Archive Page 6



L’histoire des Beaux Arts Ball

With Art Ball held this past Saturday, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the Art Ball’s origins in the Beaux Arts Ball. The Beaux Arts Ball was first held in 1962 as a fundraising event organized by the Museum League. The Beaux Arts Ball was a lavish, themed costume ball. Here are some of my favorite Beaux Arts Ball themes and costumes from the first 30 years.

Doris Jacoby Photography

(left to right) Actress Greer Garson and Mrs. Royal Miller (Jody) at the 1967 Beaux Arts Ball, “Arabian Nights.”

From the collection of the Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division, Dallas Public Library

DMFA director Merrill Rueppel as the mad hatter for the 1971 Beaux Arts Ball, “The Mad Hatter’s Hoedown.”

Photo by Bob Jackson, Society Publications Inc.

(left to right) Doug and Patty Campbell, Eric Graham, George Lee, Schatzie Lee, and Eleanor Graham at the 1974 Beaux Arts Ball, “An Elizabethan Evening.”

Photo by Andy Hanson

Idelle and Leon Rabin at the 1975 Beaux Arts Ball, “A Deco Dance.”

Photo by Andy Hanson

(left to right) Unidentified, Jo Cleaver, Anne Bromberg, and Alan Bromberg at the 1981 Beaux Arts Ball, “An Evening of Fantasy.”

Photo by Tom Jenkins

Director Richard R. Brettell and Carol Brettell at the 1991 Beaux Arts Ball, “Le Grande Bal Masque des Beaux Arts.”

Photo by Tom Jenkins

An impressive peacock-esque dress at the 1991 Beaux Arts Ball, “Le Grande Bal Masque des Beaux Arts.”

Another bird-themed ensemble at the 1991 Beaux Arts Ball, “Le Grande Bal Masque des Beaux Arts”

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Why did the cougar come to the Museum?

To star in a commercial!

In 1990 a car commercial was filmed in front of the Museum’s Ceremonial Entrance at Harwood and Flora streets. As you can see, he drew quite a crowd.

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

The Dallas Museum of Art’s Founding Women

In honor of Women’s History Month, we would like to introduce you to the founder and first four women presidents of the Dallas Art Association from the first decade of the 20th century. The Dallas Art Association (DAA) was founded in 1903 to offer art interest and education through exhibitions and lectures; to purchase works of art on a regular basis and form a permanent collection; to sponsor the work of local artists; to solicit support of the arts from individuals and businesses; and to honor citizens who support the arts. The DAA, after a number of name changes, became the Dallas Museum of Art.

Mrs. May Dickson Exall is considered to be the founder of the Dallas Art Association. In January 1903, Mrs. Exall, then president of the Dallas Carnegie Library Board of Trustees, invited all those interested to meet in the Art Room of the library to form a permanent art organization. About 80 people attended and the new organization was named the Dallas Art Association, and a 21-member board of trustee was established.

Mrs. Grace Leake Dexter was the first president of the Dallas Art Assocation for 1903, and was a board member from 1903 to 1906. Mrs. Dexter was an amateur painter and a civic leader.

From the Collection of the Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division, Dallas Public Library; Image #PA92-1/22

Mrs. Lulie Huey Lane was President in 1907. Mrs. Lane was a gifted musician with an unusually fine voice and also held leadership roles in a variety of other civic organizations.

Mrs. Robbie Buckner Westerfield was DAA president in 1908. She was also a leader in religious and women’s club work in Dallas.

1923.2 "Portrait of Mrs. George K. Meyer" by Francis Luis Mora. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase

Mrs. Sallie Griffis Meyer was president of the DAA from 1909 to 1926. Mrs. Meyer was one of Dallas’s earliest and most prominent arts patrons. In addition to her long tenure as DAA president, she was also superintendent in charge of art for the State Fair of Texas.

Discover more about the DMA’s history on the Museum’s web site.

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

The day we shot J.R., and the rest of the Ewing clan

There has been a lot of attention in Dallas on the filming of the television remake of Dallas, and the DMA is joining in on the fun. Sue Ellen Ewing, or as some of you may know her, Linda Gray, has visited The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier three times already (be sure to see the exhibition before it closes on February 12). It sparked our memory of a previous visit the Dallas cast made to the Museum when they visited our Wendy and Emery Reves Collection in 1986. Below are a few images we pulled from the archives.

