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Friday Photos: C3 Riddle

Published December 6, 2013 Friday Photos Closed
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For the past three weeks, C3 has been undergoing some creative construction.  Today our gallery reopens with a few new works of art.  See if you can piece together one of the new works on view by the details below:

Still need a hint? The origin of this riddle may give you a clue:

“I have billions of eyes yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears yet only four lobes. I have no muscles, yet I move two hemispheres. What am I?”

Plan your next visit to C3 soon to see this artwork and the other new works that are currently on view!

Jessica Fuentes
C3 Gallery Coordinator

Friday Photos: DMA Thanksgiving Potluck

Published November 29, 2013 Friday Photos Closed
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On Monday, DMA staff broke bread together for a Thanksgiving potluck. Check out all the amazing treats and eats we enjoyed!

We hope you and yours enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving holiday too!

Sarah Coffey
Assistant to the Chair of Learning Initiatives

Friday Photos: Engaging the Community

Published November 22, 2013 Community Connection , Friday Photos Closed
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Since beginning my McDermott Internship, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to explore ways that visitors can develop engaging, memorable experiences here at the DMA. One unique aspect of my internship has been the opportunity not only to work with those already in the Museum, but also to share information about DMA educational resources with the Dallas community.

Maria Teresa Garcia-Pedroche, Head of Community Engagement, devotes her time to forming deep connections with community organizations and I’ve been privileged to join her as she worked with two of these groups: AVANCE and Trinity Links.

AVANCE is a nonprofit organization that provides family support and educational services to at-risk families. In October, Maria and I visited some of the organization’s adult learning classes to share information about C3, First Tuesdays, Studio Creations, DMA Friends, and Late Nights. Many in the class were unaware of these free programs and were excited to take their families to the Museum.

Maria Teresa discusses DMA Friends with AVANCE members.

Maria Teresa discusses DMA Friends with AVANCE members.

AVANCE members learn about free DMA programs.

AVANCE members learn about DMA programs.

Trinity Links is a female service organization whose members currently work with the SoSMAART Girls, a group of girls dedicated to learning more about science, math, the arts, aviation, reading and technology. Trinity Links recently brought the SoSMAART Girls to the DMA for personalized tours and studio workshops. Many of the girls were first time visitors to the DMA and enjoyed learning more about Jim Hodges and about traditional methods of dying fabric.

Trinity Links members arrive at the DMA with the SoSMAART Girls.

Trinity Links members arrive at the DMA with the SoSMAART Girls.

SoSMAART Girls tour C3.

SoSMAART Girls tour C3.

SoSMAART Girls and their families dye their own fabric after visiting Saturated.

SoSMAART Girls and their families dye their own fabric after visiting Saturated.

I’m excited to connect with more Dallas organizations in the coming months as I continue working with Maria Teresa. How do you connect with organizations in your community?

Amy Elms
McDermott Intern for Visitor Engagement

Friday Photos: Art of the Smoothie

Published November 15, 2013 Friday Photos , Just for Fun 1 Comment
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Working at the DMA, we are constantly surrounded by amazing artists and beautiful works of art. Passing through the galleries on a regular basis, it is no wonder that some of us have become very taken by the art objects we see, slowly integrating them into our daily lives.

These days, many DMA educators have jumped on the green smoothie bandwagon! Walking by so many tasty-looking paintings filled with fruits and veggies (especially around lunchtime) has been a quirky inspiration to many of us in our quest for health and the perfect green smoothie. There is a kale-idoscope of smoothie-worthy produce to see in the DMA galleries!

Our collection has many still life paintings that were originally very popular with collectors in Europe and the United States because they nicely complemented the grand interiors of luxurious homes newly built on the east coast. These paintings showcase the same delicious fruits and veggies that many of us use in our breakfast or lunchtime smoothies. Check out some of the inspirations for our blended green concoctions and then visit the collection to see how many fresh garden goods you can find to add to your green smoothie grocery list!

Make your own sweet pear smoothie inspired by Allport’s Still Life with Fruit:

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 cups spinach, fresh
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
4 pears
1 banana
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Blend spinach and almond milk until smooth. Next add the remaining fruits and blend again. Top with cinnamon.

Check out Simple Green Smoothies for more artful smoothies!

