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C3 Artistic Encounters: Giant Constructions

Published July 22, 2011 Community Connection , Creativity , Museum Insight , works of art Closed
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There are things I expect to see coming into work on a Monday, like empty galleries, art being moved, staff shuttling to and from Starbucks for morning coffee.  One thing I definitely did not expect to see this past Monday was a 12-foot sculpture of a rocket ship made of chicken wire, burlap, tape, and felt lurking in the corner of our C3 Tech Lab space.  Talk about surprising!

The Rocket Ship is a communal artwork created by visitors during our 9×9 C3 Artistic Encounters program last Saturday. What I love about the Rocket Ship, which looks like something from a Michel Gondry movie or a cousin of a Claes Oldenberg soft sculpture, is that it is a realization of visitor interpretations of a work of art.

In the Center for Creative Connections, we have a metaphor response wall where visitors can leave their thoughts about Lee Bonteou’s Untitled (35).  One of the prompts visitors respond to is: “If this work of art was part of something larger, what would it be?”  Multiple responses to this prompt have been “Rocket Ship.”  So, as part of our new 9×9 Programing initiative, C3 staff teamed up with artist Rene Muhl to make this response real on a very large scale.  Kari Laehr, Center for Creative Specialist, worked with Susan Diachisin, Director of the Center for Creative Connections, and is excited to share her rocket ship-making experience with us.  Here’s Kari:

Last weekend in the Center for Creative Connections, we launched our new 9×9 Programing, specifically our third consecutive program called Giant Constructions. The program was based on Bontecou’s Untitled (35), currently found in our gallery and, I must admit, one of my favorites in the space!

   

Lee Bontecou, Untitled (35), 1961, welded metal and canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1963.92.FA.

This work of art encourages participants to contemplate space through a mysterious dark opening that simultaneously toys with depth perception and confrontational elements. Participants were encouraged to create a large-scale sculpture that would act as an extension of the Bontecou piece.  We had a wonderful time with Rene discussing Bontecou’s work and trying to answer questions about the artist’s intent, types of materials used, and other interactive prompts.   As Amy mentioned above, the main prompt was “If the piece were a part of something larger, what would it be?”  Many responses to our interactive prompt came back with the same answer – ROCKET SHIP!  With the help of artist Rene Muhl, imagination became reality as our rocket ship took shape.

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The program lasted four hours and was a casual come-and-go process. As you can see, everyone had a great time adding to our Rocket Ship.  There are many ways to interact with art, and we look forward to continuing to promote new and exciting programs through the rest of 9×9 in July!

Kari Laehr
Center for Creative Connections, Specialist

Amy Copeland
Coordinator for Go van Gogh Outreach

Behind the Scenes: YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs Program

Published July 19, 2011 Art & Teaching , Community Connection , Museum Insight , People 1 Comment
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Coming into my second month at the museum, I am beginning to learn more about the different facets of our education department.  Last week, I participated in our YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs Program, a week-long program that employs interactive gallery experiences through tours, as well as hands-on art activities based on objects explored in the Museum.  By documenting my first experience with the YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs Program, I aim to shed some light on our summer programs at the DMA.
 

Tour supplies

Our week begins on Monday at the Grand Prairie Boys & Girls Club.  My colleague Melissa Nelson and I head out in the beloved Go van Gogh® van, armed with a bag full of art supplies.  Because it’s our first interaction with the students, we start off with introductions about us and the Museum.  As a group, we talked about the different collections the DMA has to offer and what their first visit will be like.   Finally, we ended the session with an art activity, in which the students drew their own museum filled with items they collect at home.
 

On Tuesday, the students traveled to the Museum for their first visit, and the tour theme is Animal Safari.  The Animal Safari tour is a fun and engaging tour that encourages students to look closer at the different types of animals found in artworks throughout the Museum.  Some activities I included are an animal scavenger hunt in the American silver gallery, an acrostic poem about a seal or sea otter spirit mask, and a drawing based on the sculptures of mythical animals (aso) from Indonesia.  You can find more interactive activities on our Teaching Resources page.

