Archive Page 140

Off the Wall: Garbage Disposal

In our Center for Creative Connections we ask visitors to reflect on their responses to the spaces they encounter in art, as well as those they encounter in their everyday life.

For one work of art specifically, Lee Bontecou’s Untitled, we ask visitors to respond to one of three prompts:

    • To me, sharing space with this work of art feels like…
    • The words or pictures that come to mind when I look at this work of art are…
    • If this work of art was part of something larger, describe what it would be.

Untitled (35), Lee Bontecou, 1961

We have gotten a lot of great responses from visitors and want to share a few with you. Once a month we will have an “Off the Wall” post featuring three responses left by visitors.

Next time you are in the Center for Creative Connections add your contribution to the wall and maybe you will see it on Uncrated!

Docent Spotlight: They're Cousins…

It has been a while since we have featured an interview with one of our docents on the Educator Blog.  Today, I’m turning the spotlight on not one, but three of our fabulous docents.  Why three docents?  Because they’re cousins (I have the Patty Duke Show theme song running through my head as I write this) who have turned the DMA docent program into a family affair.

Meet Genie Bentley, Linda Rayes, and Harriet Stoneham.  Genie and Linda have been docents for many years, but Harriet is a member of our New Docent class this year.  Below, they share their thoughts and memories of being a DMA docent.

Genie Bentley, Harriet Stoneham, and Linda Rayes--DMA Docents and Cousins

How long have you been a DMA docent?
Genie: I have been a docent since Fall 1988 (We trained for two years at that point).
Linda: I have been leading school tours for seventeen years.
Harriet: I am a docent-in-training.

Why did you become a docent?
Genie: My sons were leaving the nest and I wanted to do something that was really hard–I found it!
Linda: A friend and former docent suggested that I might enjoy the program.
Harriet: I have wanted to become a docent for a very long time and finally gave myself permission to apply.

Tell me about your experience in the docent program.
Genie: It is my favorite activity with my favorite people–the best part of my life.
Linda: Most of my tours have been some of the most fun and rewarding hours of my life.  Interacting with young students often challenges me to come up with analogies from pop culture to help them relate to unfamiliar objects.  I love hearing about the children’s lives, their families, and even their pets!  Young viewers are always more uninhibited, and therefore, more fun to interact with.
Harriet: I have thoroughly enjoyed every training session thus far.  The lectures are wonderful and getting to meet so many people that share my interest in art has been very satisfying.

What is your favorite work of art in the DMA collection?
Genie: My favorite work of art is the one that I am talking about on a tour.  I could not limit myself to one piece–I have learned to LOVE so many cultures and styles.
Linda: It’s a toss up between the Lokapalas and the Vlaminck in the Reves collection.
Harriet: I love learning about all the art that I have been exposed to thus far.

Share your best tour experience.
Genie: The best tours are ones that kids exclaim “Is it already over? I thought this would be boring, but it was fun.”
Linda: That would be the next tour!
Harriet: I have loved observing both Genie’s and Linda’s tours.  I am so impressed with the number of docents who have been involved with the program for many, many years. [Author’s note: Harriet has not yet given a tour, but has observed many A Looking Journey tours as part of her training.]

Docents Genie Bentley (in white) and Linda Rayes (holding a doll) even went to school together when they were younger

Genie, Linda, and Harriet have all said that being a part of the docent program is one of their favorite activities, and reading their responses affirms their passion for art and their commitment to the DMA and our docent program.*  I feel very fortunate that I know these three docents, and hopefully you have had the pleasure of spending time with them in the galleries.

Shannon Karol
Manager of Docent Programs and Gallery Teaching

*If you have a passion for art and would like to learn more about volunteering at the DMA, visit our Web site.

The day we shot J.R., and the rest of the Ewing clan

There has been a lot of attention in Dallas on the filming of the television remake of Dallas, and the DMA is joining in on the fun. Sue Ellen Ewing, or as some of you may know her, Linda Gray, has visited The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier three times already (be sure to see the exhibition before it closes on February 12). It sparked our memory of a previous visit the Dallas cast made to the Museum when they visited our Wendy and Emery Reves Collection in 1986. Below are a few images we pulled from the archives.

