Official behind-the-scenes blog of the Dallas Museum of Art
Rarely on view, Henri Matisse’s Ivy in Flower—a full-scale maquette for a stained glass window made late in the artist’s career—will be installed for six months in the Concourse. Here are some photos from the large cutout’s installation.
Henri Matisse, Ivy in Flower, 1953, colored paper, watercolor, pencil, and brown paper tape on paper mounted on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation
Finally, school is out for summer. Now you can relax and sleep in, work on that special house project, take a trip, or read that book you just didn’t have time for during the school year. For a little intellectual stimulation, we invite you to add another item to your list. Listen to DMA program recordings, a new resource on our Web site that holds an abundance of audio recordings and transcripts from artist talks, lectures, and special programs. Topics range from the work of artist Renee Stout to the art of the Silk Road to the connection between Coco Chanel and the DMA’s famous Wendy and Emery Reves Collection. Speakers featured in these recordings include visiting scholars, artists, and DMA curators.
To access the recordings, visit the DMA Web site and select “Research” on the top menu. Then select “Program Recordings” from the menu on the left side.
We also invite you to spend some quality time with works of art this summer and fulfill your professional development opportunities by attending a Dallas Museum of Art teacher workshop!
Nicole Stutzman
Director of Teaching Programs and Partnerships
Below are photographs taken during the three-week installation of Silence and Time, which is on view through August 28.
After nine years of teaching with and writing about works of art at the Dallas Museum of Art, this is my last blog post as Manager of Programs and Resources for Teachers. I am beginning the next chapter of my life and am moving eastward to continue my career within the museum field. While at the DMA, I have grown and matured as an individual and as an educator, developing a stronger sense of self and a more refined teaching philosophy. I have been able to follow my true passion of making interdisciplinary and thematic connections between works of art and cultures using the Museum’s encyclopedic collection and through special exhibitions.
As for my friends and colleagues at the Museum, I have been very fortunate to work with individuals who are extraordinarily passionate about teaching with works of art and care deeply about the Museum and its collection. This is inspiring on many levels and allows for a creative environment to work in.
And finally, a heartfelt “thank you” to all of the educators I have worked with during teacher workshops, in-services, and partnership programs. I appreciate the work you do as you support the in-depth learning that is possible with works of art from all places and all times.
As a parting thought, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.” I encourage you all to live the life you imagined.
Until next time….
Jenny Marvel
Manager of Programs and Resources for Teachers
P.S. I can’t help lovin’ that emaciated cow of mine!
Images:
Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861, Oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt, 1979.28
Alexandre Hogue, Drouth Stricken Area, 1934, Oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase, 1945.6
Richard Long, Tennessee Stone Ring, 1984, Stone, Dallas Museum of Art, General Acquisitions Fund with a matching grant from The 500, Inc., 1985.120
In May, Olivier Meslay, Interim Director of the Museum—and a former chief curator of the Louvre—led a group of eighteen DMA Donor Circle members to Paris for an “insider’s tour” of the city.
As you all may know, it’s hard to have a bad time in Paris, especially in the gorgeous spring. Here are just a few of the highlights. The trip began with a visit to the Château of Fontainebleau, where the group had a special tour with chief curator Vincent Droguet that included a stop at the stairs where Napoleon gave his farewell address before being exiled to Elba.
We were also able to visit one of Marie Antoinette’s private cabinet rooms, which is not open to the general public. Climbing several narrow, winding sets of stairs, Vincent led us into a small private room where the queen used to retreat from the demands of royal life with just one or two companions.
When we visited Vaux le Vicomte, another château in the countryside, it was lit by candles for a beautiful and dramatic evening, which included fireworks in the garden.
The studio of Rosa Bonheur, which is a private museum still managed by her family, was a special stop. I love her work, and the DMA will soon acquire a Bonheur painting, which made this visit even more special.
Her unfinished final painting hangs on an easel in her studio.
And her stuffed parrot still resides in her bedroom (a little worse for wear).
The high point of the trip has to be our visit to the Louvre. We arrived very early in the morning, before it got crowded, and Olivier took us through the Grand Gallery to view some of the masterpieces of 18th- and 19th-century painting.
During his sixteen-year tenure at the Louvre, Olivier held a number of senior positions before coming to the DMA in 2009 in the joint position of Senior Curator of European and American Art and The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art. Being with him at his “old stomping grounds” was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Another very special visit was to the atelier of Nicolas Marischael, a silversmith working in the center of Paris. Following in the footsteps of three generations of his family, Nicolas creates beautiful works of art, jewelry, and cutlery using old-world techniques and tools. Visiting his tiny atelier was amazing!
One of the last places we visited was the Musée de la chasse et de la nature (Museum of Hunting and Nature), where the director, Claude d’Anthenaise, has creatively displayed works of art that focus on hunting, nature, and animals.
Kim Bryan is the Director of Donor Circle Membership at the Dallas Museum of Art
Dear Readers,
You may have noticed we have a fresh new look to kick off the summer. We hope you enjoy our sleek new style and streamlined format.
We are also transitioning to a summer schedule, so look for new posts on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Cheers!
Melissa Nelson
Manager of Teaching in the Community
It’s hard to believe that the 2010-2011 school year is over. This has been a year of transition and change for our department, but we are proud to say that the quality of our programs has remained high. We thought we would take a moment to share with you the highlights of the past year. And remember: we’ll begin taking reservations for the 2011-2012 school year August 1. Have a great summer!
