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Connect: Teachers, Technology, and Art

Published November 10, 2009 Art & Teaching , Museum Insight , works of art 4 Comments
Tags: Africa, grant, IMLS, online teaching materials, South Asia, teachers, Technology

Our work on a new grant project, Connect: Teachers, Technology, and Art, has officially begun! Through the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and their Museums for America grant program, the DMA was awarded $150,000 in October 2009 to begin redesigning online teaching materials. Over the course of the next two years, we will work to create five new dynamic, web-based resource units that present the wealth of our collections in African and South Asian art. How will we do it? Thoughtfully, by connecting these three things:

Teachers: Results from a 2007 evaluation with 450 teachers, which focused on how teachers learn and teach with art, will inform the initial selection and organization of artwork images and information. Staff will also collaborate closely with twenty teachers, who will help design and test the new teaching resources in their classrooms. How do you currently use the Museum’s online teaching materials? We welcome your comments!

Technology: Digital images, video, and audio, similar to those on DMAtv, will enliven the resources by providing extended information about works of art and cultures. Imagine all of this packaged into custom units that are easy for teachers to access, search, and share with students.

Art: Works of art from Africa and South Asia will be the focus for the five new resource units. The units will reflect recent curatorial scholarship and upcoming catalogue publications for both collections. They will also highlight artworks recently added to the collection, such as the olumeye from Nigeria and the Buddha Sakyamuni from Thailand.

Kneeling female figure with bowl (olumeye)

Buddha Sakyamuni

Grant work to tackle over the next two months includes taking inventory of great images, information, video, and audio content related to the African and South Asian artworks, as well as selecting ten teachers to begin collaborating with staff. If you would like to hear more about the grant, please feel free to email us. Also look for future progress reports on the Connect project here on the blog or delivered via the Educator Newsletter.

Nicole Stutzman
Director of Learning Partnerships with Schools and the Community
nstutzman@DallasMuseumofArt.org

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Learning Partnerships with Schools
jmarvel@DallasMuseumofArt.org

Artist Spotlight: Yinka Shonibare MBE

Published November 5, 2009 Museum Insight , works of art Closed
Tags: exhibition, performance, Shonibare

One of the Dallas Museum of Art’s most recent and exciting exhibitions, Performance/Art, centers around contemporary works of art. Along with paintings and installations, the exhibition includes two films, one by Eija-Liisa Ahtila and the other by Yinka Shonibare. Shonibare’s film, Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), is based on an opera by the same name by Giuseppe Verdi and is a visual spectacle that will attract and intrigue visitors.

Un ballo in maschera, Yinka Shonibare MBE

While the story underlying Shonibare’s film is interesting (the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden), so too is the real life of the artist. Shonibare was born in London in 1962 but raised in Nigeria. This duality of experience and identity is explored in much of his work, which extends beyond film and includes sculpture, painting, photography, and installation. As apparent in the brilliant costumes in Un ballo in maschera, Shonibare frequently works with dyed fabrics which complicate issues of history, colonialism, and our global economy.

Shonibare’s art delves into complex ideas, often layered with multiple points of view, and he emphasizes the aesthetic experience in the process. Some works, such as Lady on Unicycle and Hopscotch, both large-scale installations, include mannequins dressed in Dutch wax-printed cotton. Others, like Dorian Gray, are two-dimensional and include less flamboyant imagery, in this case neutral-colored prints.

Since being awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2005, Shonibare has taken the honorary title as part of everyday usage of his name. This small action hints at what much of his artwork overtly discusses, specifically the ambiguous and contradictory relationship he has with his nationality and identity. More information about Yinka Shonibare and his artwork can be found online at Art:21.

If you would like to experience Un ballo in maschera as well the other works in Performance/Art and All the World’s a Stage, come to our Teacher Workshop this Saturday, November 7, where we will be going through the exhibitions and talking about performance. To sign up, e-mail teacherprograms@DallasMuseumofArt.org or select the Teacher Programs link on our ticketing Web site to register online.

Logan Acton
McDermott Teaching Programs Intern

The Fourth Graders are Coming!

Published October 29, 2009 Art & Teaching , Museum Insight 5 Comments
Tags: A Looking Journey, Art, Dallas ISD, tours

Three years ago, we embarked on a partnership with the Dallas Independent School District and Dallas ArtsPartners to provide every 4^th grader in the district with a docent-guided visit to the Dallas Museum of Art. Over the past two years, we have welcomed over 22,000 DISD 4^th graders to the DMA for “A Looking Journey” tours. This week marks the start of these visits for the 2009-2010 school year.

I had the chance to tour with a group of fifteen 4^th graders from John Reagan Elementary on Tuesday. They were bright, observant, and enthusiastic—and I think every person in my group participated in our dialogue in the galleries. I always set up the idea of taking a journey at the beginning of my tour, and these students really got into it. As we moved from one work of art to the next, they imagined we were on an airplane flying from New York to Africa and Egypt and then on to Europe. At one point, I even heard train noises coming from behind me!

4th Grade Students in the Galleries

I have been looking forward to the start of these visits since July (when I first scheduled these tours), and I was downstairs on Tuesday when the first DISD students arrived at the Museum. It was such fun to hear their wonder and amazement as they walked through the doors and saw our Barrel Vault for the first time. Some of my favorite gallery experiences have happened with DISD 4^th graders, and I can’t wait to see what adventures the next year holds.

Shannon Karol
Tour Coordinator

Lights, Camera, Action!