Preparing for an Animal Safari tour

On Wednesday, we went back to the Boys & Girls Club and reviewed some of the animals we saw on the tour.  Two objects that we asked for them to recall are the sword ornament in the form of a lion and the mythical animal (aso).  Inspired by these two objects, the students created their own animals with Model Magic clay.  It was a great way to connect the students with the artworks and spark their interest in returning to the Museum on Thursday.

On Thursday, the students returned to the DMA for a second time, ready to participate in the Heroes tour.  During the tour, students explored characteristics of heroes and what it means to be a hero in artworks from diverse cultures.  During the tour, we read Courage by Bernard Waber, drew a hero portrait, and wrote a story about heroes together as a group.

Students working hard on their trophies

Our final meeting took place on Friday at the Boys & Girls Club.  We reviewed the different roles of a hero and talked about which artworks we liked the most.  One object that was visited was the Nautilus Centerpiece, which is a yachting trophy.  In this activity, students created their own trophy that either represented themselves as heroes, or to give to someone they consider their hero, like a family member or a friend.

Artist Trophy

My first week with the YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs Program has been a blast!  I can’t think of a better way for students to spend their summer than having fun with art and taking the time to look, question, and create.

Loryn Leonard
Coordinator of Museum Visits

Ordinary to Extraordinary: A Short Story about Chairs

Published March 15, 2011 Community Connection , Creativity , People Closed
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“Success in your career begins in an ordinary classroom, in an ordinary chair.”
 — Diana Maldonado, grade 11, Skyline High School (DISD)

 

Standard-issue classroom chairs

It is a good thing to see the world from a different point of view every now and then.  We can stand and walk in someone else’s shoes, but what is it like to sit in someone else’s chair? What if the seat of this chair rises only fourteen inches above the ground?  I recently had the opportunity to take a seat in these small-size chairs while visiting pre-K and kindergarten classrooms at Dealey Montessori, Medrano Elementary, and Urban Park Elementary in DISD. Two 11th grade students from Skyline High School, Yvonne and Lauren, joined me during the visits to interview several young students who sit in fourteen-inch chairs every day at school.

For me, sitting in one of these chairs is a little bit magical.  The world is scaled down and tiny – chalkboards hang at a lower level, tables are shorter, and objects on the lowest bookshelf (which seem to require a further reach) are more colorful and interesting.  The chair-sitting experience  may also be magical for the students who sit in these small chairs every day as they get used to going to school, learn to write, and make new friends. Chairs are an important part of the school day.  They are a place to sit and rest, but also a place to participate in important and creative work.  Students shared with Lauren, Yvonne, and me various examples of the work they do in their chairs:

  • learning to read books
  • making a lion mask
  • practicing writing letters and words
  • drawing butterflies, ice cream cones, and hearts
  • singing with friends
  • painting
  • counting numbers

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Our visits to schools are part of a larger partnership project between the Dallas Museum of Art and the Architecture Cluster at Skyline High School.  Lauren and Yvonne are just two among more than eighty Skyline Architecture Cluster students who created an amazing installation now on view in the Center for Creative Connections.  The installation, Sculpting Space: 299 Chairs, features fourteen-inch, standard-issue classroom chairs in all colors as the primary material.  The Skyline students have transformed ordinary chairs into extraordinary chair assemblages that sculpt the space of one gallery.  Museum visitors move through the space, walking under and around clusters of chairs.  Look for more information in the coming weeks about Skyline’s unique installation on the blog Uncrated.

Google Sketch-Up model for a chair assemblage that reflects the spatial concept, "fluent"

Early in the partnership project, Skyline students and their teachers, Peter Goldstein and Tom Cox, had the brilliant idea to get “used” chairs from three DISD elementary schools.  They were interested in chairs with stories to tell — marked-up with years of scratches and crayon scribbles.  The DMA purchased hundreds of new chairs, and then Skyline students swapped the new chairs for old chairs at Dealey, Medrano, and Urban Park.  As part of the process, the elementary school students were invited to draw their chairs, write about them, and think about all of the many things they do while seated in the classroom.  Video interviews with pre-K and kindergarten students about their chairs are included with the DMA installation.   Special thanks to the teachers, students, and staff at Dealey Montessori, Medrano Elementary, and Urban Park in DISD for being a part of this wonderful partnership!

