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Cruisin' in the Go van Gogh Van

Published July 12, 2011 Art & Teaching , People Closed
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You may have noticed the colorful Go van Gogh® van driving around town and wondered to yourself, “Is that van as fun to ride in as it looks?”  The answer is “Yes!”  Catching a ride in our van is easy: just sign up to be a Go van Gogh volunteer.  Volunteers are trained by Museum staff to lead interactive conversations and art activities based on works of art in the DMA’s collections and special exhibitions.  Taking these programs into classrooms throughout Dallas is a fun and rewarding experience for everyone involved, including the students, teachers, and volunteers.
 

A volunteer teaches fourth graders in a Dallas ISD classroom.

But you don’t have to take it from us that volunteering with Go van Gogh is a wonderful experience.  Kari Laehr, who just completed her first year as a volunteer, recently shared this with us:

“Working with the Dallas Museum of Art’s Go van Gogh Outreach Program has been a great pleasure.  Every program that I have taught has been not only exciting for the students, but for me as well.  There is something extremely special about sharing my passion for art with youngsters, and I consider it a great honor to represent the museum in this way. I was very nervous during my first teaching session; however, having that one “light bulb” moment with a student during the art-making process makes everything worthwhile in the end. In fact, I have heard numerous times in my class, “This is the best day ever! When are you coming back?” I feel that what I am doing with the Go van Gogh Program is making an impact in Dallas classrooms and would highly recommend this experience to others.”

Volunteers discuss a work of art during training.

Afterward, they perform a short skit inspired by the work of art.

Do volunteers need to have teaching experience?  No.  Do they need to be art history experts?  Not at all.  The two primary requirements for our Go van Gogh volunteers are (1) an interest in sharing works of art with students in grades 1-6, and (2) a commitment to attend volunteer training at the Museum and present programs in Dallas schools during weekday mornings.

If you are interested in volunteering, please complete and return the volunteer application by Friday, August 5, 2011.  Help us spread the word to any friends who may be interested as well.  You can also contact me with questions about the programs at 214.922.1230 or MNelson@DallasMuseumofArt.org. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community

Beginning a New Chapter

Published July 11, 2011 People 3 Comments
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After four years of working at the Dallas Museum of Art, I have decided to continue my museum career working with docents at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. At the DMA, I worked with docents, teachers, and students.  I have also researched works of art, written materials for special exhibitions, and taught with works of art. These experiences have been invaluable, and they allowed me to grow as an educator, work with a wide range of audiences, and learn about the Museum’s collection.

One of the highlights of my job has been working with wonderful friends and colleagues at the DMA. Their ideas, support, and creativity impacted me greatly; I am fortunate to have worked with an amazing team.

Before I go, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite works of art. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

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Signing Off,

Amy Wolf
Coordinator of Gallery Teaching

9×9

Published July 8, 2011 Creativity , Friday Photos , Museum Insight 3 Comments
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Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, July 14–30, the Museum will stay open until 9 p.m.  We are excited to use these extra evening hours to experiment with new programs for families and adults.  Below are just a few of the many programs you can experience during 9×9.  View the full 9×9 program schedule on our website.

Art Personality Quiz
Which famous artist are you most like? Take our Art Personality Quiz to find out. Then, wear that artist’s button and find other visitors in the galleries who share the same traits.

Artistic Encounters: Sky High
What does the Eiffel Tower look like from high above? Drop in and help us create a bird’s-eye view of Paris and then make your own picture of it.

StoryART Walk
Take a stroll through the galleries with our resident storyteller, Ann Marie Newman, as she makes works of art in the collection come to life through a storytelling performance.

Artful Tastings
Join Chef James Coulter in Seventeen Seventeen as he takes you on a culinary journey inspired by art from around the world. But don’t travel alone—join a friend and indulge in a tasting supper designed for two to share. Nine tastes gathered from Asia, North Africa, Europe, and the Americas will tease your “palette,” while a perfectly married cocktail will enhance your perfect summer evening at the DMA.