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

Published November 1, 2013 Family Fun , Friday Photos 1 Comment
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One of Mexico’s most important holidays is upon us–Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead! This popular holiday began centuries ago, and, although a celebration based on skulls and skeletons may appear a tad morbid, Dia de los Muertos is actually quite a festive and joyous time. Many of the Mesoamerican civilizations that flourished hundreds of years ago (like the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs), believed strongly in the cyclical nature of life and death. This ancient belief resulted in a celebration of death, rather than a fear of it. Death is viewed as simply a continuation of life, and holidays like Dia de los Muertos are observed in order to celebrate and honor those who have passed away.

Máximo Pacheco, The Zocalo, 1929-1936

Máximo Pacheco, The Zocalo, 1929-1936

There are many things you can do to join in on the celebration this weekend.

Creating an Ofrenda – These small, personal altars honor loved ones who are no longer with us. They are decorated with flowers, candles, food, drinks, photos, and personal mementos of the person being remembered. Luckily the DMA store has many items that can beautify any ofrenda.

Decorating Gravesites – The activity of cleaning and decorating the graves of deceased loved ones has become a festive tradition, with family members congregating to adorn the sites with photographs and flowers as well as the person’s favorite food and drink. Many artists are captivated with the beauty of Mexican cemeteries and have included them in their artwork over time.

Sharing Stories about the Deceased: Part of honoring the dead is sharing stories about their life, particularly funny anecdotes. It is believed that the dead do not want to be thought of in a sad or somber way, but instead remembered and celebrated. So in this light, I wanted to celebrate and shed some light on the artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo is most well known for her self-portraits. But of her 143 paintings, did you know that 55 are self-portraits that feature her treasured animals? After her life-changing traffic accident, Kahlo channeled her energy and emotions into her artworks and her many pets–monkeys, dogs, birds and a fawn–which lived at her home, in Coyoacán, Mexico City. To celebrate her love of animals, I placed a representation of my cat next to a bust of Kahlo.

Whether as a personal experience, family event, or social gathering, I hope that you are inspired this weekend to celebrate your loved ones as part of the Dia de los Muertos holiday!

Artworks shown:

  • Máximo Pacheco, The Zócalo, 1929-1936, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase
  • Dean Ellis, Aspect of a Mexican Cemetary, 1950, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase
  • Jerry Bywaters, Mexican Graveyard, 1939, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. H. Belo Corporation and The Dallas Morning News
  • Frida Kahlo, Itzcuintli Dog with Me, 1938, Private Collection

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

Friday Photos: The Art of Sahrawi Hospitality

Published October 25, 2013 Friday Photos , People Closed
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Last month, I wrote a blog post about a project the DMA co-led with MAP – Make Art With Purpose, an organization that seeks to transform the world in positive ways. I can personally attest that my world was positively impacted by our community partnership program with AVANCE – Dallas, and through collaborating with MAP’s founder Janeil Engelstad and speaking with her about the impressive and inspiring work that MAP is supporting throughout DFW and around the world.

MAP 2013 – a festival and exhibition of social practice projects – launched October 1 and extends through November 24, 2013. Some of the C3 staff took a walk through downtown to visit one of the MAP projects called The Art of Sahrawi Hospitality. This project was inspired by artist Robin Kahn’s month-long visit with Sahrawi families living in the Tindouf Refugee Camps and within the “Liberated Territory” of Western Sahara.

From October 16-20, any and all passersby could enter a large traditional Sahrawi tent and experience Sahrawi hospitality firsthand with Kahn and six Sahrawi women. Inside the tent, the women women were talking, dancing to traditional music, serving tea, and applying henna tattoos.  Susan, Amanda, and I each got tattoos on our hands.

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entrance to tent

entrance to tent

entrance to tent

Najat prepares the stencil and henna ink for tattoos.

Najat prepares the stencil and henna ink for tattoos.

Susan and Najat chat as Susan gets her henna tattoo.

Susan and Najat chat as Susan gets her henna tattoo.

The tent was constructed with beautiful traditional fabric.

The tent was constructed with beautiful traditional fabric.

Najat prepares the tea.

Najat prepares the tea.

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A friendly camel greets you inside the tent.

This wonderful project has already ended, but please check out the other MAP events and programs scheduled through November 24 on MAP’s online calendar.

Melissa Gonzales
C3 Gallery Manager

Friday Photos: Work Pals on the Job!

Published October 18, 2013 Friday Photos , People 2 Comments
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In an effort to build relationships, mutual understanding and internal support, the Education Division decided to institute work pals. Check out some of the new confidants and buddies that have been formed by just drawing names from a hat! Think about ways that you can boost morale, have fun, and establish these types of working relationships in your workplace.workpal

Work pals Rhiannon and Amanda love sending notes of encouragement and fun gifts throughout the week. Rhiannon is our Volunteer Coordinator and Amanda is the C3 Program Coordinator.

