Official behind-the-scenes blog of the Dallas Museum of Art
Embark on a tour of the great ARTdoors! This summer, we compiled a list of public artworks around Dallas—from sculptures, to murals, to memorials—that you can see from the comfort of your car. By popular demand, we are pleased to present a second edition. Follow these maps to discover how artists have brought North Texas to life.
We have a new way to get creative at the DMA! Make & Take is a new art-making series that takes place on one Thursday every month. Drop by on October 25 and stay for as long as you want, whether it’s a few minutes or an hour, and you’ll leave with a new skill plus your own creation. Our first Make & Take was on Thursday, September 27. As the weather cooled down, participants enjoyed their time outside on our Sculpture Terrace near the Conservation Gallery, overlooking part of the downtown skyline. Local artist and architecture teacher Jay Cantrell led participants in exercises that helped give shape to the cluster of buildings in front of them. One exercise involved outlining the skyline that showed the different structures using only one line. Another was focusing on architectural details of the buildings, like windows and arches, so you don’t get overwhelmed by tackling the entire building. You can see a few examples below.
View from Sculpture Terrace
Architectural drawing made by Jay Cantrell
Outline of skyline done by participant
Small detail of building done by participant
If you didn’t get a chance to come out and sketch with us, don’t worry! Make & Take will happen once a month (except December) and explore a new art technique every time. On the 25th, we’ll be working with vibrant pastels to make abstract images inspired by the pastels on view in Günther Förg: A Fragile Beauty. On November 29, explore monotype printmaking, where you’ll make subtractive images in ink and then print using a press, like the monotypes featured in Ida O’Keeffe: Escaping Georgia’s Shadow.
Katie Cooke is Manager of Adult Programs at the DMA.
Next week the DMA will host its first College Night! We are excited to open our doors on Wednesday, October 24, for this exclusive evening just for college students.
Since students will be taking a break from their busy fall semesters to join us (and hopefully all the midterms are over), we wanted this night to be a mix of fun and informative activities.
We’ll serve complimentary snacks and drinks, and there will be art activities, music spun by DJ Derek Lynn, and a chance to talk with DMA staff to learn more about various museum careers. Students can also see our new exhibition Cult of the Machine: Precisionism and American Art for free, and they can grab a sweet treat while learning more about our McDermott Internship Program.
For this night only, in honor of all those hours spent toiling away in their classes, we created a new self-guide called In a Class of Your Own, highlighting 14 school subjects and one work of art that best illustrates it. Here are a few that will be featured:
Archaeology
Idol, folded-arm form, Greece, Cycladic, c. 2700–2100 BCE, marble, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, The Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marcus Collection of Fertility Figures, 1982.292.FA
Environmental Science
Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt, 1979.28
US History
William Tylee Ranney, Veterans of 1776 Returning from the War, 1848, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Art Museum League Fund, Special Contributors and General Acquisitions Fund, 1981.40
Music
Drum, Côte d’Ivoire, Senufo peoples, 20th century, wood and hide, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Marcus, 1981.139.FA
Interior Design
“Marshmallow” sofa, George Nelson Associates (designer), Irving Harper (designer), Herman Miller, Inc. (manufacturer), designed c. 1954–55, steel, aluminum, paint, foam, and wool, Dallas Museum of Art, 20th-Century Design Fund, 1995.41
Women’s Studies
Altar depicting the first female ancestor (luli), Indonesia, Southeast Moluccas, 19th century, wood and shell, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., 1999.181.McD
Stacey Lizotte is the DMA League Director of Adult Programs at the DMA.
Last Friday we hosted our first Pride Late Night in celebration of National Pride Month. We want to thank all of the visitors—there were more than 5,500 of you!—who came to the event and showed their Dallas Pride. It was a fun night and we loved seeing the support for the DFW LGBTQ community.
Here are some photos from Late Night and the Summer Block Party in the Dallas Arts District.
Stacey Lizotte is the DMA League Director of Adult Programs at the DMA.
To celebrate National Pride Month, our Late Night on Friday, June 15, will feature a variety of groups and performers from the DFW LGBTQ community. This Late Night is also part of the annual Summer Block Party, and the Dallas Arts District is joining the celebration of Pride month with outdoor festivities.
We knew we wanted to involve local community members in the planning of the event, so we asked representatives from DFW LGBTQ groups to help us brainstorm program ideas. Our team was excited and energized by their enthusiasm and support of the event, and after several months of planning we put together this full schedule of events.
