Official behind-the-scenes blog of the Dallas Museum of Art
Mesmerized by the Middle Ages? Stop by the Dallas Museum of Art now through March 19 to explore Art and Nature in the Middle Ages. Pick up the Medieval and Marvelous Scavenger Hunt when you visit and use clues to search the exhibition for textiles, jewelry, stained glass and more!
Jessica Fuentes
Manager of Gallery Interpretation and the Center for Creative Connections
Since the arrival of Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt, the DMA has been serving some serious cat-titude. We’ve spent the past few months celebrating these awesome animal companions in several different ways: families could enjoy our Friendly Felines family guide while others could really get into the spirit of the exhibition with the Divine Felines Spotify playlist.
However, as a dog person, I think man’s best friend could use a little more attention. Here are a few of our dearest dogs matched against some of our favorite felines from the collection. Which would you prefer?
Make sure you visit Divine Felines before the exhibition closes this Sunday, January 8!
Jessica Thompson
Manager of Teen Programs
We know there’s no one definition of family.
There’s family we’re given and family we choose,
Family we luck into, family we couldn’t bear to lose,
Family that’s near and family we miss every day,
Family for hugs and reminding, “It’ll all be okay!”
From parents to grandparents, sister to brothers
(All those whom we couldn’t replace with any others),
Aunts, uncles, and cousins – the list never ends,
Coworkers and communities, good friends and best friends,
And let’s not forget pets! Dogs and cats, too,
For a friendly tail wag or nuzzle when we’re blue.
Let us wish for your holidays (should you celebrate any –
I won’t name them all for I know there are many):
Enjoy some time with your family, be it minutes or hours,
And please know we’re so grateful to count you in ours.
With love,
Jennifer Sheppard (and everyone else at the DMA!)
Teaching Specialist
Our literary and performing arts series Arts & Letters Live just announced the 2017 lineup of award-winning authors and performers, and we are just overflowing with excitement! Arts & Letters is the only literary series that is part of an art museum (that we know of!), and we love celebrating the connections between reading, writing, and art! Every year we host some wonderful children’s authors, and this year is no different. Get cozy with these books while the weather is still chilly, then come see us at the DMA to make some artful literary connections with the whole family!
Adam Gidwitz
Sunday, February 26, 3:00 p.m.
Adam Gidwitz is the New York Times bestselling author of the Grimm trilogy. He spent six years researching his latest book, The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, in which the adventures of three children take them through medieval France to escape prejudice and persecution. They save sacred texts from being burned, get taken captive by knights, face a farting dragon, and face a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel. Learn more.
Before the talk, your family can embark on a scavenger hunt exploring works of art in Art and Nature in the Middle Ages.
Erin and Philip C. Stead
Tuesday, April 4, 11:30 a.m.
Erin and Philip Stead live and work side by side creating heartwarming stories such as A Sick Day for Amos McGee, winner of the 2011 Caldecott Medal. Erin’s forthcoming book Tony returns to themes of friendship and loyalty with the late poet Ed Galing’s tale of a boy and his horse. Philip’s latest, Samson in the Snow, highlights the power of simple acts of kindness to bring hope and light to even the coldest world. Learn more.
Following their talk at 3:30 p.m., join us for an illustration workshop (ages 6 and older) led by Erin and Philip Stead. Advance reservations strongly recommended as space is limited.
Kwame Alexander
Saturday, June 10, 2:00 p.m.
New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander kicks off summer reading with his latest book, The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life. A strategy guide written with middle grade readers in mind but motivational for all ages, The Playbook “rules” contain wisdom from inspiring role models such as Nelson Mandela, Michelle Obama, Lebron James, and more. The author of 21 books, Alexander received the 2015 Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor for his book The Crossover. Learn more.
See the entire lineup for the January-June season to see if your favorite author will be coming to town this year. Hope to see you there!
Madeleine Fitzgerald
Audience Relations Coordinator
Laura Owens, Untitled, 2004, The Rachofsky Collection and the Dallas Museum of Art through the TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art Fund © Laura Owens.
