Dallas Museum of Art Uncrated

Archive Page 175

Creating MAW

Published November 10, 2010 Members Closed

: Special Member Gift

Member Appreciation Week (MAW) is about celebrating and thanking members of the Dallas Museum of Art.

The Dallas Museum of Art has an event planning team, but this event falls directly to me. This isn’t just any event – it’s an entire week to personally say “thank you” to all our members. One of the best parts of my job is talking to people every day about why they love the DMA. It’s my chance to say that I’m happy you are member. Our members are pretty amazing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stopped at the mall and grocery store by members.

Our first MAW was last December. We had a great turnout, but we realized that we were competing with holiday parties. This year, we decided to have the event before Thanksgiving, so that we wouldn’t interfere with other events. We will celebrate Monday, November 15 through Saturday, November 20 so that all members have the opportunity to stop in. We have tours, scavenger hunts, story time for kids, and my favorite, the Museum Store estate sale!

I start the actual planning in July, which means a lot of coordinating with our educational staff. With the help of Arts & Letters Live, we secured an appearance with author Stacy Schiff for her new book, Cleopatra. We’re thrilled that it’s a sellout and we hope to provide more events like this in the furture. Speaking of other events, on Monday members will be the first to shop for pearls, gold, watches, vintage brooches, rings, sterling silver pieces, pendants, and more at the second annual Art/Find estate sale in the DMA’s Museum Store.

My favorite part of planning MAW is picking out the member gift! This year’s gift is photo cubes. We’ve noticed that people love taking photos here so why not give them something to display those photos. I’ll soon be creating little squares for the photo cubes that say, “Add your photos to our Flickr page!” I’m constantly in the galleries taking photos and I add them to the Museum’s Flickr page all the time.

I hope you can make it next week, and if you do, please be sure to say hello. For a complete listing of events, visit DallasMuseumofArt.org/EventsforMembers.

Wendi Kavanaugh is the Member Outreach Manager at the Dallas Museum of Art

Seldom Scene: A Weekly Snapshot

Published November 8, 2010 Behind-the-Scenes Closed
Tags: behind the scenes, Programs

A DMA conference room where great programming ideas are born.

Uncrated Gets Crated

Published November 5, 2010 Behind-the-Scenes Closed
Tags: Art, behind the scenes, storage

Earlier in the week DMA preparators de-installed a sculpture by Donald Judd in the Museum’s Hoffman Galleries. (They’re setting up for Big New Field.) We thought photos of its crating would be fun to share with our Uncrated readers:

"Exotic" Mexican Objects at the DMA and Crow Collection

Published November 5, 2010 Community Connection , Friday Photos , works of art Closed
Tags: appropriation art, Asian influence, bicentennial, Black Current, chinoiserie, Crow Collection of Asian Art, Decorative Arts, japonisme, Mexico, Mexico 200, posada, Tierra y Gente

In commemoration of the 2010 bicentennial of Mexico’s independence from Spain, many Dallas-area institutions have hosted events or created exhibitions related to Mexico’s past, present, and future. In addition to highlighting Mexican and Spanish colonial works in the Museum’s fourth floor galleries, the DMA currently has two special exhibitions celebrating Mexico’s 200th anniversary: Jose Guadalupe Posada: The Birth of Mexican Modernism and Tierra y Gente: Modern Mexican Works on Paper.

For me, one of the most intriguing objects in these galleries is an eccentric folding screen from colonial Mexico. This screen is elaborately painted and gilded in the European decorative tradition, but its central vignettes are drawn from a Flemish book of moralizing tales. Additionally, the ornate borders of the screen contain Japanese and Chinese-inspired motifs popular in European Rococo. This object connects with a recently opened exhibition, Black Current: Mexican Responses to Japanese Art, 17th-19th Centuries, also in celebration of Mexico’s bicentennial, at the Crow Collection of Asian Art.

[slideshow]

*Photography by George Ramirez

This exhibition includes Mexican-made objects, such as folding screens and rolled paintings, that were greatly informed by trade via the The Black Current. This marine trade route, established in the 16th century, ran eastbound from Manila to Acapulco, bringing goods such as decorative arts, silk, and spices to Mexico. Approximately 500 Pacific crossings were made along the dark river in the sea, feeding the growing market for luxury commodities in Mexico and generating Asian demand for American resources such as silver. These exchanges led to an artistic interchange that left lasting impressions on Mexican artists.

