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Totes Awesome! Art To Go Family Bags

Published February 4, 2014 Art & Teaching , Resources 4 Comments
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Around this time last year, I gave a sneak peek into an exciting new anytime activity that our Education team was testing. After much preparation, redesign, and enthusiasm over the past year, the DMA is now premiering the Art To Go Family Tote Bags for free and public use! Beginning this week, visitors can check out these special totes at the Visitor Services desk and enhance their Museum experience by engaging in a variety of creative activities.

Each Art To Go bag is centered around a particular theme, the first of which are Color and the Senses. The corresponding activities within each bag are general enough to be used with any work of art in the DMA galleries, so the possibilities are endless. The tote bag activities cater to diverse learning styles, encouraging visitors to design their own Museum experience by deciding whether they want to Write, Make, Talk, or Play.

With Art To Go bags, family members can use their imaginations to discover the different scents and aromas present in an Abstract Expressionist painting, or perhaps use their bodies to clap, stomp, snap, whistle and sing to create a soundscape for a Buddhist sculpture. Children can write a postcard to a family member describing their visit to the Museum using all of their senses, or use a viewfinder to focus in and sketch a single section of a French Impressionist painting. The great news is that activities and bag themes will change periodically, so families can create and enjoy new educational and artistic adventures each time they visit!
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Art To Go Family Tote Bags are designed to be creative catalysts, encouraging families to spend more time in the galleries both connecting with works of art and connecting with each other. We invite you to take one of our activity bags along on your next (or very first) visit to the DMA! Bags will be available for free check out at the Visitor Services desk during regular Museum hours. And DMA Friends who complete activities from both bags can earn the Tote-ally Family Badge!

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

Get Schooled at the DMA

Published October 1, 2013 Art & Teaching , Resources Closed
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Want to explore the DMA’s collection or special exhibitions before the Museum is open to the public all while earning CPE hours? Our Teacher Workshops give you an opportunity to do just that. Held on select Saturdays from 9:00 am—12:30 pm, K-12 teachers of all disciplines are invited to join us for conversations and interactive gallery experiences. We are hosting three workshops this fall, and the links below take you directly to registration information.

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Provocative Comparisons: A New Approach to Teaching with Artworks
Saturday, October 12

Discover new and unexpected connections across the Museum. Teachers will contemplate thought-provoking cross-cultural comparisons in the DMA’s encyclopedic collection. This workshop presents a new way to frame conversations about artworks, and teachers will gain access to resources and tools they can use in their classroom.

Jim Hodges, Untitled (Gate), 1991, copyright Jim Hodges

Jim Hodges, Untitled (Gate), 1991, © Jim Hodges

Jim Hodges: Give More Than You Take
Saturday, November 2

Contemporary artist Jim Hodges excels at poetic gestures of conceptual art using materials that range from the everyday to the precious. Teachers will have the unique opportunity to explore the ephemeral nature of Hodges’ work. We will also investigate themes of relationships, beauty, and transformation throughout Hodges’ career.

Edward Hopper, Study for Nighthawks, 1942, Whitney Museum of American Art, copyright Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital Image, copyright Whitney Museum of American Art, NY

Edward Hopper, Study for Nighthawks, 1942, Whitney Museum of American Art, © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital Image, © Whitney Museum of American Art, NY

Hopper Drawing: A Painter’s Process
Saturday, December 7

Discover the creative process of American artist Edward Hopper. Teachers will participate in gallery dialogues and hands-on art experiences as we explore drawings, watercolors, prints, and paintings from across Hopper’s career. We will also trace the evolution from sketch to finished painting.

Educators Block Party logo

The DMA is also participating in a brand new Educator Block Party, being held in the West End this Thursday, October 3rd, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Teachers of all disciplines are invited to stop by The Sixth Floor Museum, The Old Red Museum, the Dallas Holocaust Museum, and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science to learn more about the different cultural organizations in Dallas county. Each organization will have a booth where you can learn about field trips, outreach programs, and even more teacher workshops. Admission to enter the Educator Block party is FREE, but you must bring a school ID with you to be able to participate. We hope you’ll stop by and say hello!