The Go van Gogh program brings the Dallas Museum of Art to Pre-K through 6th grade students in schools throughout North Texas free of charge. This week the Go Van Gogh team took one of their programs: Imaginary Worlds, to an after school program at the Salvation Army Pleasant Grove Center. The Students looked closely at works of art and created their own imaginary creatures, with their own worlds, inspired by Laura Owens’ Untitled.
The students really let their creativity and imagination shine and their creations were out of this world!
Go van Gogh is currently preparing for the spring semester of the school year. More information about how your class can enjoy the program can be found here.
Marta Torres
McDermott Graduate Intern for Visitor Engagement
My name is Kenzie Grogan, and I am a senior at Lake Highlands High School. This year, I was accepted into the Professional Internship Program at my school. PIP is designed to give seniors experience in the career they are interested in pursuing in college. During my junior year, I ultimately decided that I wanted to focus on art history and see what a degree in it could lead to in the real world. Art has always been an area of interest for me, and history has always been my favorite subject in school. So, I figured why not give art history a try and see if I like it?
My internship began in September and I was extremely nervous. I was shocked when my teacher told me that I was placed with Teen Programs at the DMA – I wasn’t expecting to be placed at a museum. Throughout my internship I got to participate in a variety of programs, from helping paint a canvas for Dallas Pride and assisting with Family Workshops, to helping with Arts and Letters Live and getting to see Cary Elwes.
Since I worked with Teen Programs, a lot of my time was spent helping prepare for Teen Tours on Thursday nights, and even assisting in writing a few of them. Researching the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck opened my eyes to the incredible symbolism in the painting. It was the first time in my life where I actually wanted to study something more. I ended up teaching part of the Renaissance tour, which was a little intimidating. Let me tell you, the teenagers who go on the Teen Tours know their stuff! It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them could get up and teach the tour themselves.
When I wasn’t working on Teen Tours, my time was spent working on my official research project: an interactive teen guide for the Museum. The DMA has a series of self-guided tours for families and adults, but it lacks one specifically for teens. What better way to make a tour for teens than to have one design it?
Since my internship has been all about art history, I wanted my teen guide to reflect that experience. Narrowing down the art I wanted to use was difficult, but I chose what I felt best represented a broad range: Renaissance, Impressionism, Cubism, American, and Surrealism.
The next step was researching and writing the informational parts that would go into the final tour guide. As I began writing, I saw a universal theme throughout the paintings: each painting represented a new genre that went against the popular art style of the time. Because artists rebelled against society in their own way, I decided to call the guide Rebels With a Cause.
All of the tours at the Museum have some sort of interactive aspect about them, whether it be prompts for drawing or questions to answer. Since music and art are my favorite things, I decided I wanted to create a playlist that represents each piece in the guide. This way, teens are able to connect with the painting using two senses. For anyone without an electronic device, there are other ways to interact with the art, like taking a selfie with Frida Kahlo or using color swatches to notice new colors in a painting.
Participating in this internship has been the best experience of my high school career. I’ve learned so much in the short amount of time I was here, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with so many amazing people. I can now say I plan to study art history in college because I’ve seen first-hand all the different careers it can lead to. I’ve loved getting to come to the Museum, and I definitely plan to come back and volunteer as much as I can.
Be sure to check out Rebels with a Cause at the DMA this spring and check how other teens have left their mark at the Museum!
Kenzie Grogan
Teen Programs Intern
Earlier this fall, the Center for Creative Connections installed various communication devices that span several decades of the 20th century. By displaying these works of art together, we encourage visitors to consider the ways that communication has changed over the years and to notice the design ideas that have remained the same.
Recently, we added a writing activity at a nearby table so that visitors would have the opportunity to put down their smartphones and take a moment to hand-write or type a letter. Visitors of all ages have been especially taken by the typewriter. It’s been fun to see the look of joy come over faces of visitors who are sitting down to use a typewriter for the first time, or revisiting an old, familiar experience.
The typed responses we’ve received so far are often cryptic and intriguing like these:
Though my favorite response has been this hand-written jewel by a 9-year-old:
Stop by the Center for Creative Connections during your next visit to the DMA and take a moment to share your thoughts or write a letter to a friend.
Jessica Fuentes
Manager of Gallery Interpretation and the Center for Creative Connections
Meet Grace Diepenbrock.
