a roaring good time as we travel back to the 1920s, complete with our own Speakeasy, during April’s Late Night on Friday, April 20.
Kimberly Daniell is the PR Specialist at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Goblet, Carlo Moretti, Murano Glass Company, 1975, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Carole Stupell, Ltd.
Wallpaper design, Peter Todd Mitchell, mid 20th century, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Priscilla Cunningham
Candy jar, Gorham Manufacturing Company, Glass produced by Lindshammar Glasbruk, designed 1963, Dallas Museum of Art, The Jewel Stern American Silver Collection, Decorative Arts Fund
Clover with Eyes, Roberto Juarez, 1981, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. I. C. Deal
Things the wet nurse told me, Jackie Tileston, 2003, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund
Landscape, Rita Leff, n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mrs. Robert A. Beyers
Saturday Nite, Clementine Hunter, 1971, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert F. Ryan
Magnolia Blossoms, John Breckinridge Martin, 1933, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Maggie Joe and Alexandre Hogue
Variant/Adobe, Josef Albers, 1947, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase
Ornament in the form of a feline face, Moche culture, c. A.D. 100-450, Dallas Museum of Art, The Nora and John Wise Collection, bequest of John Wise
Untitled, Richard Anuszkiewicz, n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Duncan E. Boeckman
Summer Foliage, George Inness,1883, Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Joel T. Howard
Plaque fragment with profile face, Maya culture, c. A. D. 600-900, Dallas Museum of Art, given in memory of Jerry L. Abramson by his estate
Fish House Door, John Frederick Peto, 1905, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase
Untitled (Yellow Table on Green), Hans Hofmann, 1936, Dallas Museum of Art, fractional gift of The Rachofsky Collection in honor of Dr. Dorothy Kosinski, the Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art
Green Ground Blue Disc, Adolph Gottlieb, 1966, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Tucker Willis
“Cabbage” tureen and cover, Sceaux Factory, c. 1755, Museum of Art, gift of David T. Owsley via the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation in memory of Lucy Ball Owsley
Detail of Window with Starfish (“Spring”), Louis Comfort Tiffany, Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, c. 1885-1895,Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.