Museum Visits
Docent Tom Brown discusses Tlaloc with a group of 5th graders
Shannon Karol
Manager of Docent Programs and Gallery Teaching
Go van Gogh Outreach
First grade artists at Rosemont Primary
Amy Copeland
Coordinator of Go van Gogh Outreach
We’ll host our 1st Annual BooksmART festival on Saturday June 11th from 11am to 5pm. General admission to the Museum will be FREE with a fun-packed day of events and activities celebrating literacy and the arts for the young and young-at-heart. Our stellar lineup of authors, illustrators and performers include Rick Riordan, Laurie Halse Anderson, Norton Juster, Jerry Pinkney, David Wiesner and many more!
One of the authors that I am especially excited to hear is Cynthia Leitich Smith, a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author whose fictionfor young readers is noted for its diversity, humor, lyricism, imaginativeness, compelling action, and mid-to-southwestern settings. And I got the chance recently to ask her a few questions.
Q: Why did you decide on a career writing for children and young adults?
As a child and teen, I was an avid reader and writer. I read all of the Newbery winners and everything by Judy Blume. I transitioned to spooky stories during adolescence. Along the way, I also read graphic-format books (which we used to call “comics”). In sixth grade, I had a column, “Dear Gabby” in Mr. Rideout’s classroom newsletter, offering advice to the troubled and lovelorn.
I went on to become editor of my junior high and high school newspapers. From there, I earned a journalism degree and law degree, working summers for small-town and major metro newspapers (including the Dallas Morning News) and in law offices.
As a first-generation college graduate, I was mindful of pursuing writing jobs with relative security to them. But in my late 20s, after the Oklahoma City Bombing, I was reminded that life can be short, unpredictable, and precious–that we should follow our dreams and do our best to uplift others. I could imagine no pursuit closer to my heart than books for young readers, and from that point on, I’ve dedicated myself to that end.
Q: You are a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. How has your Native American heritage and identity influenced your writing?
The quintessential advice we give to new voices is: write what you know. For me, that meant realistic stories of lower middle class, mixed blood Native American families from the mid-to-southwest. It meant stories of daily life and intergenerational relationships and military service and loss and healing.
My first book, Jingle Dancer is about a young girl who assembles her jingle dance regalia with the aid of women of every generation of her intertribal community and then dances to honor them at a powwow. My debut novel for tweens, Rain is Not My Indian Name, is about a girl who, after the unexpected death of her best friend, slowly reconnects to the important people in her life through the lens of a camera. Indian Shoes is a collection of humorous, touching short stories for middle grade readers. They’re about young Ray and his Grandpa Halfmoon.
I’ve continued writing about Native characters and themes in my short stories. In 2012, I look forward to the publication of a companion short story to one by noted Abenaki author Joseph Bruchac, which will appear in Girl Meets Boy. Our tales are a fun pairing, about two Native teens–one who’s a tall, formidable basketball-star girl and one who’s a short, scrawny boy into martial arts. It’s a love story–naturally.
Q: You shifted your emphasis to fantasy for your book TANTALIZE, the first in a series. What made you want to tackle the fantasy/gothic fiction genre?
I occasionally joke that I’m in the thrall of the master, by which I mean Abraham Stoker. I was fascinated by Dracula, especially with regard to the timelessness of its themes for teen (and grown-up) readers today. The classic touches on gender and power, orientation, the “dark other” (which back in the day meant Eastern European), plague, invasion, and more. All of those topics are still very much with us today, and looking at the vampire mythology itself….
Q: What has been one of your most meaningful interactions with one of your readers?
A handful of teenage girls have written to tell me that they have left their abusive boyfriends because of Quincie, the hero of the Tantalize series. A girl has written to say that she felt differently–better about herself–after having been assaulted by someone she’d trusted.
Other kids have written to say that Rain is Not My Indian Name helped them to cope with the loss of a loved one, and an aunt told me that her niece wouldn’t speak of a friend’s death until she could do so by using the novel as a reference point.
Most recently, I’m reminded of a boy–about age 14–who came up to me on my recent book tour. I was in New York City, and he approached me with a well-loved and quite tattered copy of Tantalize. He said it was the first book he’d ever finished. “The first book?” I asked, and he nodded solemnly. “The first book ever,” he emphasized. “All the way through.”
Q: What are you most excited about for the BooksmART festival? Can an art museum add something to the traditional book festival?
I’m excited to connect with folks who have a global love of the arts–visual, literary, and beyond. They’re people of imagination and possibilities–kindred souls and the very kind of heroes that I love to write about. Austin may be my home now, but Dallas will always be dear to me. See y’all soon.
Cynthia Leitich Smith will be presenting on her young adult fiction, including her latest novel, Blessed, in Horchow Auditorium.
She will also present on her books for younger readers that explore Native themes and characters in the DMA’s exhibition Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection.
Katie Hutton is Interim Head of Arts & Letters Live at the Dallas Museum of Art
Some of the Junior Associate members of the Dallas Museum of Art recently went on a trip to Chicago with Heather MacDonald, The Lillian and James H. Clark Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the DMA. Below are a few snapshots from their trip, including their visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. For more information on the Junior Associate level of membership click here.
The current exhibition at the DMA, The Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection, showcases over 100 works of art from the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum. The exhibition displays objects from across North America. One object, a Feather Bonnet, stands over seven feet tall! This object was designed by the Cheyenne people, who are from Oklahoma. It was visually impressive when worn by a warrior on horseback; eagle feathers adorn the bonnet and star motifs on cotton cloth are associated with Plains war power. As you look at the images below, imagine what it would be like to encounter a person wearing a bonnet on the battlefield. I hope you can come view the exhibition and the bonnet. It truly is amazing!
Amy Wolf
Coordinator of Gallery Teaching
