September | 2015 | Dallas Museum of Art Uncrated

Archive for September, 2015

30-Minute Dash: Emily Schiller

Published September 30, 2015 Collections , Staff Closed
Tags: 30 minute tour, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Meji period, New Guinea, William Wetmore Story

The design of the DMA provides several places for visitors to observe disparate forms of art within adjacent spaces. I find these vantage points to be the Museum’s most unexpected assets and my recommended route passes three of them.

Take the mid-Concourse stairs to the third-floor balcony. From this elevated perspective you’re able to recognize the curious pairing of sculptures on the ground level and left wall. William Wetmore Story’s Semiramis follows the familiar tradition of depicting legendary figures in white marble. She reclines near the base of a 1930s Ceremonial pole (mbis) created by the Asmat people in the southwestern region of present-day New Guinea. These works arguably have little in common, and yet at the DMA they are neighbors, ripe for comparison and appreciation.

Next, proceed through the Japanese gallery on the Museum’s third level to the balcony that looks back onto your previous position. The expanse of artistic styles, periods, materials, and intentions gains a level of complexity with the presence of a cast bronze sculpture from the Meji period, Takenouchi no Sukune Meets the Dragon King of the Sea.

Emily Schiller is the Digital Collections Content Coordinator at the DMA.

V.I.B. Visit to the DMA

Published September 29, 2015 Just for Fun 1 Comment
Tags: American art, American galllery, baby, Gerald Murphy

We had a Very Important Baby visit the Museum today! Eleven-month old Vance Douglas Lancaster Van Daele took a stroll through the galleries this morning with his father Vance, and graciously agreed to strike a pose for us. Besides his adorable smile and cheerful personality, what makes baby Vance so very important? Well he just so happens to be the great godson of artist Gerald Murphy!

Baby Vance’s family first met Laura Donnelly, Murphy’s granddaughter, through Deborah Rothschild, curator of the critically acclaimed exhibition Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy, which was on view at the DMA when I first started working here in 2008.

Our little celebrity wasn’t too concerned with famous names as we spent time in front of Murphy’s painting Watch. He solemnly gazed at the painting, then took off crawling around the gallery with delighted squeals. I like to think Gerald Murphy would approve of Vance’s joyful approach to art and life!

Baby Vance has been a super tourist while his family has been in town, visiting the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Dallas Zoo, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. He loves looking at art, his favorite book is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and he’s a regular at his local library.

We were totally charmed by our V.I.B. and hope he comes back to see us again soon!

Leah Hanson
Manager of Early Learning Programs

Friday Photos: Back to Nature

Published September 25, 2015 Friday Photos , works of art Closed
Tags: Flickr, Landscape, Nature, outdoors, photography, photos, Texas

With the summer heat subsiding, it’s time to get back to nature and truly enjoy the scenery. Get out this fall and capture some beautiful Texas landscapes, then submit your photographs of the great outdoors to our Flickr Group DMA Back to Nature to have your images displayed at the Center for Creative Connections #DMAdigitalspot.

Need some inspiration? Take a look at these Texas-centric works of art from our collection:

David Bates, Catfish Moon, 1986, Dallas Museum of Art, The Barrett Collection, Dallas, Texas

Julian Onderdonk, Untitled (Field of Bluebonnets), 1918-1920, Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Margaret M. Ferris

William Henry Huddle, Study for the “Surrender of Santa Anna,” c. 1885, Dallas Museum of Art, The Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle Collection, gift of the Hoblitzelle Foundation

Erwin E. Smith; Frank Smith, Watering His Horse, Cross-B Ranch, Crosby County, Texas; c. 1909; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase

Otis Dozier, Cactus and Crow,1947, Dallas Museum of Art, Ted Dealey Prize, Eighteenth Annual Dallas Allied Arts Exhibition, 1947

Click here for more information on how to submit your images to the #DMAdigitalspot.