We are welcoming back performers from The Rose Room (who were last here in 2012) as well as featuring new performers and groups, including Chris Chism, Flexible Grey Theatre, and Verdigris Ensemble. We also wanted to make sure we featured some of Dallas’s LGBTQ history, so Robert Emery and cast members from Uptown Players will perform stories collected from the LGBTQ community. Following that, there will be a talk looking at the overall history of LGBTQ art in America with art historian Tara Burk. And, for the first time, there will be a Kiki Ball at the DMA!
Throughout the night, DMA staff will also highlight the following LGBTQ artists in our collection:
Anton Prinner
Anton Prinner, Large Column, 1933, wood and paint, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., 1996.148.McD
Ellsworth Kelly
Ellsworth Kelly, Untitled, 1982–83, stainless steel, Dallas Museum of Art, commission made possible through funds donated by Michael J. Collins and matching grants from The 500, Inc., and the 1982 Tiffany & Company benefit opening, 1983.56
Anne Whitney
Anne Whitney, Lady Godiva, c. 1861–64, marble, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Alessandra Comini in memory of Dr. Eleanor Tufts, who discovered the Massachusetts-backyard whereabouts of this long-forgotten statue and brought it to Dallas, 2011.8
Félix Gonzáles-Torres
Félix González-Torres, Untitled (Perfect Lovers), 1987–90, wall clocks, Dallas Museum of Art, fractional gift of The Rachofsky Collection, © The Félix González-Torres Foundation, courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, 2001.342.a–b
Marsden Hartley
Marsden Hartley, Mountains, no. 19, 1930, oil on board, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., 2008.24.McD
With all that’s in store, we hope you join the summer crowds and don’t miss out on a fun-filled night in downtown Dallas!
We would like to thank the following community groups for their help in planning the Pride Late Night:
Abounding Prosperity
Arttitude
Cathedral of Hope
City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs
Coalition for Aging LGBT
The Dallas Arts District
Dallas Voice
Downtown Dallas Inc.
Flexible Grey Theatre
GALA, Gay and Lesbian Alliance of North Texas
LULAC Rainbow Council
OnBrand Productions
The Resource Center
The Rose Room
Turtle Creek Chorale
Uptown Players
Verdigris Ensemble
Stacey Lizotte is the DMA League Director of Adult Programs at the DMA.
With 93 exhibitors, the 2018 Dallas Art Fair left no dearth of fantastic work to purchase through the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition program. For the Dallas Art Fair’s 10th anniversary, and the third year the DMA has participated in this exciting partnership, the contemporary collection gained eight new works by seven artists. This year, perhaps more than ever, we are reminded how much representation matters. The curatorial team (Anna Katherine Brodbeck, me, and the McDermott Intern for Contemporary Art Elise Armani), under the leadership of our Director, Agustín Arteaga, used the funds this year to select works that further diversify the contemporary collection. The artists range in age and background as well as the variety of mediums that they use.
Brie Ruais’s large wall-based ceramic was created from the same amount of clay as the artist’s own body weight. In her process-driven practice, Ruais spreads and molds the clay with her hands and feet, marks still evident once the pieces are partially glazed and fired. The DMA’s holdings in contemporary ceramics do not quite reflect the multitude of ceramic work being produced today, and we felt that this work was a striking addition to demonstrate the use of the medium expanded beyond traditional forms.
Brie Ruais, Broken Ground Red (130 lbs of clay spread out from center), 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Albertz Benda [image source: brieruais.com].
Sanford Biggers, Sirroco, 2016. Courtesy of Massimo De Carlo Milan | London |Hong Kong [image source: massimodecarlo.com].
Alicia Henry, Untitled, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Liliana Bloch Gallery [image source: lilianablochgallery.com].
Thank you to the generous donors to the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition program for their time and enthusiasm in making these acquisitions happen!
Chelsea Pierce is the Curatorial Administrative Assistant for Contemporary Art at the DMA.
Robert Delaunay, Eiffel Tower, 1924, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1981. 105, © L & M Services B. V., Amsterdam
Bastille Day is this Thursday, but the revolution will last an extra day as we continue the festivities during our July Late Night.
To help you practice your French numbers, here are some things you can experience that evening:
Un – The number of movies starring Kirsten Dunst that will be screened (spoiler alert: it’s Marie Antoinette).
Deux – The number of people facing off against each other in our fencing and dueling demonstrations.
Trois – The number of hours DJ Wild in the Streets will spin a mix of eclectic French music.