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Kimberly Daniell is the Public Relations Specialist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Friday Photos: Like a Virgin

Tonight is the DMA’s monthly Late Night, and the Museum is going to be full of fashion and fun until midnight.  It is our annual “Birthday Party” Late Night, but it’s also a celebration of the The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.  What better way to celebrate Gaultier than by spotlighting the divas who inspire him?  Late Night will feature a performance by Chris America, a Madonna tribute artist, as well as a Lady Gaga and Madonna costume contest.  Be sure to look for next Friday’s Photo Post for Hannah’s photos of the costume contest!

Today’s photo post features paintings of the Virgin Mary (another Madonna) that can be found in our Colonial American galleries.  If you want to see these works of art in person, join Dr. Paul Niell from the University of North Texas on his tour “Madonnas of the Collection” at 7:30 p.m.  A complete schedule of Late Night events can be found online.

Shannon Karol
Manager of Docent Programs and Gallery Teaching

Artworks shown:

  • Melchor Pérez Holguín, Virgin of the Rosary, late 17th-early 18th century, Dallas Museum of Art, The Cleofas and Celia de la Garza Collection, gift of Mary de la Garza-Hanna and Virginia de la Garza and an anonymous donor
  • Unknown artist, The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, late 18th or early 19th century, Dallas Museum of Art, The Cleofas and Celia de la Garza Collection, gift of Mary de la Garza-Hanna and Virginia de la Garza and an anonymous donor
  • Unknown artist, The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, late 18th century, Dallas Museum of Art, The Cleofas and Celia de la Garza Collection, gift of Mary de la Garza-Hanna and Virginia de la Garza and an anonymous donor
  • Unknown artist, The Virgin of Sorrows (La Dolorosa), c. 1650-1750, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mrs. Beatrice M. Haggerty

“Like a Virgin”: Countdown to Gaultier’s First Exhibition

Last week several of my colleagues and I began meeting about the logistics of deinstalling the exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk once it closes on February 12. Gaultier is the world-renowned French couturier, whose fashion has been worn by everyone from Madonna to Lady Gaga. We found it difficult to believe that we were already making plans to take down a show in which we had invested so much time and effort installing. I was enormously privileged to be given the opportunity to help coordinate this installation as its exhibition registrar and to witness firsthand how so many of my colleagues transformed themselves daily into magicians in order to see this complicated project come to fruition in a tight timeframe. Permit me this walk down memory lane as I highlight stops, junctions, and detours on our way to what was the first of many openings, the VIP Host Committee Luncheon at 11:00 a.m. on November 9, 2011.

July 14–19 (3 months and 3 ½ weeks until opening)

This exhibition was the first fashion installation most of us had ever worked on, and its many technical requirements added extra complexities. A trip to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ installation was vital for me and several of my colleagues. We take hundreds of pictures, ask pages of questions, and document mannequin mounting, lighting, and mechanical specifications.

October 17 (3 weeks and 2 days until opening)

Two 18-wheelers deliver the majority of the exhibition, with mannequins, mounts, and furniture in a regular truck, and costumes and works on paper in a climate-controlled one.

October 18 (3 weeks and 1 day until opening)

As soon as possible, we locate and unpack the Galleon headband so its dimensions can be verified for our preparators, who will make a mount for it, and our carpenters, who will build the proper-size “porthole” display case.

Preparators John Lendvay and Mary Nicolett assemble mannequins and take height measurements so they will know where to place them on the platforms in relation to the projectors, which will eventually bring their faces to life.

October 20 (3 weeks until opening)

Once the Odyssey gallery mannequins have been placed, the preparators hang the projectors a precise eighty-eight inches away from their noses so that the faces will align properly and not look like Picasso paintings.

LED strips are affixed inside the Urban Jungle gallery platforms before their frosted Plexiglas tops are installed.

October 21 (2 weeks, 6 days until opening)

Naked assembled mannequins await dressing in what was deemed the “morgue” but later transformed into the Exhibition Store.

October 24 (2 weeks and 2 days until opening)

Several tightly fitted leggings and stockings were packed directly on their legs to save wear and tear from dressing and undressing them at each venue.  Thankfully, the mannequin body parts were labeled so we could easily match them to the proper legless torsos.

October 28 (1 week and 5 days until opening)

Tanel Bedrossiantz from Gaultier’s Paris atelier and local mannequin dresser Greg Goolsby join us on our first day of costume installation.