Published October 28, 2009 Art & Teaching , Community Connection , Creativity , Museum Insight , People 4 Comments
Tags: All the World's a Stage, exhibition, Go van Gogh, performance, program, school outreach, teacher, works of art

Dancers of Tlaxcala (Danzantes de Tlaxcala), Carlos Mérida, 1951

It’s an exciting time in the Arts District with the grand opening of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. In honor of our new neighbor, we’ve developed a new Go van Gogh school outreach program called Creative Connections: Lights, Camera, Action! that focuses on three diverse works of art in the Museum collection and invites students to respond creatively through movement and drama. Creative Connections programs are 90-minutes long, during which students participate in what we call “experiments” that involve collaborating with others, applying multiple approaches to solving problems, and producing a creative expression. These programs can be messy, loud, and challenging – and they are definitely a lot of fun.

If you’re a 3-6th grade teacher and don’t mind a little bit of noise in the classroom, I hope you’ll consider this program for your students. I promise you’ll be amazed and impressed by the creativity, thought, and enthusiasm they put into their performances. Requesting a program is easy with our online form.

With a background in art history and a bit of studio art, the task of writing a program about performance intimidated me. However, I have the great fortune of working with talented people, and I interviewed some of them during my initial research. I spoke with Lanita Sene, who I know through our partnership with the South Dallas Cultural Center. Lanita leads African dance and culture classes during Summer Arts at the Center. I also spoke with Blanca Reyna and Calvin Rollins, who I met through our partnership with the Ice House Cultural Center summer camp. Blanca specializes in Aztec culture, and Calvin is a dance student at Southern Methodist University (he also attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts). Last, I spoke with my colleague Amy Copeland who studied dance at Booker T. Washington and other studios in the Dallas area.

This talented group provided many helpful ideas, like warm-up exercises that capture the students’ attention and focus. Another great suggestion was empowering students by giving them specialized roles in their performances and encouraging them to lead peer critiques.

I tested the program with 4th graders and 6th graders who created dances, music, masks, and skits inspired by artworks in our exhibition All the World’s a Stage: Performance in the Visual Arts. The shyest students contributed by helping to plan, write, and direct the performances. The boldest students reveled in the opportunity to show off in front of their peers. Afterward, one teacher remarked that it was fun seeing her students in a new light, and the other felt it was a great program for bilingual students.

This past Friday, I trained our volunteers and gave them the same challenges students experience during the program. I watched as they worked together in groups, sometimes giggling, at times with their brows furrowed. They all agreed that they can’t wait to bring the program to Dallas classrooms.

It’s showtime!

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Learning Partnerships with the Community

Welcome New McDermott Interns!

Published September 11, 2009 Museum Insight , People Closed
Tags: University of Texas at Dallas

DSC00948 ii

Introducing…Logan Acton and Justin Greenlee! Logan and Justin joined the K-12 Education team one week ago today as the 2009-2010 McDermott Interns. Did you know the DMA annually offers eight curatorial and education internships? The Eugene McDermott Education Fund makes these highly competitive positions possible. McDermott Interns work full-time at the Museum for nine months helping to shape our exhibitions and programs, as well as share them with our visitors. We couldn’t survive without them!

Logan Acton (on the left) is the Graduate McDermott Intern for Teaching Programs. He is completing an MA in Aesthetic Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas and holds a BA in Art & Performance from UT Dallas as well. Logan has been a familiar face around the DMA as he participated in several semesters of a collaborative honors seminar held at the Museum and taught by DMA staff and UT Dallas faculty.

Justin Greenlee (on the right) is the McDermott Intern for Learning Partnerships with Schools and the Community. He graduated from Kenyon College with a BA in Art History and English. New to Texas, Justin spent a semester abroad at the Institute at the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence studying art history, and he has extensive experience as a tennis instructor at camps throughout the country.

As I mentioned above, Logan and Justin have only been roaming the Museum for one week. I put them on the spot somewhat when I asked them which collection areas they most looked forward to spending more time exploring. Justin said the Asian art is his pick. This will match well with a cluster of Asian Studies courses he took in college! Logan first said everything, then narrowed it down to the African galleries. He’s an artist who loves to sketch and the African works offer opportunities for line work and seeing space in new ways. Once they settle in a bit more, the interns will join the blog as regular voices sharing their experiences throughout the next nine months. Welcome Logan and Justin!

Nicole Stutzman

Director of Learning Partnerships with Schools and the Community

A Sneak Peek Behind the Curtain

Published September 10, 2009 Museum Insight , works of art 1 Comment
Tags: All the World's a Stage, Art, Bearden, Egungun, exhibition, performance, Shiva

Last week, our new special exhibition was unveiled to the public. All the World’s a Stage brings together works of art in our collection that deal with the idea of performance. Performance is a key theme at the DMA this year, as we get ready to welcome a new neighbor to the Arts District: the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.

All the World’s a Stage is an exciting exhibition because it brings so many of our favorite works of art together in one place. You usually never see Shiva Nataraja and Romare Bearden’s Soul Three side-by-side, but they’re only one gallery apart from now until February.

Yoruba Egungun costume

I’m especially excited that our Yoruba Egungun costume from Nigeria is back on display. This is one of my favorite works of art in our collection. Its multiple layers of cloth were added year after year by family members, and it is fun to imagine who added them and why. This costume is used during a ceremony to honor ancestors—quite different from how we honor our ancestors. The Egungun ceremony includes singing and drumming, and the Egungun twirls through the crowd like a whirlwind. It’s definitely a spectacle for the senses, and one I hope to see in person some day!

We’re offering a variety of programs for teachers and students relating to the theme of performance this year, including docent-guided tours of the exhibition. I hope you’ll attend one of these programs so we can share the excitement of this exhibition with your students.

Shannon Karol Tour Coordinator

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Archive for the 'Museum Insight' Category

Connect: Teachers, Technology, and Art

Artist Spotlight: Yinka Shonibare MBE

The Fourth Graders are Coming!

Lights, Camera, Action!

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A Sneak Peek Behind the Curtain

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