“The one true connection we have made was with the chairs and when we were little kids.  They bring back memories of our childhood.  We also have a connection to the students who once sat in these chairs where they did their work, and colored and painted.”
Luis Garcia, grade 10, Skyline High School (DISD)


Nicole Stutzman
Director of Teaching Programs and Partnerships

 

Community Connection: 1 month, 56 tours, and 4,300 fifth-graders

Published January 18, 2011 Community Connection , People Closed
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For the past four years, Garland ISD has committed to bringing every fifth-grade student to the DMA for a one-hour docent-guided visit.  Such an endeavor requires an extensive amount of time, resources, and coordination of staff, teachers, students, and docents.  This impressive undertaking is possible thanks to Brenda Hass, Fine Arts Coordinator for Garland ISD.

What is your role with Garland ISD?

I am the Fine Arts Coordinator; I work with our K-12 art and theater program and our elementary music program.

Describe your relationship with the DMA.

I began working with the DMA when I was in another school district and learned about the tour program.  When I came to Garland, one of the things I set in motion right away was to make an arrangement for all fifth-graders to come to the DMA for tours that align with social studies TEKS.  It’s been a great relationship.

How, and why, do you manage such a large task?

We do it because we feel it’s important.  Many children wouldn’t have the experience of coming to an art museum if we didn’t provide it.  The majority of our forty-seven elementary schools are considered Title 1 and are located in lower socioeconomic areas.  Whatever the students’ backgrounds are, we want to them have the opportunity to visit.  We choose to put our money and our time here.

 
 

Brenda is also a talented piano player.

What is the most memorable thing that has happened during these tours?

Every year after our DMA tours in January, I always receive an email from a classroom teacher who had never visited before, wanting me to know what an amazing experience it was for his/her children and thanking me for providing the transportation.  I think a lot of people who didn’t get to visit museums as a child don’t go to museums as adults.  But once they have an opportunity, they don’t want to miss it.

What is your favorite part of your job?

Being with children.  If it’s theater, watching them perform in a show.  With art, I may be helping them organize exhibitions of their work.  In music, I’m watching a program or working with our children’s chorus.  Whatever role we have in administration, we have to continue being around the children.  That’s what keeps us fresh and keeps us on the cutting edge of education. 

Also, I am passionate about making sure our students have a museum experience.  I think that everybody, child or adult, should do the same.

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community

Big New Field, Brand New Audience

Published January 6, 2011 Community Connection , People , works of art Closed
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Annette Lawrence, "Coin Toss," 2009, stranded cable, The Art Program at Cowboys Stadium

There’s a lot to be excited about with the new Cowboys Stadium (the architecture, the mega-TVs, the sheer size of the place and its many luxuries).  What gives all of us at the Museum goosebumps is the number of people the stadium seats, and by extension, the number of those people who will have the opportunity to experience extraordinary contemporary art while at the stadium.  It’s like the featured artists and their artworks are getting an Oprah’s Book Club level of exposure.  Not bad at all!

Next Thursday, the Museum is hosting another State of the Arts lecture, perfect for those interested in learning more about the Cowboys Stadium Art program.  The evening will feature major players in the program: Annette Lawrence, visual artist featured at the stadium; Bryan K. Trubey, architect and Principal/Director of HKS Sports & Entertainment Group; and Charles Wylie, The Lupe Murchison Curator of Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art and member of the Cowboys Stadium Art Council.  Lawrence’s work can also be seen in Big New Field.

If you’re curious to explore the stadium before next Thursday’s talk, check out the newly-released iPhone app, The Art at Cowboys Stadium.  The app features a mobile tour, interviews with the Joneses, the Cowboys Stadium Art Council, and featured artists, as well as documentation of artwork installations.