October 29 (1 week and 4 days until opening)

By the end of our second day, sixty mannequins throughout the exhibition have been dressed, including the catwalk models and their surrounding “punks.” We made it a priority to focus first on those with projections to allow as much time as possible for alignment and editing.

As hectic as the installation is, we find time to appreciate the humor – here Montreal’s organizing curator (and former model) Thierry Loriot demonstrates how to properly wear a Mohawk before attaching it to a mannequin head with double-stick tape.

Preparators and carpenter Dennis Bishop install the screen scrim and fine-tune the chain mechanism of the catwalk.

October 31 (1 week, 2 days until opening)

The porthole into the Urban Jungle gallery is finished, allowing visitors a sneak peek into the installation, and at the DMA’s Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design Kevin Tucker, who is working with preparator Mike Hill on mannequin placement.

Mannequins patiently await their turn to be mounted on their catwalk platforms.

Tanel detaches a mannequin’s hands in order to install its many bracelets.

The “Hussar coat”-look silk faille skirt is unpacked. This piece has its own crate and is packed suspended over a cone support.

November 1 (1 week and 1 day until opening)

Gaultier atelier staff member Thoaï Nirodeth laces up the Chantilly lace body stocking. The Skin Deep gallery is the last to be dressed and installed because the back wall was built over a doorway we needed in order to move the large mannequin cases in and out of the space.

November 3 (6 days until opening)

We discover that a new mannequin has been sent for Madonna’s dancer’s costume in the Skin Deep gallery, and this one does not want to support himself (or Madonna) on all fours. After consultation with our conservator John Dennis and the Gaultier atelier, we build a mount to support him at the collar bone (surreptitously hidden by his black scarf).

A shipment of new outfits arrives from Paris, including the cowboy and cowgirl looks at the entry of the exhibition (created specifically for the Dallas installation), the 3-D “horn of plenty satin ribbon corset-style gown (which was just on the runway over the summer), and the costume from the film Kika. Upon unpacking the helmet, we notice the absence of a key accessory—an early model video camera. We locate similar ones on Ebay, but are fortunately able to obtain one overnight from a friend of a coworker who (thankfully) never throws anything away.

November 6 (3 days before opening)

The final shipment arrives from Montreal, including mannequins for the new outfits just arrived from Paris and clothing items with animal-related components that had been delayed due to customs problems.

Although it is standard practice to allow artwork twenty-four hours to acclimatize after arrival, time is of the essence and we unpack the final shipment immediately, which includes the doll with the ostrich-feather dress in the Boudoir gallery. In order to import items made from endangered animals or migratory birds, it is necessary to apply for government permits, which can take months to process.

Preparator Doug Velek installs the final two works on paper amid hair clippings in the exit gallery—the space that had been used as the “salon” of wig stylist Hugo Raiah.

November 7 (2 days before opening)

Preparator Lance Lander was instrumental in “lassoing” the numerous and complicated AV components in the exhibition, and also came to the rescue by lending the final accessories to complete the cowboy and cowgirl “looks.” (The lasso and Black Stetson were requested by the atelier at the last minute.)

Carpenter Dennis Bishop puts the finishing touches on the projector covers in the Odyssey gallery.

November 7, 8:30 p.m. (1 day and 9 ½ hours until opening)

Jean Paul Gaultier comes straight from the airport for his first walk-through of our installation. Several of us were on hand to welcome him and are privileged to watch the design genius at work as he adjusts the drapery of fabric and modifies accessories. To add more of his characteristic je ne sais quoi to the Chalk-striped mink pantsuit, he borrows a gold lamé turban from one of the female punks (now stylishly bald) and adds the Plastic bolero with gold thread embroidery.

November 8, 6:00 p.m. (17 hours before opening)

Registrars, preparators, and even our chair of collections and exhibitions scramble to clean, arrange, and affix the mirrored tiles to the platforms in the Metropolis gallery.

November 9, 10:00 a.m. (1 hour until opening)

After final consultation with Jean Paul Gaultier, his atelier staff hang the train of the Satin cage-look corset dress on the wall according to his specific direction.

Reagan Duplisea is the Assistant Registrar for Exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art.

2012 Spring Teacher Workshops

We are officially in the middle of January, and that means that it is time to announce our Spring Teacher Workshops for 2012!