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Kimberly Daniell is the Public Relations Specialist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

At the Texas State Fair

From 1936 to 1983 the Dallas Museum of Art was located in Fair Park and usually saw its highest attendance during the State Fair.

Here, with museum guard Teddy Farrell, are two of the more than 90,000 people who visited the Museum during  the 1953 Texas State Fair.

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Posting the Past: Our ECO Project

So you had a Behind the Scenes peek in the Archives last month. Curious about what’s actually in some of those boxes?  The Archives’ Exhibition Catalogs Online (ECO) project will allow you to see some of the most interesting things from the DMA’s exhibition archive online.

The ECO project is generously funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Access to Artistic Excellence program. Through the project, we are digitizing DMA-published exhibition catalogues and related unpublished material for exhibitions held between 1903 and 1983. The archives have partnered with the University of North Texas’s Digital Projects Unit to scan the published items and make them available on the Portal to Texas History. They will begin appearing in the Portal later this fall. The unpublished material is being scanned in-house and will also be added to the Portal.

All of the exhibition material digitized through the ECO project will be available on the DMA website beginning Fall 2012 via an interface that is being developed through another NEA grant-funded project, Access to Archival Exhibition Resources Online (AAERO). There will be more on AAERO to come, but you can read the press release now.

Below is just a sample of the kinds of things that will soon be available digitally.

Checklist – Texas Panorama, October 10–November 28, 1943

Advertisement – Famous American Paintings, October 9–November 7, 1948

Catalog Cover – Signposts of Twentieth Century Art, October 28–December 7, 1959 (DMCA)

Entry Requirements – 11th Southwestern Exhibition of Prints and Drawings, January 22–February 19, 1961

Poster – The Arts of Man, October 6–January 1, 1963

Invitation – Art of the Congo, October 5–November 3, 1968

Press release – Dallas Collects: Impressionist and Early Modern Masters, January 25–February 26, 1978

Installation diagram – Visions: James Surls, 1974–1984, December 2, 1984–January 13, 1985

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

A Gem of a Diamond Anniversary

With the 75th anniversary of the Texas Centennial Exposition around the corner, we decided to dive into our archives and share some of our finds with you. 

Texas Centennial Exposition ticket

Seventy-five years ago, in the summer of 1936, people throughout Texas and the United States traveled to Dallas for the Texas Centennial Exposition. The Exposition, held at Fair Park, was both a world’s fair and a gateway to attractions and events throughout the state celebrating the 100th anniversary of Texas’s independence from Mexico.

The following four photographs are from a set of twenty images  published by John Sirigo, official photographer for the Texas Centennial Exposition, as “Genuine Official Photographs, No. 1.”

Texas Centennial Exposition, Esplanade and Exhibit Buildings

Texas Centennial Exposition, Midway

Texas Centennial Exposition, State Building

Texas Centennial Exposition, Ford Building

Advertised as An Empire on Parade, attractions included the Esplanade of State; exhibit halls and sponsored pavilions focusing on major industries in Texas; The Cavalcade of Texas, a living saga of over four hundred years of Texas history; Sinclair’s Dinosaurs, a prehistoric “zoo” of dinosaur reproductions; The Old West, with replicas of historic buildings; the Midway; and the Civic Center, made up of six units of cultural and educational attractions.

Souvenir Guide

Postcard view of museum building (E.C. Kropp Co., Milwaukee, Wis.)

The Hall of Fine Arts, the largest building in the Civic Center, was the permanent home of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, now the Dallas Museum of Art, for nearly fifty years. For the Exposition, the Museum held an enormous exhibition of paintings, sculpture, and graphic arts, including European art from before 1500 to contemporary Texas painting and everything in between. The exhibition, which filled the whole building, included almost six hundred works of art loaned by ninety-six major museums, galleries, private collectors, and artists.

Texas Centennial Exposition, Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture & Graphic Arts, catalog cover

The French Room at the Texas Centennial Exhibition included works by Manet, Renoir, Picasso, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Grant Wood's "Amercian Gothic" was in the Contemporary American Paintings section of the Texas Centennial Exhibition.

The Texas Centennial Exposition ran from June 6 to November 29, 1936, and over six million people attended. Exhibit halls constructed for the Exposition still form the core buildings at Fair Park.

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Thematic Connections with Contemporary Art: Systems and Process

We constantly encounter and use systems in our everyday lives – roadways, electricity, mathematics, language, and so much more.   Although there are multiple definitions of a system, the one that seems to be the most universal is a grouping of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent items forming a unified whole.