Artistic Encounters: Not-Your-Average Musical Chairs
Put your ears and eyes to the test and play this special edition, C3-style musical chairs with a special guest DJ.

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We hope you’ll join us!

Amy Copeland
Coordinator of Go van Gogh Outreach

Staff Spotlight: Loryn Leonard

Published July 5, 2011 People 10 Comments
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Last month, I introduced you to Loryn Leonard through a Friday Photo Post.  Today, Loryn will introduce herself in more detail.  You’ll have a chance to correspond with Loryn beginning on August 1st, when we start taking reservations for Museum visits for the 2011-2012 school year.

Name and Title: Loryn Leonard, Coordinator of Museum Visits

Years employed at the Dallas Museum of Art: Zero – this is my first month at the Museum!

Describe your job here at the Museum: I consider myself as the tour match-maker.  I work directly with educators to schedule visits and provide logistic to prepare for their tours.  Correspondingly, I manage docent availability and assign docents to scheduled tours.

What part of your new job are you most looking forward to doing? Definitely giving tours.  I enjoy interacting with students and learning new perspectives about works of art.

What is a challenge you face in your job? Organizing.  It can be a bit of a challenge to keep everyone up-to-date with tour information and making sure docents are lined up so everyone has a wonderful experience at the Museum.

One of Loryn's metal artworks

How did you decide you wanted to work in a museum? Actually, it was this Museum.  Growing up in Waxahachie and going to college in Denton, the Dallas Museum of Art was an invaluable resource for research and inspiration.

If you weren’t working in a museum, what is something else you would be doing? Even though this is my dream job, I think I would go back to my metalsmithing roots and be a full-time artist.

Shannon Karol
Manager of Docent Programs and Gallery Teaching

See you at the library!

Published July 1, 2011 Art & Teaching , Friday Photos , People Closed
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Every summer, we bring Go van Gogh programs to Dallas Public Libraries.  These one-hour programs are free and open to all ages.  Below are pictures from our visit to Preston Royal Library with the Art of the American Indians program, inspired by the DMA’s special exhibition.  Check our schedule to see when we’re visiting a library near you!

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community

 

 

Summer Seminar 2011: Teaching for Creativity

Published June 28, 2011 Museum Insight 3 Comments
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Every June, the Dallas Museum of Art and the University of Texas at Dallas host a week-long seminar for teachers. This year’s topic was Teaching for Creativity. Through creative thinking, conversations, and experiences in the galleries, participants created useful classroom scenarios to nurture creativity in students…and ourselves.

There were many highlights in the course. One highlight was a creativity challenge. Participants worked in teams and were given a variety of materials. They selected a contemporary work of art and created a new work of art inspired by the object. Afterwards, each group explained their creative process. This linked creative classroom techniques with works of art and gave teachers new ideas to use in the classroom. What are some ways that you have use creativity in the classroom?

We also spent extended time with works of art in the galleries. Looking closely at Manjusri, participants asked questions about the work of art and, together, generated ideas about the object. Some things that the group explored with Manjusri include:

  • What do the gestures on the object signify?
  • Where would this object have been used?
  • How does the creativity of the artist emerge from the object?
  • How does the object’s material display artistic creativity?

Below are images of the seminar. I hope you enjoy seeing the creative process  of the participants! See you at next year’s seminar.

[slideshow]

Amy Wolf
Coordinator of Gallery Teaching

Month at the Museum

Published June 27, 2011 Museum Insight , Uncategorized 1 Comment
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Ever wonder what it would be like to live at a Museum?  If you read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as a child, like I did, you may have envied Claudia and Jamie Kincaid and their adventures living in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago made this idea a reality with Month at the Museum.  They invited Kate McGroarty to live at the Museum around the clock for a month, and are accepting applications for another month-long residence later this year.  Check their web site for more details.

