Archive Page 18

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

Take a Summer Safari at the DMA

Published June 30, 2015 Art & Teaching 1 Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
teen docents 2015 2

This year’s class of teen docents.

This summer, bring your summer school students and summer campers to the Dallas Museum of Art for a tour led by one of our teen docents! Our docent-guided tours allow students to form meaningful connections with works of art through close looking and interactive gallery experiences, including sketching, writing, group discussion, and more. Teen docents conduct summer tours for young visitors (ages 5-12) all summer long, during which they encourage critical and creative thinking while addressing all learning styles. If you are interested in scheduling a guided tour with one of our teen docents, the process is easy!

Step 1: Visit www.dma.org/tours. This page includes information about fees–FREE if you are an educational organization and scheduled 2-3 weeks in advance!

Step 2: Click on Docent-Guided Tour Request Form, making sure you already have a few dates approved for a visit.

Step 3: Choose whether you would like the “Animal Safari” tour or the “Summer Vacation” tour.

  • On the “Animal Safari” tour, students will set off on a safari to search for animals in works of art. They will think about how animals look and what they might mean and symbolize in works of art from all over the world.
  • On the “Summer Vacation” tour, students will travel the world without ever leaving the Museum! They will think about how they spend their summer vacation and make connections between their favorite summer activities and those they see in works of art.

Step 4: Choose a date and time. Docent-guided tours are only available in the summer on Wednesday and Friday between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. We can only tour 30 students every hour, but feel free to split them between a few hours! For example, half the students can tour at 11:00 a.m. while the other half explore our collection in small groups or eat lunch in our Sculpture Garden.

Step 5: Once the form is submitted, you will be added to our schedule in the first available time and day.

We have lots of room left in our schedule, and our teens are ready to show your students their favorite pieces! We hope you join us for a Safari or a Vacation soon!

Madeleine Fitzgerald
Audience Relations Coordinator

#LoveWins

Published June 26, 2015 Collections Closed
Tags: , , ,

In commemoration of today’s decision we wanted to share Félix González-Torres’s work in the DMA collection Untitled (Perfect Lovers).

The date of this work corresponds to the time during which Félix González-Torres’s partner, Ross Laycock, was ill, and it embodies the tension that comes from two people living side-by-side as life moves forward to its ultimate destination. González-Torres comments: “Time is something that scares me . . . or used to. This piece I made with the two clocks was the scariest thing I have ever done. I wanted to face it. I wanted those two clocks right in front of me, ticking.”

Félix González-Torres, Untitled (Perfect Lovers), 1987-1990, wall clocks, Dallas Museum of Art, fractional gift of The Rachofsky Collection © The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York

Félix González-Torres, Untitled (Perfect Lovers), 1987-1990, wall clocks, Dallas Museum of Art, fractional gift of The Rachofsky Collection © The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York

Kimberly Daniell is the Manager of Communications and Public Affairs at the DMA

Weaving in the Andes

Published June 24, 2015 Behind-the-Scenes , Education , Exhibitions Closed
Tags: , , , ,

For thousands of years, artists in the Andean region of South America have been weaving beautiful and complex textiles—an extremely labor intensive process as well as an important form of artistic expression. Beyond serving as protection from the arduous cold of the highlands and the intense sun of the Andean coast, textiles played important roles in ritual, political, and social life and functioned as a marker of social identity for both the living and the dead. Because it took so much time and effort to produce a textile, wearing a highly decorative tunic, for example, conveyed the wearer’s social prestige. Today, we are surrounded by textiles—from the upholstery of our living room sofas to our clothes and bed sheets. But most of today’s textiles were created in mass and for the masses.

3a

One of the goals of Inca: Conquests of the Andes—on view until November 15, 2015—is to emphasize that each of the textiles in the exhibition was laboriously and thoughtfully created by hand. So, we designed a space within its galleries to illustrate the step-by-step process of making a textile, from the shearing of a camelid for natural hair or the picking of raw cotton, to the many specific ways that fibers can be woven together to produce a textile.

We were thrilled to collaborate on this project with University of North Texas professor Lesli Robertson and the awesome students in her class Topics in Fiber: Community, Culture, and Art. To kick it off, the class visited the DMA’s textile storage and examined fragments representing a variety of weaving techniques for inspiration. Then, they returned to campus and got busy creating enlarged samples of the weaving techniques, using extra strong and thick cording and string so that visitors can touch and feel the nuanced differences between the various techniques. The students experimented with natural dyes like indigo and cochineal (a parasitic insect) to produce bright colors, mirroring the Andean artists in the exhibition. They also produced a backstrap loom—a small, portable loom popular in the Andes that is attached around the weaver’s back and anchored to a tree or other high post. Be sure to check out the students’ photodocumentation of their project on Instagram. They tagged all of their photos and video with #IncaConquestUNT.