Amy Copeland
Coordinator of Go van Gogh Outreach

Community Connection: Thriving Minds

Published December 14, 2010 Art & Teaching , Community Connection , People Closed
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The DMA partners with Thriving Minds, a city-wide initiative to provide arts and cultural experiences for Dallas students, in the offering of an extended arts program during after school hours.  We have partnered with Thriving Minds and their umbrella organization Big Thought in several ways over many years.  The after school program is our newest partnership, which has become my focus during the past two years.  I am fortunate to work closely with Creative Specialist Laura Orange on this program: we share an excitement and enthusiasm for serving students during after school hours with programs that are educational, meaningful, and most importantly, fun.

Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to your position at Big Thought.

When I was in my early twenties, I studied with a professional company that had connections with the Paris school of Marcel Marceau.  We became the United States version of that company.  The man I studied with supported himself by being a resident artist for the state of Ohio, and he trained me on how to make a living by putting together a show and getting involved with various state arts commissions.  I ended up here in Texas in the early 80’s when Young Audiences was forming.  Young Audiences wanted a mime company, and they asked me to create one their second year.  I spent years performing through schools, doing residences and other work through Junior Players and Dallas Children’s Theater, and along the way I learned about arts administration.  As Young Audiences developed, they realized they needed in-house arts administration staff and brought me on board – that was probably ten years ago.  Young Audiences grew into Big Thought and extended into afterschool programming.  I was the representative here for 21st Century programming and was able to connect organizations with afterschool programs.  Now we staff programs at schools, and I realize I’ve almost come full circle.

What advice would you give to artists who are interested in teaching school children?

Don’t take yourself too seriously.  You’ve got to enjoy children and enjoy the journey they’ll take you.  Sometimes, something will happen that can be a really brilliant idea if you’re not stuck on what you want to do.  Some of my best adventures happened when something didn’t work right, and I decided let’s try this and see what happens?  It became a lot more fun.   

You have a performance background.  How do works of art connect with your approach toward teaching?

Works of art can be very inspirational.  From the mime background, every picture tells  a story, and there’s movement and everything.  We’ve physically recreated works of art in performances with our bodies.  You can also do a movement exercise where you take a still picture, and ask students what do you want to be in it?  A blade of glass, a tree, birds flying, part of a hill…if we were to unfreeze it, what are the little movements that would happen?   What sounds would it make?  Students can use these things to understand line, form, and shape of physical bodies.  Since mime is abstract, there is a lot to connect with abstract paintings, too.

If you could be doing anything else, what would it be?

Probably sitting on the beach and watching the ocean.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Our annual drive home to my parents’ house is usually pretty funny.  We rent a minivan and I call it “Operation Little Miss Sunshine”.  Me, my brother, my husband, my dogs, and whatever we can stuff in the van drive to Mississippi and back together.

Laura paints a henna tattoo on a colleague.

Connecting with the DMA in January 2011

Published December 9, 2010 Community Connection , Museum Insight , works of art Closed
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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

Community Connection: Eye-opening, Enlightening, and Fabulous

Published November 16, 2010 Art & Teaching , Community Connection , Creativity , People , works of art Closed
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Some of our devoted Go van Gogh volunteers have participated for many years, so we design special workshops for them with the goal of making connections – with works of art, with fellow volunteers, and with personal teaching experiences – in fun and fresh ways.  These themed workshops often feature guest speakers, such as local artists or our colleagues in the education department.   

Our last workshop focused on the theme “PLAY”; you can view pictures from the workshop in our intern Karen’s photo post.  We invited Leticia Salinas, the 2009-2010 McDermott Intern for Family Experiences, to lead conversations and activities with volunteers in front of works of art entirely in Spanish.  Volunteers commented after the workshop that their experience with Leticia was “eye-opening”, “very valuable”, “helpful”, “enlightening”, and “fabulous”.

Leticia leads the Paint the Town DMA Summer Art Camp.

Tell us about your connection with the DMA.

I’ve been in Dallas for about ten years, and during college I visited the DMA every now and then and attended Late Nights.  Last year, I was the McDermott Intern in the Family Experiences department.  I continue to help during Late Nights and other special Family Experiences programs. 

What are you doing now?