An artist may employ a system in his or her creative process, in subject matter, or in concept.   During the first part of the Contemporary Teacher Workshop (at the Dallas Museum of Art) on Saturday, February 19, participants will explore the theme of systems in select artworks from the 1960s through today in the exhibitions Re-Seeing the Contemporary:  Selected from the Collection and Big New Field:  Artists in the Cowboys Stadium Art Program. With a focus on language and systems within an artist’s process, educators will engage in interactive and interdisciplinary experiences that are applicable and translatable for the classroom.  On Saturday, February 26, our conversation about the artist’s process will continue at The Rachofsky House as we view the current installation Process Imperfect.

There are a few spaces available for this two-part teacher workshop.  If interested, please register online.

Here are a few artworks that may be a part of the conversation on Saturday, February 19:

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We look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

Until next time….

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Programs and Resources for Teachers

Images in slide show:
Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park No. 29, 1970, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Inc.

Christopher Wool, Untitled, 1990, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Friends of Contemporary Art

Sol Lewitt, Wall Drawing #398, 1983 (drawn 1985), Dallas Museum of Art, gift of The 500, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Collins and Mr. and Mrs. James L. Stephenson, Jr.

Carl Andre, Pyramid (Square Plan), 1959 (destroyed) 1970 (remade), Dallas Museum of Art, General Acquisitions Fund and matching funds from The 500, Inc.

Engaging Opportunities with Art, Artists, and Animals

As the new year begins, I encourage you to think about ways you can connect with with artists, artworks, and other K-12 colleagues  at the Dallas Museum of Art.  Here are two events that might prove to be inspirational, relaxing, or simply rejuvenating.

  • Join us for our annual Late Night Birthday Celebration as the Museum turns 108 on Friday, January 21 from 6:00 p.m. to midnight!   To celebrate the beginning of the Spring Semester, we invite you to bring your educator ID to receive FREE Museum admission.  Come with your colleagues, family, and friends to experience traditional African music, polka with Brave Combo, participate in Twitter Treasure Hunts, and engage in conversations with artists in the Center for Creative Connections.  In addition, visit the Educator Resource Table from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. to meet DMA education staff, register for door prizes, and sign up for upcoming teacher programs.     

 

  • Join us for an exciting teacher workshop Animals from Africa at the Dallas Zoo and the Dallas Museum of Art on Saturday, January 29!  Spend the morning at the Dallas Museum of Art, experiencing African Masks: The Art of Disguise and then journey to the Dallas Zoo for an afternoon of exploration in the Giants of the Savanna!  This special workshop includes a gallery tour, a special behind-the-scenes experience at the zoo, and lessons from experienced art and zoo educators that you can take back to your classroom.  Participants will also receive six CPE hours.  Cost is $50 for this workshop and includes admission and parking at both institutions.  To register, please complete the registration form and return to the Dallas Zoo Education Department via fax, email, or mail.

We look forward to seeing you at one or more of these events!   Don’t forget, bring your educator ID on  Thursday evenings to receive FREE admission to the Museum.

Until next time….

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Programs and Resources for Teachers   

Connecting with the DMA in January 2011

With the fall semester winding down in the next few weeks, I would like to suggest a few ways you can connect with the Dallas Museum of Art in the new year.

Thursday, January 13, 2011
7:30 p.m., Horchow Auditorium
State of the Arts: Celebrating Big New Field: Artists in the Cowboys Stadium Art Program

    

Tuesday, January 18, 2011
7:30 p.m., Horchow Auditorium
Arts & Letters Live:  Kim Edwards
 

Friday, January 21, 2011
Late Night at the Dallas Museum of Art
Show your Educator ID to receive FREE Museum admission
   

Thursday, January 27, 2011
7:30 p.m., Horchow Auditorium
The Seventh Annual Michael L. Rosenberg Lecture: 
“Beguiling Deception”: Allegorical Portraiture in Early 18th-Century France 
 

Friday, January 28, 2011
7:30 p.m., Horchow Auditorium
Arts & Letters Live:    Annie Proulx
 
 

Saturday, January 29, 2011
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. 
Teacher Workshop:  Animals from Africa at the Dallas Zoo and the Dallas Museum of Art

There is always something to do and see at the DMA or within the Arts District!    We  look forward to seeing you soon, whether you are visiting with your students or visiting with friends and family.

Until next time….

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Programs and Resources for Teachers


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