What would you  most look forward to if you could live at the Dallas Museum of Art for one month?

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community

Friday Photos: Let's Get Ornithological!

Published June 24, 2011 Friday Photos , Museum Insight , Uncategorized , works of art Closed
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Over the past few weeks, whenever I left my house, I was dive-bombed by birds. At first, the experience was surreal and Hitchcockian: an ugly honking sound, and then mockingbirds—always the same two culprits—would take turns swooping just inches over my head. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to upset them, but this past weekend, I finally solved the mystery. It turns out that my assailants had built a nest in the ivy over my front porch. This is the best image I could get without getting pecked:

Between these hatchlings and the chickens I recently adopted, I’ve been feeling a little bit plagued by birds lately. So I thought I would use this blog post as an opportunity to share some of my favorite bird-related artwork in the DMA’s collection.

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I’m not sure that there’s a figure as ubiquitous in art around the world and across time as that of the bird. The images of birds I’ve selected are only a few of the many that can be found in the museum. What are your favorites?

Tom Jungerberg

IMLS Grant Coordinator

Moments of Epiphany: Talking Creativity with an Educational Psychologist

Published June 22, 2011 Art & Teaching , Creativity , Museum Insight , People 2 Comments
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We were lucky at our last Educator Reading Group to have Dr. Magdalena Grohman as a guest facilitator.  Dr. Grohman is an associate director of the Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology, a lecturer at the School of Behavior and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas, Dallas, and a frequent DMA collaborator.

Dr. Grohman recommended an article from Educational Psychologist titled “Why Isn’t Creativity More Important to Educational Psychologists?  Potentials, Pitfalls, and Future Directions in Creativity Research.”  The reading invited us to reconsider beliefs and ”myths” we might hold about creativity: that creativity is something you either have or you don’t, that there is a singular type of creative person (and they are often outsiders), and that creativity is enhanced within a group.  The article also teased out a definition of creativity based on content analysis of peer-reviewed business, education, and psychology journals.

During our discussion, we thought through our own myths about creativity and the theory and practice of creativity both in our programs and jobs.  How do we talk to students in our programs and classes about creativity and their creative abilities? And how is that different from what they hear from teachers in school?  How do we structure brainstorming sessions, and work in large groups on creative projects?  

We also learned about the science of creativity.  Dr. Grohman, sharing her expertise, helped us look behind our mysterious moments of creative insight to find what’s in play cognitively, that networks of concepts in the memory get flexible (usually as we relax) and we connect remote ideas with one another, metaphorizing, and generating something new.  This cognitive picture of creativity complements the first-person accounts and understandings of creative process we know best—the things we hear artists and writers say to explain their moments of epiphany–that flashes of brilliance come from nowhere, and creativity is something beyond our control. (For more on this, see Elizabeth Gilbert’s excellent TED Talk about creative genius.)

One of the things Dr. Grohman does is provide people with tools and techniques to jump start creative thinking.  She led us in a quick activity after our conversation.  We split into pairs and were asked to make a joint drawing, based on a simple prompt.  As part of the activity we weren’t allowed to talk or in any way communicate with our partner about what we were drawing.  After each pair finished, Dr. Grohman sequenced our artworks, and asked us to create a story to link them together.  Illustrations from our activity and images of participants are in the slideshow below.

Amy Copeland
Coordinator of Go van Gogh Outreach

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Mavs Madness!

Published June 17, 2011 Friday Photos 1 Comment
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One of the many perks of working at the DMA is being perfectly positioned downtown and within walking distance of yesterday’s Dallas Mavericks’ victory parade.  Amy Copeland, Shannon Karol, DMA Public Relations Specialist Kimberly Daniell, and I walked down to the West End to join in the festivities.  Seeing the joy in the players’ faces and being a part of the energy and excitment was definitely an unforgettable experience!
 
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 Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community

 

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