1a

 

Better yet, visit the Inca exhibition and explore the sample wall to learn about the intricate weaving processes used by the artists represented in the exhibition. When you enter, grab a Weaving Techniques guide from the holder. The colorful round icons on labels indicate the predominant weaving technique used for that artwork. Look for differences in the techniques in the artwork galleries, but try to feel the difference in the Weaving in the Andes space.

2a

 

Andrea Severin Goins is the Interpretation Manager at the DMA.

 

 

 

 

Dad’s Day at the DMA

Published June 19, 2015 Collections Closed
Tags: , ,
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures, c. 1909, oil on canvasm Dallas Museum of Art, Deaccession Funds 1986.9

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures, c. 1909, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Deaccession Funds, 1986.9

In honor of Fathers’ Day, we are showcasing artist Henry Ossawa Tanner’s tender rendering of his wife and son, whom he used as models for Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures. In addition to this painting in the DMA’s collection, another, later version is in the Des Moines Art Center. The two were based on inscribed photographs taken by Tanner of his Swedish-born wife, Jessie, and their son, Jesse; the photographs are now housed in the Tanner Papers collection at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.

(Image: Jessie Olssen Tanner and Jesse Ossawa Tanner posing for Henry Ossawa Tanner’s painting of Christ and his mother studying the scriptures, not after 1910. aaa.si.edu/)

Tanner painted a portrait of his own father, African Methodist Episcopal bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner (1897), now in the Baltimore Museum of Art. The Tanner family lived primarily in France, where the artist had settled in the 19th century to escape racial discrimination in America. The artist’s last years were devoted to the care and recovery of his only son, who had a nervous breakdown following his graduation from Cambridge. Jesse Tanner went on to become a successful petroleum engineer, and in the 1950s he wrote a manuscript, The Life and Works of Henry O. Tanner, dedicated to his father.

Visit Tanner’s painting, on view in the DMA’s Level 4 galleries and included in free general admission, this weekend to celebrate the dad in your life.

Reagan Duplisea is the Associate Registrar at the DMA.

Friday Photos: Touch But Don’t Look

Published June 19, 2015 Friday Photos 1 Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Blind-folded touch-tour attendees experience Jurgen Bey's "Tree-Trunk Bench" (1999) in our Sculpture Garden.

Blind-folded touch-tour attendees experience Jurgen Bey’s “Tree-Trunk Bench” (1999) in our Sculpture Garden.

WARNING: Do not attempt a touch tour on your own–our trusty Gallery Attendants will stop you! However, on rare occasions (with a staff member present and the Conservation Department’s approval), you may be given permission to touch the art!

One such opportunity occurred this past Monday, June 15, when Amanda led a touch tour in our Sculpture Garden with painter John Bramblitt, who became blind in his late twenties. This tour was in tandem with the Arts & Letters Live program featuring Rebecca Alexander, author of Not Fade Away: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found. Rebecca was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome Type III when she was 19 years old. This rare genetic disorder is causing her to slowly lose her vision and hearing.

Hearing both John and Rebecca’s inspiring stories, we thought it would be a great experience for a few of our visitors to learn what it is like to experience art with more than just their eyes. Amanda led a conversation focused on two different works of art and suggested techniques for exploring them with touch. We got to explore with our fingers Jurgen Bey’s Tree-Trunk Bench and Mark Handforth’s Dallas Snake.

Unfortunately, this is not something we can do all of the time. So don’t get any ideas!

Madeleine Fitzgerald
Audience Relations Coordinator

A Soft Touch

Published June 15, 2015 Acess Programs , Arts & Letters Live , Behind-the-Scenes , Education 1 Comment
Tags: , , , , , ,

14415297286_1b3a104a6e_k

This evening, in advance of our special DMA Arts & Letters Live event with Rebecca Alexander, who will discuss her memoir about losing her vision and hearing due to a rare genetic disease, we will host our first Touch Tour for adults in the Museum’s Sculpture Garden. Last summer, the DMA hosted a similar tour for a group of children with visual impairment; you can explore photos from the event below and learn more about the history here.

Tonight, artist John Bramblitt will lead participants to three works of art and then discuss his process as an artist who happens to be blind. The all-inclusive tour for those attending the Arts & Letters Live event (those with full vision will be given blindfolds for the tour) begins at 6:15 p.m. Visit DMA.org for additional information about tonight’s program and to purchase tickets.