Shannon Karol
Manager of Docent and Teacher Programs

Teacher Resources: Resourceful Recycling

Published September 24, 2013 Art & Teaching , Creativity , Resources Closed
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Many educators have the gift of recycling materials into wonderful creations. If they do not already possess this genius, they quickly learn how to be resourceful with what they have around them. In C3, we defy all resource limitations when creating workshops and programming. Check out how we up-cycle materials in some of our hottest programs. I hope it inspires you!

Late Night Creativity Challenge

Creativity Challenges occur once a month on Late Night at the DMA. In these challenges, teams compete against each other using random materials to create an original work of art inspired by the collection. I have never once purchased materials for this program—all the creations come from leftovers and odd materials I find around the C3 Art Studio and my own personal closet.

Visitors celebrate the summer by creating games inspired by the collection.

Visitors celebrate the summer by creating games inspired by the collection.

Materials used: cups, scraps of paper, and pom pom balls

The first Miss America pageant happened in the 1920's which was the focus of the DMA's special exhibition Youth and Beauty. Visitors had to walk the stage in their gowns and participate in a question and answer portion to become the next Miss DMA.

Visitors create gowns to become the next Miss DMA in conjunction with a special exhibition.

Materials used: toilet paper from the DMA Operations team, tape, cling wrap, and blue reflective paper

C3 Adult Workshops

The Open Studio, C3 Artistic Encounters, and Think Creatively allow adults to experience art in new ways.  These workshops are led by staff or local contemporary artists, who share the creative process and lead visitors through an art making experience.

Alternate identities

Alternate identities workshop.

Materials used: rail board and staples

Self-Portraits!

Guest artist Martin Delabano showed what can be created with scraps of wood.

Materials used: wood, hot glue, beads and pipe cleaners

Collage workshop with guest artist Margaret Meehan.

Collage workshop with guest artist Margaret Meehan.

Materials used: Magazines, card stock, and yarn

Urban Armor

Our teens join us for monthly Urban Armor workshops where we take a closer look at the Museum’s collection and then create original works of art using advanced techniques in the Tech Lab.

Conceptual Weaving project where materials were chosen to represent a certain thought. Our teen's word was playful.

Conceptual Weaving project where materials were chosen to represent a certain thought. This teen’s word was playful.

Materials used: cardboard, assorted collage materials, twine

Studio Creations

Visitors can discover a different activity each month by exploring how artists see the world through the our collection. After time looking at works of art in the gallery, visitors create their own art project in our studio every Saturday and Sunday.

What happens when you leave your artwork behind?

What happens when you leave your artwork behind?

You guessed it--Found Object Sculptures!

You guessed it–Found Object Sculptures!

Materials used: Old and abandoned art work, cardboard, and assorted collage materials

Life size recreation of our city!

Life size recreation of our city!

Materials used: boxes, paper, and tape

The Art Spot

Even if we are not having a program, you can still make original works of art in C3 at the Art Spot! We provide materials and tools everyday for visitors to drop by and create!

Visitors created family portraits inspired by a work of art in C3.

Visitors created family portraits inspired by a work of art in C3.

Materials used: Paper and tape

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Office supplies to inspire the creative process!

Materials used: File folder tabs and clear tape

Jim Hodges, Changing Things, 1997, Dallas Museum of Art, Mary Margaret Munson Wilcox Fund and gift of Catherine and Will Rose, Howard Rachofsky, Christopher Drew and Alexandra May, and Martin Posner and Robyn Menter-Posner

Doesn’t this last creation look inspired by the new Jim Hodges work on view? Drop by and see more amazing creations when the exhibition opens on October 6!

How do you reuse your materials? Remember: Before you purchase supplies, see if you can transform the materials you already have. We would love to see the work that you create with the objects all around you.

Amanda Batson
C3 Program Coordinator

Educator Resources: National Portfolio Day

Published September 17, 2013 Resources Closed
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Take a moment and think back to when you were in high school. Do you remember how it felt as you anticipated graduation? Were you excited to move out of your parents’ house and attend college in a new city or state? Did you imagine yourself embarking on a professional career or did you have an idea of what you wanted to do, but no clue how to get there?

Students interested in pursuing a degree and/or work in the visual arts can receive valuable feedback, information, and guidance on National Portfolio Day. During this event, representatives from national and international colleges review student artwork, give feedback, and provide information on their programs. Perhaps most importantly, students gain experience talking about their work and their creative process as well as asking for guidance and advice.