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Amanda, Head of Family, Access, and School Experiences, and Andrea, Interpretation Specialist, bond by grabbing a cup of joe. They make the perfect work pals! Amanda said, “something I found out about Andrea is that she loves color, interior design, and I am super impressed by her crafting abilities. She is making all of the bouquets and centerpieces for her upcoming wedding! We of course both love dogs and talked about a future work pal dog date!”

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These two share a love for family and togetherness! Melissa, C3 Gallery Manager, and Leah, Manager of Early Learning Programs, really enjoy their time together exploring the collection!

Amy and Amelia

McDermott Interns Amy and Amelia have been spending a lot of quality time with Wendell, our Jazz in the Atrium Program Coordinator. Amy and Amelia are planning to shadow Wendell during Jazz in the Atrium and learn all about what he does in the Adult Programming department. These two admire Wendell and say that he is a very funny and humble man.

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Our Head of Adult Programming and our Teaching Specialist decided to get to know each other better while they attended the State Fair of Texas during our annual Education Fair Day. Stacey and Danielle give a big thumbs up as they said howdy to our very own Big Tex!

Sarah and Hayley

And here’s Sarah, Assistant to the Chair of Learning Initiatives, and McDermott Intern Hayley, also enjoying the State Fair of Texas! They tried the 2013 Big Tex Choice Award Winner for Most Creative: Fried Thanksgiving Dinner. They also discovered that they are both Anglophiles who love the Royal Family. But while Sarah dreamed of marrying Prince William, Haley had her eyes on Prince Harry!

Here are a few suggestions to do with your work pal:

  • Meet for coffee/tea to learn more about your duties or role.
  • Brainstorm together on future projects–It’s a great opportunity to gain a fresh perspective.
  • Send each other encouraging emails or handwritten notes!
  • Shadow each other for a few hours to gain more knowledge of your respective positions.
  • Take some tips from my co-workers by getting to know one another and having a little fun on the job!

Amanda Batson
C3 Program Coordinator

Friday Photos: Go van Goulash and Other Recipes for Great Outreach

Published October 11, 2013 Art & Teaching , Creativity , Friday Photos , Just for Fun 1 Comment
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Just this morning, Go van Gogh staff wrapped up the last of our Welcome Back training sessions for volunteers—school outreach is officially in full swing!  To get everyone back in a Go van Gogh mindset, we asked our returning volunteers to reflect on classroom teaching experiences by writing a “recipe” for what they think makes a great Go van Gogh program.

We asked to volunteers to:

  • think about the ingredients they’d need for a program to go smoothly,
  • consider the techniques they’d use to combine these ingredients,
  • and articulate what they hoped their efforts would yield.

Fifteen minutes and several cleverly-titled recipes later, we had a great mix of creative, thoughtful, and inspiring methods for teaching to send us off into the classrooms this fall.  See the photos below for tips on how we create the perfect Go van Gyro/Goulash/Stew!

Amy Copeland
Manager of Go van Gogh and Community Teaching Programs

Friday Photos: Insta Interns

Published October 4, 2013 Friday Photos , Museum Insight , People Closed
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This week marks the completion of the first month of the McDermott Internship Program–and quite an exciting month it has been! For most of us, this month has involved moving, exploring a new city, meeting new friends and, most importantly, starting a new job. With the first month drawing to a close, I thought it was only appropriate to look back at this amazing, whirlwind month and share some of our fun “behind-the-scenes” photos. So, let’s begin the Insta Intern Tour: Our First 30 days as McDermott Interns as seen via Instagram.

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Our first day at the DMA was September 3, which primarily served as an orientation day. We enjoyed coffee and bagels as we filled out our employment paperwork, took photographs for our employee badges and learned the basics of navigating our way around the building. The highlight of the day, however, was the trip to the so-called Intern Pit. Most of the interns have a desk in this office area and we were excited to discover that our official plaques had already found their home!

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Later that week, we took the DMA’s Artist Personality Quiz to discover our DMA Art Doppelganger. The quiz provided a fun introduction to the DMA’s collection and we all found that it was extremely accurate in it’s suggestions! Personally, I was very happy to identify myself as a Claude Monet 🙂

 Nature or Abundance

As McDermott Interns, we have had the privilege of touring the collections with our wonderful curators. These tours have helped us learn more about the different collection areas, the history of collecting at the DMA, and the curator’s considerations when they are designing the layouts for the galleries. Nature or Abundance by Leon Frederic immediately caught my eye during our tour of the European Galleries on Level 2.