Jessica Fuentes
C3 Gallery Manager

(Unexpected) Art from Across the Pond

Published September 18, 2015 Just for Fun Closed
Tags: europe, European, London, museum visits, Paris, travel

In late August, I was lucky enough to spend time exploring the art and culture of London and Paris. As a museum educator, my main goal (of course) was to fit in as many museum and cultural site visits as possible–and I tried my best! While I was mesmerized by the popular artistic highlights of these cities–who doesn’t treasure seeing a Da Vinci first-hand??–for this post I wanted to share some images that were particularly special to me, as they showcase some overlooked sites and scenes from these fascinating cities.

Open ceiling in a gallery of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Stonehenge was breathtaking, but the clouds almost stole the show.

Thatched roofs on replica neolithic houses at Stonehenge.

“Horse in Motion” by Eadward Muybridge. Absolute fav. Early foray into motion photography.

Interactive exhibit at the Centre Pompidou’s Children’s Gallery. All hands on ship!

Underside of Le Tour Eiffel.

New view of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” One where no one is actually looking at it.

Thomas Thwaites ‘Toaster Project’! *see link below

*For more information on Thomas Thwaites’ project (which is fascinating!) click here.

Perhaps my favorite art educational gem from the entire trip was stumbling upon the Musee D’Orsay‘s crowdfunding restoration project of Gustave Courbet’s The Painter’s Studio. The artwork is being restored on-site in the Museum’s exhibition space and visitors can view the progress in-person over many months, and through various interactive technologies. The most exciting technological component, in my opinion, was a French Sign Language (LSF) interpreted description of the conservation work–fascinating and accessible!

As with most trips overseas, mine was much too short and there were many, many things still left unseen. It was a magical trip and an unforgettable experience, which caused me to stop and think about the unexpected treasures that can be found on visits to popular and familiar places–and I hope you will too!

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

Open Looks in the Paint, All Day (and Late Night)

Published September 17, 2015 works of art 2 Comments
Tags: basketball, bite-sized tours, Dallas Mavericks, gallery fun, Late Night, Round the World, self-guided tours

DMA’s got game. And that game is basketball.

This Late Night, we’re teaming up with the Dallas Mavericks to put a sports-themed spin on our regular Late Night programming. And in a nod to both our encyclopedic collection and the Mavs always-international team roster, the evening will also have a global focus. One of the many activities featured tomorrow is our new ‘Round the World self-guided tour.

Self-guided tours are bite-sized: they focus on four to five artworks each, packaging our wonderfully expansive collection into short, themed looking adventures. Self-guides include facts about artworks you can’t find on gallery labels. They provide artwork images and gallery locations, getting you to the right space in the Museum, but letting you wander just enough that you get that fun I-just-found-something-on-a-scavenger-hunt sort of feeling when you find yourself right in front of the artwork. Self-guides are cheeky and fun, and in the case of ‘Round the World, chock-full of sometimes veiled and other times blatant Mavs/basketball references that some of us here (ahem!) are pretty jazzed about.

So if you’d like to see an artwork that’s nothin’ but net, explore a small exhibition devoted to the DMA’s Big German (he’s a 16th century print-maker), or see two objects that could fit in courtside at a Mavs game, pick up our ‘Round the World self-guided tour at the Visitor Services Desk tomorrow night.

And if you can’t make it to Late Night, ‘Round the World and our many bite-sized tours of the collection can be found in downloadable pdf versions on our website.

Amy Copeland
Manager of Go van Gogh and Community Teaching Programs & MFFL

Opening Night: Spirit and Matter

Published September 17, 2015 Collections , Exhibitions Closed
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Islamic Art, Spirit and Matter, The Keir Collection of Islamic Art

Tomorrow Spirit and Matter: Masterpieces from the Keir Collection of Islamic Art opens during our September fall block party Late Night. Huffington Post ranked it at #1 among “need to see” art shows this fall and it is a “Critic’s Pick” in The Dallas Morning News. This morning, exhibition curator and DMA Senior Advisor for Islamic Art Dr. Sabiha Al Khemir shared a sneak peek of the exhibition with national press.

Be among the first to see these intricately decorated objects spanning numerous centuries and continents tomorrow night and join Dr. Al Khemir for a talk on the works of art at 7:00 p.m.