In my new video series, I focus my camera lens on one of the Museum’s nine McDermott Interns. We each do very different things and my goal is to highlight each one of our respective responsibilities and passions.
Are you interested in becoming a McDermott Intern for the 2017-2018 year? Applications will be open in January 2017, so visit the Internships page of our website for more information.
Be sure to check back next month for another installment of Intern Insights!
Angela Medrano
McDermott Intern for Gallery and Community Teaching
We love collaboration here at the DMA, and when it comes to teamwork, Texas Women’s University occupational therapy students are fantastic additions to our team! Since 2010, the DMA has held quarterly-occurring Autism Awareness Family Celebrations for children with autism and their families to enjoy activities in the Museum before it opens to the public. We have been partnering with TWU’s occupational therapy students led by Dr. Tina Fletcher, OTR, EdD, MFA during these events. The students host the TWU Sensory Room during every Autism Awareness Family Celebration by creating a quiet space filled with weighted blankets, tunnels, and resources for families.
One of Dr. Fletcher’s students, Jennifer Burns, is conducting research about the accessibility of museums for children with special needs here in the United States and in other countries. Please see details from Jennifer below about how you can help:
Texas Woman’s University is conducting research investigating parent’s perception of museum accessibility for children with special needs. The study is looking at museum accessibility domestically and internationally.
To be able to participate in this study, you must be a parent or guardian of a child with special needs and have visited at least one museum in the United States and/or abroad. The questionnaire will take 30-60 minutes to complete.
We appreciate your contributions toward museum accessibility research!
Emily Wiskera
Manager of Access Programs
This month I’ve been spending a lot of time in Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt with preschoolers. Ancient Egypt is always endlessly fascinating for young children, but add in cats and picture books, and you’ve got a triple threat! I’ve gathered up some purrrfect picture books for any kid cat-lovers—two of the stories take place in ancient Egypt and two are catchy tales you won’t want to miss.
With a rustle and a whisper, a little mummy cat wakes up deep in a pyramid and goes in search of his mistress and friend, Queen Hat-Shup-Set. As he journeys through the corridors, paintings on the wall tell the tale of his past life and the tragic fate of his Queen. Brown’s illustrations paint a story-within-a-story, and young readers will love pouring over each little detail and will beg to read this book again and again. Look for three little mice hiding on many of the pages and search for hieroglyphs sprinkled throughout the illustrations. An author’s note on mummies, hieroglyphs, and Queen Hat-Shup-Set make this book an excellent introduction to ancient Egypt. And if you visit Divine Felines, you can see an authentic cat sarcophagus!
A cat lives like a king in the temple, with servants to care for his every need, but all he dreams of is a life beyond the temple walls. So one night, he quietly slips out and embarks on an adventure, sleeping in barns, catching his own food, and making friends with some children. Along the way, he discovers his greatest dream—to be loved as an ordinary cat. Cat-lovers will especially love how Kiesler captures the very “cat-ness” of our hero as he licks his paws, revels in chin tickles, or weaves around a child’s leg. The background illustrations however, are just as beautiful, painting a vivid picture of what ancient Egyptian life might have been like.
“The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws…” With this lyrical beginning, Wenzel takes readers on a journey of perspective, imagining different encounters between a cat and its surroundings. With each page turn, we see the cat from a different point of view. A child sees a cuddly, friendly companion. A dog and fox see something to chase. A fish and a mouse see a huge, scary creature to be avoided at all costs! A flea sees a warm place to take a nap. The text itself is incredibly simple, but the illustrations take on a life of their own, challenging young readers to consider how one animal (or by extension, person) can be so many different things. And for art-loving kids, the way Wenzel changes his style to fit each creature’s perspective is truly magical. They All Saw a Cat is already getting some buzz for the coming picture book awards season!
Mr. Tiger is tired of his prim and proper life, and decides something needs to change. HE needs to change! And so he goes “wild.” But does he go just a little too far? I’ve written about this book before here, and it still continues to be a go-to favorite for story time. One page turn in particular ALWAYS elicits shrieks of laughter and gasps, and I can’t help but love it when the children roar right along with Mr. Tiger.
What’s your favorite meow-sterpiece in cat picture books? Please share in the comments below!
And as always—happy reading!
Leah Hanson
Manager of Family and Early Learning Programs