Teen visual artists collaborate on a mural design during the summer 2013 Urban Armor Mural Camp

Teen visual artists participate in a DMA workshop

Dallas National Portfolio Day falls on Sunday, October 6, and is hosted by the School of Visual Arts in New York City.  The event takes places at the Hilton Anatole from 12:00-4:00 p.m. It is free, open to the public, and does not require pre-registration. Teachers, friends, and relatives, please pass this information on to anyone you know who may benefit from this experience!

Melissa Gonzales
C3 Gallery Manager

Hotel Texas: Oral Histories

Published May 28, 2013 Resources , Technology Closed
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John F. Kennedy’s legacy is continuously remembered and honored nation-wide, especially this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of his tragic death. If you were alive in 1963, you may have personal memories of President Kennedy’s fateful trip to Texas, or perhaps memories of that time have been recounted to you by family or friends. As you stroll through the newly opened Hotel Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F.  Kennedy, consider using your smartphone or other web-enabled device to listen to eleven individuals recount vivid memories of JFK’s time in Fort Worth and Dallas.

To access these audio clips, visit www.dma.mobi and scroll to the section titled Hotel Texas: Oral Histories under Special Exhibitions.

photo of jfk stop

The tragic ending of that trip often overshadows the excitement and optimism that characterized the Metroplex as the area planned for this presidential visit, a rare occurrence at the time. Hear Kaye Buck McDermott, Jim Wright, or Ronnie Martin recall the preparations made for JFK’s visit to Fort Worth. Or listen to Michael Okon and Jarrold Cabluck remember the crowds waiting to catch a glimpse of the president and First Lady. Certainly, many memories of this trip were sad ones. In a powerful and moving interview, Diane Cody remembers turning twelve on November 22, 1963.

These audio clips are part of an ongoing audio-visual Oral History Project at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (TSFM). Through informal personal interviews, TSFM staff explore the history and culture of Dallas during the 1960s and preserve personal recollections about the life and death of President John F. Kennedy. Learn more about the project and listen to more personal recollections on The Sixth Floor Museum’s Oral History Project page.

smartphone logo

 

Look for this smartphone logo next to a three digit code on labels in the galleries to access more audio and video material about works of art in our collection at www.dma.mobi.

Andrea V. Severin
Interpretation Specialist

Friday Photos: Plumed Serpent Resources

Published August 31, 2012 Resources Closed
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Have you visited The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico yet? I think there is wonderful opportunity for interdisciplinary exploration with this exhibition. A variety of cultures are represented, all of which were connected by a shared pictorial language that crossed geographic, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries. To learn more, check out the DMA’s online teaching materials related to the exhibition on CONNECT.

We recently added the following works of art to our exhibition resources:

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On September 8, 2012  the DMA will host a half-day workshop, Cacao, Codices, and Cross-Cultural Connections in Ancient Mexico. Workshop participants will investigate the exhibition The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico and explore the artwork, narratives, and pictorial language that bridged the Toltec, Mixtec, Maya, and other disparate Mesoamerican cultures between A.D. 900 and 1521.

We would love to see you and your colleagues at this workshop or another one of our upcoming teacher workshops. You can register online or by contacting teacherprograms@DallasMuseumofArt.org

I hope everyone’s school year is off to a fabulous start!

Andrea V. Severin
Coordinator of Teaching Programs

Tour and Outreach Scheduling Begins Today

Published August 1, 2012 Art & Teaching , Resources Closed
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Teachers, grab your calendars: tour and Go van Gogh outreach scheduling for the 2012-2013 school year begins today.

As always, all outreach programs and tours booked in advance are free of charge.  Go van Gogh outreach is offered to grades 1-6 in the Dallas area.  Programs include conversations about artworks and an art-making activity, and are designed to dovetail with school curricula, per grade level.  Visit our web site to learn more about the Go van Gogh programs offered this year.

Self-guided or docent-led tours of the Museum’s collection and special exhibitions are available to K-12 students and higher education audiences.  Of special note this fall is our Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico docent-guided tour, which will feature outstanding works of Mesoamerican art.  Visit our web site for a full list of tours offered this year.

To submit on online request form, visit the tour and Go van Gogh sections of our web site.

We look forward to seeing you and your students this Fall!