Cosmopolitan, Mexican-made objects, such as those in Black Current and the DMA Screen, reference their Asian precursors through the inclusion of Asian-inspired motifs, use of laquer, inlay and shells, and format of the folding screen and scrolls mounted on rollers. Additionally, they serve as visual documentation of ambitious exchanges between spatially disparate cultures.

Ashley Bruckbauer

Programs and Resources for Teachers Intern

French Art Teacher Workshop

Published November 4, 2010 Art & Teaching , works of art Closed
Tags: connections, Dallas Museum of Art, exhibition, French Art, painting, teacher workshop, teachers, workshop

Bonjour! I would like to invite you to travel to France through works of art at the Dallas Museum of Art on Saturday, December 4 from 9:00 to 12:30pm. We will explore 18th–19th century French paintings and sculptures, the Reves Collection, and the special exhibition The Mourners: Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy.

To register for this teacher workshop or to learn more about other workshops and programs offered in Spring 2011, go to DallasMuseumofArt.org/teachers.

À bientôt….

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Programs and Resources for Teachers

Teaching with African Art

Published November 2, 2010 Art & Teaching Closed
Tags: Africa, Ife, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, teacher workshop, teaching, themes

Prior to becoming the Coordinator of Museum Visits at the DMA, I served as a McDermott Curatorial Intern working with our curator of African art, Dr. Roslyn A. Walker. During my year with Roz, I learned not only about the arts of Africa, but I also grew to love the DMA’s collection. We have a fantastic collection of African art at the Museum, and I enjoy sharing it with our docents, teachers, and especially with students.

A few weeks ago, I led a docent training session entitled Art and Death in Africa. A majority of African art deals with the cycle of life, so birth, initiation, and death are constantly referenced in our collection. I felt that death was an especially interesting theme to investigate since it ties in so nicely to one of our current special exhibitions The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy. Check out last Friday’s photo post for some of my favorite works from the collection relating to art and death in Africa.

Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria at the MFA, Houston

In September, I was invited to lead a Teacher Workshop at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston related to the exhibition Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria. The works of art in the exhibition date from the 9th to the 15th century, and many of them have never traveled outside of Nigeria. It was a special treat to see them, let alone to teach with them! We spent time in the exhibition and also in the MFAH’s African galleries exploring the themes of kingship and belief. At the end of the day, teachers created concrete poems inspired by a work of art in the Ife exhibition. I was impressed with the teachers’ finished products, which were created on paper that they had embellished with a watercolor wash.

A concrete poem created by one of the teachers

Later this month, I will be presenting Themes for Teaching with African Art at the Texas Art Education Association conference in Austin. Using works of art from the DMA collection, I will share themes, questions, and experiences that can help students make connections between African art and traditions and their lives today. If you’re attending TAEA this year and want to learn more about teaching with African art in your classroom, plan to attend my session at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 12th. I hope to see you there!

Shannon Karol
Coordinator of Museum Visits

Friday Photos: Art and Death in Africa

Published October 29, 2010 Friday Photos 1 Comment
Tags: Africa, Art, death

Last week, I led a training session for our docents related to the theme of “Art and Death in Africa.” In honor of this training session, and because Sunday is Halloween, I wanted to share some of my favorite pieces from the African collection that relate to the theme of death. Some of these artworks represent ancestors, others were used at funerals, and one is a guardian figure for a reliquary. To learn more about these works, visit the African collections online.

: Kneeling female figure with bowl and child, Yombe peoples

: Standing female figure (rhythm pounder), Senufo peoples

: Male twin figure (ere ibeji), Yoruba peoples

: Standing male ancestor figure (singiti), Hemba peoples

: Janus reliquary guardian figure, Kota peoples

Come back to the DMA Educator Blog on Tuesday when I’ll share information on additional projects that I have been working on related to African art.

Shannon Karol
Coordinator of Museum Visits

A Day in the Life: Intern Ashley

Published October 28, 2010 Art & Teaching , Friday Photos Closed
Tags: French Art, Interns, Mourners, research, teacher workshop, teachers, tours

When asked to write a post about a day in life of my job here at the DMA, I wondered how I would ever choose what to include. My days at the Museum are so varied, from docent trainings on Mondays, meetings galore on Wednesdays, to catching up on anything yet to be done on Fridays. So, I decided to select a day that is one of my favorites and really illustrates the reasons why I love my time at the DMA: Thursdays!