Quatre – The number of tours that will explore the French Revolution, fashion, and portraiture.
Cinq – The number of hours you can hear live French music performed by local musicians.
Six – The time that Late Night starts, so don’t être en retard!
Sept – The start time for our Late Night Talk sharing a quick history of the French Revolution.
Huit – The number of selfies you should take in front of French portraits in our Rosenberg Collection, and then share them on our Instagram with #DMAnights.
Neuf – The number of rogue mimes you might see walking around.
Dix – The number of times DMA staff might yell “vive la DMA!” during the evening.
Jean Antoine Theodore Giroust, The Harp Lesson, 1791, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund, 2015.10.FA
In addition to our Late Night, Bastille Day Dallas will expand its annual celebration and bring more French culture to the Dallas Arts District with outdoor activities on Flora Street. So put on your beret, grab a baguette, and join us!
Stacey Lizotte is Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services at the DMA.
It all started last year when a colleague sent me a link to a portrait we have in our collection of Jane Austen, done by Austen’s sister Cassandra. This colleague knew I was an Austen fan and wanted to see if I was aware that we had this in our collection. I had no idea!
After Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen, n.d., engraving, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg
I shared this awesome news with other Austen fans on staff, which led us to think about how great it would be do a Jane Austen-themed Late Night. Around that time, we also heard that the Dallas Theater Center would be doing a spring production of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Voilà, an Austen Late Night was born.
We brainstormed a lot of ideas, researched speakers who had talked at local and national meetings of The Jane Austen Society of North America, and met with staff from the Dallas Theater Center to talk about connections to their production.
After months of planning, we are excited to see the event take shape, and we invite you to join us for our Jane Austen Late Night on Friday, March 20, from 6:00 p.m. to midnight. You can hear music from the Romantic era, learn about the fashion world of Jane Austen, watch a Victorian fencing demonstration, listen to a dramatic reading by Dallas Theater Center actors, take quizzes to test your knowledge of all things Austen, watch films, including the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice staring Laurence Olivier, and learn how Kate Rorick helped modernize Austen for the digital age.
For those of you who like to bring the world of Austen to life, we invite you to come dressed as your favorite Jane Austen character or in a costume inspired by England’s Regency era for a chance to win great Austen-themed prizes, including a pair of tickets to the Dallas Theater Center’s production of Sense and Sensibility. Baronda Bradley, a specialist in Regency fashion, will judge the contest, starting at 8:30 p.m.
Our March Late Night is also our annual Spring Block Party in the Arts District. There will be a lot to do that evening with the Nasher Sculpture Center and Crow Collection of Asian Art also staying open until midnight.
And, for anyone needing an Austen appetizer, there are still tickets available to see Jo Baker, author of Longbourn, at tomorrow night’s DMA Arts & Letters Live event.
I hope to see all my fellow Austenites on Friday!
Stacey Lizotte is Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services at the DMA.
Whether you’re feeling blue, seeing red, or chasing rainbows, this year’s Spring Break week at the DMA will have something for every hue! We’re kicking things off on Saturday, March 7, with our friends at the Crow Collection of Asian Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center and throwing a day-long party filled with art making, music and dance performances, yoga, and lots of art!
Need a little more color in your world? Daily family fun at the DMA will continue March 10-13. Take a spin on the color wheel and enjoy story time in the galleries, family tours, art making in the studio, family competitions, and more all week long.
We invited a few of our favorite families to come take a sneak peek at what we have planned for the week and give us their colorful commentary.
The Paintbrush family had a mauvelous time searching for color in the galleries during a family tour. The Museum has four floors of art, so you are sure to find your favorite color in the paintings, sculpture, decorative art, and objects on display.
The Crayon brood was tickled pink during story time in the galleries when one of their favorite stories was read aloud. After the story, everyone used the art around them as inspiration to sketch their own colorful stories.
At first the Marker clan was a little worried about being Museum greenhorns, but they quickly felt at home in the Center for Creative Connections, where they enjoyed interactive art explorations, a children’s play area, and a welcoming community space. Once they found the Art Studio, their true colors came shining through, and everyone was eager to leave their mark!
To finish off their red letter day, the Paintbrush family used one of the free Arturo Family Gallery Guides to explore the Museum on their own. (Baby Brush thought that the cat-themed guide was positively purr-fect.)
Everyone agrees: “Spring Break at the DMA passes with flying colors!” We hope you’ll join us too!
Leah Hanson is the Manager of Early Learning Programs at the DMA.