The Fashion World Of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk at the Dallas Museum of Art

If you have ever wondered how exhibitions are created, then you absolutely must attend our first workshop on February 11th, Designing Exhibitions. Learn about the creativity, challenges, and design of exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art with the DMA’s exhibition designer, Jessica Harden. Explore The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier from the Designer’s perspective, participate in art-inspired, design-based thinking projects, and be prepared to look at museum exhibitions in a brand new light.

As you may know, we love the idea of combining art and poetry, so we are excited to promote The Art of Language: Mark Manders and Elliott Hundley as an Adult Workshop that is open to teachers as well as the general public. This evening workshop will take place at the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center on March 8th. Come and explore connections between language and visual art in this workshop, as we examine the work of contemporary artists Mark Manders and Elliott Hundley. Led by Farid Matuk, poet, and Dr. Cynthia King, an English professor at UNT, as well as staff from the DMA and the Nasher, participants will discover each artist’s unique relationship to language and then respond to the exhibitions through writing.

Still Life with Books, Table and Fake Newspaper, Mark Manders, 2010, Collection David Teiger

The Amazon, Joseph Stella, 1925-1926 The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchase with exchange funds from the Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection

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Later this spring, on March 31st, The Twenties: American Art, Literature, and History will coincide with the exhibition Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties. Participants will view the varied works in this exhibition and study key American artworks in the DMA’s collection as they explore ideas about art, literature and popular culture in 1920s American life.

We hope to see you at the DMA in 2012!

Jessica Kennedy
McDermott Intern for Gallery Teaching

Educator Resources: The JASON Project

In this Educator Resource series, I would like to introduce The JASON Project.  My first experience with JASON was three years ago, when I was the education intern for the Ulrich Museum of Art in Wichita, Kansas.  We had a week-long marathon of Argonauts come through the Museum (the name derives from the ancient Greek myth Jason and the Argonauts).  Ever since then, I have been focused on adding science components to my docent-guided tours.
What is The JASON Project?
The JASON Project is a science initiative founded by Dr. Robert Ballard, a renowned oceanographer, and is led by a team of scientists to provide students with hands-on, science-based experiences.  The standards-based curricula are divided into five different units, and are designed for grades 4th-10th.  Since the beginning of the project, over twelve million students and teachers have used JASON’s printable curriculum, including myself.  The best part about The JASON Project is that it’s completely free for educators.
How does The Jason Project apply to art teachers and the Museum?
The relationship between art and science dates back to antiquity and has provided our society with many great disciplines including architecture, engineering, communication design, and the visual arts.  Today, discovering art with a scientific lens can be easy, with the right tools, of course.  One of the best tools to connect art with science is The Jason Project.

One of my favorite units of The JASON Project is Operation: Tectonic Fury.  This geology-based unit provides an in-depth look into what makes Earth’s landscape unique: minerals and rocks.  The rock cycle can apply to many of the works of art in our Museum.

The properties of sedimentary rocks

For example, let’s look at Vishnu as Varaha.  This object is not only incredible for the heroic story that it illustrates, but also for the natural properties it possesses.  Vishnu as Varaha is made from sandstone, a sedimentary rock, which is formed when sand becomes compacted and lithified, a process where loose sediment becomes solid.

Vishnu as Varaha, India, 10th Century, gift of David T. Owsley via the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation and the Alconda-Owsley Foundation, E.E. Fogelson and Greer Garson Fogelson Fund, General Acquisitions Fund, Wendover Fund, and gift of Alta Brenner in memory of her daughter Andrea Bernice Brenner-McMullen

Another unit that I reference while teaching in the galleries is Operation: Monster Storms.  This unit discusses the dynamic weather patterns and how those patterns can effect society.  Two divisions of this unit that are applicable to some objects in the Museum are wind and rain.  The water cycle is a great diagram that describes the evaporation and precipation process.

The water cycle

The discussion of rain can be applied to many different works of our in our collection, but my favorite one to use is A Mountain Landscape with an Approaching Storm.  This composition gracefully depicts a treachous storm approaching from the distance, spouting out rain and forceful wind.