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On September 10th, we took our first off-site intern tour to the Sixth Floor Museum. The collection was very informative and engaging and helped to provide contextual information for Hotel Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy. As many of us are from out-of-state, it was interesting to learn about this piece of Dallas’ history and the continuing impact of President John F. Kennedy’s legacy today.

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One of our favorite lunch spots is the DMA’s Sculpture Garden. Its light shade, beautiful sculptures and soothing waterfalls provide the perfect break from the office.

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A few weeks in, my desk was finally beginning to look lived-in! It is now decorated with exhibition catalogues, postcards from my travels, an homage to my alma mater, plenty of coffee mugs, and a welcome poster from the FAST Education Team.

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Recently, we received a behind-the-scenes tour of the DMA’s enormous art storage. Registrar Anne Lenhart guided us through the various spaces and pulled out a few of our favorite pieces so we could take a closer look! Here we are viewing Arkadia’s Last Resort by Jess.

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Many of the interns have been very active in the DMA Friends program, earning credit for attending Gallery Talks, Lectures, Late Nights, and other events around the Museum. We recently traded-in our Friends points for DMA catalogues!

GVG

As the McDermott Intern for Gallery and Community teaching, I am responsible for driving the swanky Go Van Gogh van to participant elementary schools throughout Northwest Texas. The Go Van Gogh program brings the DMA collections out into the community and allows children to learn about and create their own art! See you on the road!

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The three photographs above document our off-site field trip to The Warehouse. This amazing gallery space houses a stunning collection of contemporary art, approximately 1/3 of which is co-owned by the DMA! The current exhibition is titled Parallel View: Italian and Japanese Art from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

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And this is what happens when interns receive baked treats. Thank you to all DMA employees for making us feel welcome!

Artworks Shown:

  • Léon Frédéric, Nature or Abundance (detail), 1897, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund
  • Jess, Arkadia’s Last Resort; or, Fête Champêtre Up Mnemosyne Creek (detail), 1976, Dallas Museum of Art, General Acquisitions Fund

Hayley Prihoda
McDermott Intern for Gallery and Community Teaching

Friday Photos: Getting In Touch

Published September 27, 2013 Friday Photos Closed
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With October just a few days away, the DMA is gearing up to participate in Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month. Art Beyond Sight raises public awareness of ways that individuals who are blind or visually impaired can take part in art-related activities.

One way that art can be explored beyond sight is through the sense of touch. Wandering the DMA’s galleries, it’s easy to find works of art that are full of interesting textures. Although we can’t actually touch the displayed works of art, it’s still fun to imagine how they might feel. Here are a few of my favorites:

pangolin

I imagine that this pangolin skin hat has an extremely scaly texture. Unlike the smoother scales of some animals, the pangolin’s skin seems to be much pricklier, almost like a pine cone!

soft

This Peruvian panel is covered in a thick mass of beautiful macaw feathers. I imagine that the lush feathers make this work of art extremely soft to the touch.

sharp

This Indonesian jaraik was once hung outside a house as a protective figure. Made from wood and metal, the lower portion of the jaraik is pointed at the ends, like a misshapen pitchfork. Because of this, I imagine that it would be sharp to the touch.

smooth

Brancusi’s sculpture, Beginning of the World, includes an egg-shaped form made from marble. I imagine that the marble figure has a smooth, sleek texture—much like the eggs that I purchase regularly at the grocery store!

What other works of art can you find that are smooth, sharp, soft or scaly? Can you think of any other textures that are found in works of art here at the DMA? Tell us what your favorite textured works of art are and be sure to visit us during the month of October to take part in one of our many Art Beyond Sight activities!

Artworks shown:

  • Pangolin skin hat, 20th century, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, Dallas Museum of Art, Lent by Michael and Shelly Dee
  • Panel with rectangles of blue and yellow featherwork, c. A.D. 650-850, Huari culture, Peru, Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund
  • Protective figure (jaraik) in the form of an animal, 1900, Taileleu village, Indonesia, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Fund, Inc.
  • Constantin Brancusi, Beginning of the World, 1920, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James H, Clark

Amy Elms
McDermott Education Intern for Visitor Engagement

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