Bowl, Egypt: Cairo, 11th–12th century, painted in luster on an opaque white glaze, The Keir Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art, K.1.2014.266

Ewer, Egypt, late 10th–early 11th century, rock crystal; carved; 19th-century gold mount by Jean-Valentin Morel, The Keir Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art, K.1.2014.1.a–b

Figurine of a bull, Iran: 12th–13th century, fritware, painted in luster on a blue glaze, The Keir Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art, K.1.2014.350

Pendant, Egypt: Fatimid period, 11th century, metal, The Keir Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art, K.1.2014.90

Class of 2016

Published September 15, 2015 Behind-the-Scenes , McDermott Internship Closed
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, McDermott Internship program, Museum Intern

It’s time for us to welcome our 2015-2016 class of McDermott Interns to the DMA. Each year a new class joins the Museum for nine months in positions divided between the Museum’s curatorial and education departments. You will hear from each of the interns on Uncrated throughout their nine months at the DMA, but we thought we would share a few fun facts about this group before they delve into their internships.

Devon Hersch, the McDermott Intern for Asian Art, plays the piano and has been recording music in Austin of songs he wrote during college.

Jenny Wang, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Adult Programming and Arts & Letters Live, has no luck with earrings—she’s had her ears pierced twice in the same spot but the holes always close up.

Nolan Jimbo, the McDermott Intern for Contemporary Art, has never had queso dip (a problem he hopes the other interns will help rectify). He also still has three baby teeth.

Erin Piñon, the McDermott Graduate Intern for American Art, uses coconut oil as a cure-all product (similar to Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding).

Paulina Lopez, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Visitor Engagement, was the only girl in her town’s regional baseball league during the 6th grade.

Emily Wiskera, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Family and Access Teaching, has had the same pen pal for eleven years. They only communicate through cryptograms and have never met face to face!

Franny Brock, the Dedo and Barron Kidd McDermott Graduate Intern for European Art, won a snow-sculpting competition in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Whitney Sirois, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Gallery and Community Teaching, made a time capsule with friends in college, but the gravel was too dry to bury it so they hid the capsule in ceiling tiles on campus . . . along with the shovel.

Amanda Kramp, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Ancient American Art, loves planning, hosting, and attending themed dinner parties. This includes themed decorations, music, and food and drink. She even requests that guests don fancy or period specific dress relevant to the theme.

Learn more about the McDermott Internships on the DMA’s website; you can apply for your chance to be a 2016-2017 McDermott Intern in January.

Sarah Coffey is the Education Coordinator at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Made This: Celebrating the DMA’s Resident McGuyver

Published September 10, 2015 People 1 Comment
Tags: Center for Creative Connections, DIY tutorial, farewell, make, Maker Club, Teen Advisory Council, Urban Armor

After 16.5 years at the DMA, JC Bigornia, Manager of C3 Programs, is heading across the freeway to take the position of Manager of Mobile Innovation at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. JC is our McGuyver, always ready with an ingenious, perfect solution for any and every art-making challenge we throw his way. For his last day at the Museum, we’re taking a look not just at the countless small and brilliant projects he brought to life through his freakish artistic talent, but the way in which his worked shaped our department in larger ways.

Susan Diachisin, The Kelli and Allen Questrom Director of the Center for Creative Connections, perfectly captures what it is we all enjoy about our resident DIY expert:

JC is a creative and diligent art educator who has managed and taught thousands of programs for museum visitors during his tenure here. He worked with people of all ages, guiding them in careful looking at works of art from the collection and then making connections through an art making process. He was at the helm of our popular Late Night Studio Creations, the drop-in art making program that hosts over 250 multi-age visitors each month. And for many years he led the drop-in weekend family Studio Creations that took place on every Saturday and Sunday all year long. He spent the summers managing logistics for the Summer Camp Program for children and teens, as well as many other family programs too numerous to mention here.