A Mountain Landscape with an Approaching Storm, Joseph-Claude Vernet, 1775, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O'Hara Fund

The JASON Project can be an invaluable resource when connecting science with art.  The organization provides us with teachable material, and a curriculum that we can continue to connect science with our own passion for the arts.  I hope these small examples provide inspiration for future collaborations with science and art!
Sincerely,
Coordinator of Museum Visits

Friday Photos: Tatum Elementary and Mark Bradford

This past Wednesday, I visited fourth- and fifth-grade students in Tatum Elementary’s Afterschool Program.  We spent time thinking about our neighborhoods and making collages using assorted papers, twine, and glue.  We finished by looking at works of art by Mark Bradford and talking about the large-scale paintings that he created using similar materials, which often relate to his neighborhood in Los Angeles.

But, the program did not end there.  Last night, Tatum Elementary Afterschool students of all ages came to the Museum with their parents to see the Mark Bradford exhibition.  They also spent time adding to the collages they began the previous day, or making new collages.  Children and parents created their own work, or in many instances, collaborated on collages.  Check out their great work below:

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community

Coming Soon: Mark Manders

A new exhibition opens at the DMA this Sunday, and it’s one I’m looking forward to seeing in person.  Mark Manders: Parallel Occurrences/Documented Assignments presents eighteen sculptures by the Dutch artist.    Manders is a poet-turned-artist, and his sculptures combine everyday objects (such as teabags and pencils) with items that he creates himself.  At first glance, you might assume that his sculptures are made with found objects.  In actuality, the busts, tables, and newspapers are objects that Manders constructs.  You can see a behind-the-scenes look at the installation of the exhibition on the DMA’s Uncrated blog.

Mark Manders, Anthropological Trophy, 2010. Courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Although the subject matter of the exhibition includes physical sculptures, there are also elements of archaeology, architecture, and literature that can be explored in Manders’s works.  One way that we are exploring these different themes is through a Thursday evening program called In Residence.  Every Thursday evening through the run of the exhibition (January 15-April 15, 2012), DMA staff members will be available in the exhibition to converse with visitors about Manders’s thought-provoking work and process.  On three of these Thursdays, a Perspectives series will be offered.  Perspectives will pair a DMA staff member in conversation with scholars from various fields to explore the different perspectives they can shed on the art of Mark Manders.  The Perspectives line-up includes:

  • February 9: Gregory Warden, archaeologist
  • March 22: Farid Matuk, poet
  • April 12: Mark Gunderson, architect

Mark Manders, Ramble-room Chair, 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Teachers are encouraged to participate in the In Residence and Perspectives conversations to learn more about Mark Manders.  Remember: teachers receive free admission to the Museum on Thursday evenings when they show their school ID.  I also encourage you to visit Mark Manders’s Web site to explore his works of art and to read about them in his own words.

Mark Manders, Still Life with Books, Table and Fake Newspaper, 2010. Courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

I also want to make you aware of the fact that Mark Manders: Parallel Occurrences/Documented Assignments will be the only contemporary art on view at the Museum this spring.  Any teachers who request a “Contemporary Art” tour from January through April will be scheduled for a tour of this exhibition.  Please keep this in mind when scheduling your visits to the Museum.  I hope you and your students enjoy exploring and discussing the sculptures of Mark Manders!

Shannon Karol
Manager of Docent Programs and Gallery Teaching

Live from the Director’s Office

Maxwell L. Anderson, The Eugene McDermott Director, Dallas Museum of Art

I’m on Day Three at the DMA and feeling very much at home. Directors are always at home, because the job follows us there. In the case of the Dallas Museum of Art, it’s great fun to get to know so many new people in such a short time, and to absorb the rhythms of a venerable institution that is forever in the moment.

Unpacking a few hundred books and displaying a few souvenirs and personal photographs has already made my new office feel familiar—as does knowing that dear friends have worked in this office for many years before I showed up. The choices of how time is spent in the first few weeks are clear up to a point—lots of events and opportunities to connect with everyone from staff to visitors to donors and trustees to others throughout the Metroplex. The script not written is how to blend my experiences with the needs of the DMA, which will be a fresh and exciting challenge. My inner circle of staff is already learning about my foibles and tone, which I try to keep informal, fast-paced, laced with humor, and open to experiments that fail.

While I will return to this space from time to time, it’s probably easier to find me on Twitter (@MaxAndersonUSA), which demands haiku-like precision but slightly less time. Excited to see what happens on Day Four!

Maxwell Anderson is The Eugene McDermott Director at the Dallas Museum of Art.


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