Amy Copeland
Coordinator of Go van Gogh Outreach

Presenting…CONNECT! A New Teacher Resource

Published May 24, 2012 Art & Teaching , Resources 4 Comments
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Since 2009, DMA educators and area K-12 teachers have collaborated and developed CONNECT Teaching Materials, accessible at dmaconnect.org, the DMA’s new and improved online teaching materials. Funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, this new resource builds bridges between your students and cultures around the world through an exploration of works of art in the DMA’s collection and special exhibitions. The ultimate goal of these resources is facilitating a relevant, meaningful, and culturally literate understanding of those works for students and teachers.

CONNECT is designed to be accessible via a variety of learning styles. The ideas and information about each work of art are organized into various levels. Levels of access include First Glance material, which provides a brief but thorough introduction to the work of art. Extended Information is an in-depth exploration of an artwork’s content and information related to its visual, artistic, cultural, and historical contexts. Teaching Ideas are also included with each work, encouraging close looking, meaningful dialogue, and offering multidisciplinary ways to connect with a work of art, such as exercises in art making, writing, and research. Additionally, contextual images, audio and video clips featuring curators, artists, and other content experts, links to relevant websites, and a bibliography of reference books are offered for each work.

In short, CONNECT Teaching Materials provide teachers:

  • Accurate information about works of art in the Dallas Museum of Art’s collection and select temporary exhibitions.
  • Choices and levels of information for accessing and experiencing works of art.
  • Multiple perspectives on works of art through audio and video clips featuring curators, artists, and other content experts.
  • Teaching ideas that encourage close looking, dialogue among students, and personal connections with works of art.
  • Teaching ideas that emphasize multiple learning styles and connections across disciplines.
  • Support for teaching cultural literacy.
  • Extensions for learning through bibliography and website links.

Consider this neat interdisciplinary scenario: Ms. Lammers’ fifth-grade math classroom at Nathan Adams Elementary School in Dallas uses CONNECT to explore an Egungun costume made by the Yoruba people in Nigeria. They investigate the patterns and symmetry of the costume as a tool to refine their measurement skills and learn divisibility rules. Before delving into the math, however, the students explore the ritual context of the costume and consider rituals in their own families, and they begin to make meaning of this costume to the Yoruba.

We hope that you check out this new resource, and we would love to hear your thoughts about how you could connect with CONNECT in your classroom!

Andrea V. Severin
Coordinator of Teaching Programs

The Google Art Project: Art Accessible to All

Published May 15, 2012 Resources , works of art 2 Comments
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Most of us usually experience artworks from books, magazines, and by visiting our local museums and art galleries. There are countless artworks all over the world that most of us will not get an opportunity to see in person. Wouldn’t it be amazing if students in Dallas could take a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City? How about a trip to Florence, Italy to view The Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Gallery, or a trip to Hong Kong, China to visit the Hong Kong Heritage Museum?

Google has created a way to virtually visit these museums. Thanks to the Google Art Project, anyone with internet access can have a virtual tour of artworks, and gallery spaces in major art centers all over the world. Students in any part of the world can get online and experience artworks that they may otherwise not have access to.

Right now you may be thinking, “This sounds good, but what exactly is the Google Art Project, and how does it work?”  Here is a preview.

My first encounter with the Google Art Project took place about a year ago while taking a museum education class at the University of North Texas. My instructor Dr. Laura Evans approached a few of the students about the possibility of presenting on the Google Art Project at the 2011 Texas Art Education Association Conference in Galveston, TX. After doing some research on this project, Jessica Nelson, Nicole Newland, David Preusse, and I decided to work as a team under the leadership of Dr. Evans. Our presentation, Virtual Museum Field Trips: The Google Art Project was aimed at providing ways in which high school art teachers could incorporate the Google Art Project into their classrooms. Afterward, we received positive feedbacks from the teachers in attendance.

Currently, the Google Art Project features artworks and gallery spaces from selected collections worldwide. This project is relatively new and still developing.  Similar to the street view and navigation features in Google Maps, the Google Art Project provides an interior view and navigation of art galleries and museums. It is structured to emulate a viewer’s perspective within the space. You can easily navigate from one gallery space into the next, zoom in and out of artworks, and get more information on each artwork. Moreover, you can log in and create your own personal gallery collection of your favorite artworks.