Amanda Blake is the Head of Family, Access, and School Experiences at the DMA. 

Candles for Courbet

Published June 10, 2015 Collections Closed
Tags: , , ,

Gustave Courbet was born June 10, 1819, and thus 196 years ago today the realist movement was born. The DMA is home to a number of works by the 19th-century French painter. Stop by and wish this great artist happy birthday by visiting two of his works currently on view, Fox in the Snow on Level 2 and  Still Life with Apples, Pear, and Pomegranates in the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection.

Gustave Courbet, Fox in the Snow, 1860, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O'Hara Fund 1979.7.FA

Gustave Courbet, Fox in the Snow, 1860, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund, 1979.7.FA

Gustave Courbet, Still Life with Apples, Pear, and Pomegranates, 1871 or 1872, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection 1985.R.18

Gustave Courbet, Still Life with Apples, Pear, and Pomegranates, 1871 or 1872, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, 1985.R.18

Kimberly Daniell is the Manager of Communications and Public Affairs at the DMA.

Off to Art Camp

Published June 9, 2015 Behind-the-Scenes , Education 1 Comment
Tags: , , , ,

The end of the school year marks the beginning of the DMA’s summer camp program, where each week campers make friends while exploring works of art in the collection and making their own art in the C3 studios. Yesterday we welcomed a fun and energetic group for our first two Summer Art Camps of 2015: New World Kids and Paint, Print, and Pattern.
3

2

On the first day of New World Kids, campers got to work with plants . . . and get their hands dirty while doing so!
5

It was a fun day, and the campers were excited to show their families the plants and other activities they had worked on.

Some of the campers were, admittedly, a little excited to see their families at pick-up…
1
Although all our camps are fully booked, if you would like to see a list of the types of summer camps we offer, for ages ranging from 4 to 19, visit our website, DMA.org.

Josh Rose is the Manager of Docent and Teacher Programs at the DMA.

Golden Glaze

Published June 5, 2015 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections Closed
Tags: , , , , ,

Today is one of the tastiest holidays all year, National Doughnut Day. Last year, we had so much fun seeing one of our paintings transformed into a ring of delicious art that we teamed up with Hypnotic Donuts for round two. James, the owner of the popular North Texas doughnut shop, and his head designer, Chrysta, explored the four floors of art in the Museum and were drawn to our pre-Columbian gallery and the gold Sicán ceremonial mask.

donut pic

Chrysta sculpted the fondant by hand and made each individual piece of the ceremonial mask.The pieces were then assembled and painted gold, and darker color was added for shadowing. For the eyes, she died the fondant an emerald hue and rolled it in sprinkles. The “paint” was created by mixing food coloring, sprinkles, and sugars.

This pastry fit for the gallery walls will be “on view only” at Hypnotic Donuts today during business hours. Head to Hypnotic Donuts in East Dallas to see the artistic doughnut, and stop by the DMA to see the work that inspired this year’s sweet masterpiece.

Kimberly Daniell is the Manager of Communications and Public Affairs at the DMA.

The Cat’s Meow

Published June 1, 2015 Collections 2 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , ,

There are holidays for just about everything, from celebrating your favorite foods to family birthdays. The month of June is dedicated to one of the furrier members of your household: cats. During National Adopt-A-Cat month, we thought we would honor a few of the felines that call the DMA home.

Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1846-1847, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Art Museum League Fund 1973.5

Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1846-47, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Art Museum League Fund, 1973.5

Alfred Stevens, The Visit (La Visite), before 1869, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Pauline Allen Gill Foundation 1997.112

Alfred Stevens, The Visit, before 1869, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Pauline Allen Gill Foundation, 1997.112

Tiger, Nagasawa Rosetsu, after 1792, ink and color on paper, Dallas Museum of Art, General Acquisitions Fund 1972.13

Nagasawa Rosetsu, Tiger, after 1792, ink and color on paper, Dallas Museum of Art, General Acquisitions Fund 1972.13

Sword ornament in the form of a lion, Asante peoples, Ghana, Africa, c. mid-20th century, cast gold and felt, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc. 2010.2.McD

Sword ornament in the form of a lion, Ghana, Asante peoples, c. mid-20th century, cast gold and felt, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., 2010.2.McD [Note: currently not on view due to gallery construction]

Grab this Family Gallery Guide, and others, online or on your next visit to the DMA. They are one of the many ways to experience the DMA for free this summer.

Archives

Categories