I am a Special Education Bilingual Teaching Assistant at Thomas Elementary in Plano ISD.  I help teachers in classrooms with special education and/or bilingual students, primarily kindergarten through second grade. 

Describe your session with Go van Gogh volunteers.

I gave two tours in Spanish focusing on Jackson Pollock’s Cathedral and three hats in the African collection.  This helped volunteers put themselves in the position of ESL students and also showed them effective ways of teaching these learners.  Hopefully, the volunteers were able to gauge how these students feel and will be able to use that knowledge as a tool when they teach.  It was a really great experience, and I enjoyed it.  The volunteers were all very willing to participate even though it was a different language and they may have felt uncomfortable.

What do you consider important when working with ESL students, and how does this apply to teaching with works of art?

When working with ESL students, there has to be something more than language.  You have to be really creative and think of different ways to teach a subject.  This applies to all subjects.  I think art is a great way to teach ESL learners because they have a visual picture of what you’re talking about.  You can get creative and lead activities that are more hands-on and fun, playing with color and lines and movement.  All of those concepts are easy to teach to students who don’t speak English fluently.

Finish this sentence: In ten years, I’d like to be…

I hope to be at a place where I’m happy with my job and I love what I do, whether it be working in a museum or with kids or doing something totally different that I never thought I would do.  Hopefully, in ten years I’ll have it all figured out.

Thursday Nights….More than The Office or Grey's Anatomy

Published November 11, 2010 Community Connection Closed
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Have you ever wanted to go out on the town with your friends before all the weekend excitement happens?    If so, I recommend coming to the Museum on Thursday evenings between 5 and 9 p.m.   Bring your educator ID and receive FREE admission to enjoy a variety of experiences like Jazz in the Atrium,  artist encounters, lectures, and much more!

Below are a few of the fantastic programs that are happening over the next few months.

For more highlighted Thursday and Friday programs, go to the Evening Programs section of the DMA’s Educators Web site.

Until next time….

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Programs and Resources for Teachers

"Exotic" Mexican Objects at the DMA and Crow Collection

Published November 5, 2010 Community Connection , Friday Photos , works of art Closed
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In commemoration of the 2010 bicentennial of Mexico’s independence from Spain, many Dallas-area institutions have hosted events or created exhibitions related to Mexico’s past, present, and future.  In addition to highlighting Mexican and Spanish colonial works in the Museum’s fourth floor galleries, the DMA currently has two special exhibitions celebrating Mexico’s 200th anniversary: Jose Guadalupe Posada: The Birth of Mexican Modernism and Tierra y Gente: Modern Mexican Works on Paper.

For me, one of the most intriguing objects in these galleries is an eccentric folding screen from colonial Mexico.  This screen is elaborately painted and gilded in the European decorative tradition, but its central vignettes are drawn from a Flemish book of moralizing tales.  Additionally, the ornate borders of the screen contain Japanese and Chinese-inspired motifs popular in European Rococo.  This object connects with a recently opened exhibition, Black Current: Mexican Responses to Japanese Art, 17th-19th Centuries, also in celebration of Mexico’s bicentennial, at the Crow Collection of Asian Art.

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*Photography by George Ramirez

This exhibition includes Mexican-made objects, such as folding screens and rolled paintings, that were greatly informed by trade via the The Black Current.   This marine trade route, established in the 16th century,  ran eastbound from Manila to Acapulco, bringing goods such as decorative arts, silk, and spices to Mexico.  Approximately 500 Pacific crossings were made along the dark river in the sea, feeding the growing market for luxury commodities in Mexico and generating Asian demand for American resources such as silver.  These exchanges led to an artistic interchange that left lasting impressions on Mexican artists.

Cosmopolitan, Mexican-made objects, such as those in Black Current and the DMA Screen, reference their Asian precursors through the inclusion of Asian-inspired motifs, use of laquer, inlay and shells, and format of the folding screen and scrolls mounted on rollers.  Additionally, they serve as visual documentation of ambitious exchanges between spatially disparate cultures.

Ashley Bruckbauer

Programs and Resources for Teachers Intern

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