The Google Art Project is easy to use, and its structure encourages countless possibilities for art education activities in K-12 art classrooms. Some suggestions for activities include:

  • Comparisons – compare and contrast artworks in the same space or in different galleries.
  • Art critique activities – describe, interpret, and critique works of art.
  • Personal collections  – curate customized art collections for classroom projects.
  • Imaginative narratives – write stories inspired by artworks in the same gallery space.
  • Original artworks – create artworks inspired by a gallery space or by selected artworks in different museums.

Below is a summary of one of the art activities I created and presented during the TAEA conference.

Activity: Compare and Contrast: ARTexting
Grade: High school

Objective: Using the notion of texting, students create an informed conversation between two artworks in a gallery space. This ARTexting activity encourages students to make decisions and insightful observations as well as develop personal connections and individual creativity.

Outline:

  • Choose two artworks in the same gallery space that are displayed facing each other.
  • Imagine what these artworks would say if they could send text messages to each other.
  • Which artwork will send the first text?  How will the second artwork respond?
  • What interesting facts will they learn about each other?
  • Students should research basic facts about their selected artworks and write a possible conversation that the artworks could have via texting.
  • The dialogue should be fun and also informative.

Example
Museum: Uffizi Gallery, Florence Italy

Artworks:

Sample text dialogue:

Portinari: Hello Goddess of Love, what’s up?
Venus: Nothing much, I am just emerging from the sea. It’s so cold out here. You look warm over there with all those bright outfits!
Portinari: Lol. We have baby Jesus here. Some shepherds stopped by to check him out.
Venus: Ohh how fun! But why is he on the floor?
Portinari: He is really humble – he was born in a manger
Venus: Oh I see. That must be his mom next to him. How cool!
Portinari: …
Venus: …

This activity was inspired by considering how the Google Art Project  could relate to high school students. The education link on the Google Art Project provides more ideas and examples of activities, suggestions, and videos from a variety of experts. Such resources can be useful to classroom teachers, students, museum educators, or anyone interested.

The zoom in feature is remarkable. Unlike being in a museum that has restrictions on how close you can get to artworks, the Google Art Project allows you to zoom in and experience every texture, form, or brushstroke of an artwork.

The Google Art Project is truly an innovative approach to making art available to the masses. It provides new ways to interact with artworks and exciting tools for art education. Moreover, it is free and available to anyone with internet access.  This means that a student in my home country of Cameroon can have access to artworks in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as well as artworks in the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City. This Google initiative is certainly at the core of arts advocacy, as it creates cross-cultural connections by making the arts more accessible across the globe.

The Google Art Project makes art accessible to everyone. So, do not wait any longer – visit www.googleartproject.com and let your exploration begin!

Mary Nangah
Community Teaching Assistant

Educator Resources: Teaching the Twenties

Published April 10, 2012 Resources 1 Comment
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During my reading about and google-ing of the “Jazz Age” for the Dallas Museum of Art’s current exhibition, Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties, I discovered some very thoughtful and useful resources for teachers that delve into this fascinating decade. Here are some of my favorites.

1. The University of Texas at Austin’s Harry Ransom Center: Teaching the American Twenties

This K-12 online resource explores connections between the art, literature, and culture of the 1920s (not unlike our recent teacher workshop). What I find most fantastic about this resource are the high-resolution images of primary source documents from the decade in the Ransom’s collection. Created in conjunction with The Harry Ransom Center’s exhibit The American Twenties in 2007, this resource includes contextual information organized in rich and unique themes, and an assortment of lesson plans that could be adapted to various classroom settings.

2.  History by Era: The Roaring Twenties (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization that provides programs and resources for students, teachers, and lovers of history. History by Era, their newly renovated resource, takes an in-depth look at American history through timelines, explanations of people/places/events, essays by a variety of scholars, primary source documents and artworks, teaching ideas, and multimedia. This site provides rich contextual information not only for The Roaring Twenties, but for the entire span of American history.

3. History.com: The Roaring Twenties

For some rich multimedia tools for teaching the twenties, check out this resource. It includes videos and photo galleries on topics such as Prohibition, Al Capone, the Harlem Renaissance, and women’s suffrage. The supplementary text is concise and easy-to-digest. This site is an efficient snapshot of the cultural scene of the American twenties.

If you haven’t already, visit Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties at the DMA, which takes the cake as my favorite resource!

Andrea V. Severin
Coordinator of Teaching Programs

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