JC has a pretty high coolness factor that was perfect for his accomplishments of working with teens—a focus he originally started back in 2008. In 2013 he was the Project Manager of the IMLS Teen Learning Lab planning grant in partnership with the Perot. For that he spent extensive time researching teen developmental learning, designing innovative programs, and launching a DMA/Perot Teen Advisory Council (TAC). This project boosted his already popular Urban Armor program and launched Maker Club the Thursday night program focusing on the intersection of art and science. He recruited and met bi-monthly with the thirteen member TAC team, and collaboratively led experimental programs, visiting artist projects, and community projects in partnership with other Dallas organizations.

JC brings extensive artistic skills to the programs he designed. I can’t tell you how many times during the development process he had to test and produce project samples. He would say, “I’ll just make that.” And a short time later he would share a creation that was absolutely incredible.

As humble a person as JC is, there are a few memorable projects that you might have seen and may not know they were his:

If you were ever at the Materials Bar in the C3 Materials & Meanings exhibition you might have caught JC’s creative hands demonstrating how to work with materials on the video screens:

JC’s hands demo art-making ideas in C3

Last year, JC developed a week-long teen summer camp program call Brains, Brains, Brains where the participants learned about the art and science of zombie culture. Inspired by our collection, they transformed themselves into zombies and went roaming in the galleries:

The Perot Museum entrance featured a mural designed by the TAC students led by JC:

Teen Art Council mural

JC’s students in the Urban Armor: Street Art Workshop transformed the DMA Sculpture Garden with masking tape:

And this year, the popular teen themed Late Night in June was developed and run by JC’s teens.

JC is a terrific listener and thoughtful which makes him an excellent supervisor to our volunteers and interns. They adore working with him. They enjoy his creative ideas as well as the support he gives them. He is genuinely interested in the people he works with and takes the time to get to know everybody. I’d like to publically thank him for his outstanding work at the DMA with our visitors.

In case you—like all the rest of us here—would like to siphon off a little of JC’s talent and take some art-making adventures of your own, check out his many DIY tutorial blog posts on how to make: sounds prints, printed t-shirts, etchings with cola, vinyl toy mini-amps, collagraphs, and cosplay armor and accessories.

In his new position, JC will oversee the Perot’s fleet of Mobile Innovation trucks so look for him on the streets–taking learning into the community! We’re gonna miss ya, JC!

Amy Copeland
Manager of Go van Gogh and Community Teaching Programs

Precious Objects

Published September 7, 2015 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Curatorial , Decorative Art and Design 1 Comment
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, jewelry, Rose-Asenbaum Collection

Twenty-five works from the celebrated Rose-Asenbaum Collection of modern and contemporary jewelry are now on view, and included in free general admission, in the Museum’s Tower Gallery exhibition Form/Unformed: Design from 1960 to the Present. The collection includes over 700 pieces of modern studio jewelry created by more than 150 acclaimed artists from Europe and around the world. Take time to “ooh” and “ahh” over these magnificent bracelets, brooches, necklaces, and more.

Amy’s Favorite Arms, Part 2: A Somewhat Touchy Subject

Published September 4, 2015 Friday Photos , Just for Fun , People Closed
Tags: arms, gestures, painting, works of art

Cast as flashy accessory, great place for stickers

Several years ago, my Education colleague and fellow Amy, Amy Wolf, took a close look at paintings in our European collection, with an eye for really great arms. With good reason–there are a lot of great arms on the 2nd floor. And the gestures these arms make–whether of dramatic and grand introductions, or a tender and comforting touch–set the tone for the artwork and go a long way in telling it’s story. Arms are pretty important.

Which is something I’ve recently come to appreciate (big understatement) as I’ve longed for the returned use of my own favorite arm (the right one—sorry left one!) and all the things I desperately want to do now that it’s in a cast—snap, wave in a less hilarious way, get my jazz hand game back, open jars, have a signature that doesn’t look EKG-ish. So with arms on the brain, I decided to revisit this theme of arms in art and took my own stroll through the galleries to expand the reach and add to the legacy of Amy’s Favorite Arms photo posts with works from across the collection. Some of which are making me kind of jealous right now.