My Thursday calendars primarily consist of two activities: touring and researching.

Touring: From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday mornings I have the pleasure of touring K-12 students at the museum. I typically arrive at the docent desk fifteen minutes before my tour to ensure that everything is on schedule before welcoming the children into the Museum. Once everyone is in the door, we talk about museums, museum visits, and things to remember while on the tour. The students are always eager to share their knowledge of museum etiquette: “stay with the group,” “use inside voices,” and “keep a safe distance between ourselves and the art.” Next, we head into the galleries to look closely at six or so works of art. Since we only have an hour for our tour, I attempt to be as strategic as possible, selecting objects across a wide variety of cultures, time periods, and media. The students are amazed to realize how much they can discover just through looking and how much knowledge they already have. It is such a joy to share in their experience!

Research: My Thursday afternoons are spent researching various objects in the collection, compiling information, and writing text, which eventually becomes online resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. I also research special exhibitions and some of our collection for upcoming teacher workshops. For example, I’ve been conducting research the last few weeks on The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy in preparation for our upcoming workshop on French art. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to learn about periods in history and styles of art to which I’ve had little exposure or with which I’m less familiar.

Teaching and research are two of my passions, and I feel so lucky to be able to dedicate a large amount of my time to pursuing both.

Ashley Bruckbauer

Programs and Resources for Teachers Intern

TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art

Published October 27, 2010 Collections , Curatorial Closed
Tags: Contemporary Art, Fundraiser

"Untitled" (1990) by Christopher Wool

The week culminated in a brunch on Sunday honoring American artist Christopher Wool, whose work Untitled is on view at the DMA and also seen above (it’s one of my personal faves in our collection).

A few of the many acquisitions that TWO x TWO has made possible over the past decade are pictured below.

David Altmejd’s "The Eye" (2008)

Olafur Eliasson’s "The outside of inside" (2008), which will be on view in our upcoming exhibition "Big New Field: Artists in the Cowboys Stadium Art Program"

We’re a lucky bunch to have an event of this magnitude benefit the DMA!

Erin Murphy is the Contemporary Art Curatorial Administrative Assistant at the Dallas Museum of Art.

A Day in the Life of an Intern

Published October 26, 2010 Art & Teaching , Museum Insight , People , works of art Closed
Tags: day, Go van Gogh, Karen, life, museum, Teaching Programs

I have been an intern at the Museum for almost two months and have had some exhilarating moments. I have enjoyed walking through the galleries with the curators as they speak about the works of art. They are walking encyclopedias. I have also had the opportunity to be a part of some great training sessions. The docent trainings, which occur every Monday, have been wonderful. The docents, along with the education staff, learn about works of arts in the collection and exhibitions. Sometimes these trainings are led by the curators, and other times, by an education staff member. The docents and staff also go into the galleries and work on activities to better familiarize ourselves with the artworks in order to create great teaching moments.

Another area of the Education Department I worked with is Go van Gogh. I have also attended a few of the volunteer trainings. Sometimes during training we go into the galleries and look at the works of art and other times we get to make artwork for the different programs we teach. Go van Gogh allows me to travel to different elementary schools in Dallas and discuss with children works of art from the Museum’s collection. How cool is that! I get an opportunity to spend one hour with students and have these amazing and in-depth conversations about artists and their artworks. By the way, another great aspect of this program is driving the Go van Gogh van.

I have recently started giving tours at the Museum. I have given two so far and each time the students have left giving me great big hugs and saying how much they have enjoyed their visit. Leading the tours allows me to continue to work with children. I will also be giving several “A Looking Journey” Tours for 4^th graders throughout the remainder of my internship.

Other moments at the Museum consists of meetings. Meeting over here, meeting over there, meeting everywhere! I want to say there is not a week that goes by in which I haven’t attended a meeting. I enjoy the meetings because it allows me to bond with the Education staff and learn how to plan for future programs. One of my favorite meeting moments was a meeting, in which the staff brainstormed fifty Ideas based on a pair of 3-D glasses. What an incredible experience.

So there you have it. There is always something exciting going on in “A Day in the Life of an Intern.”

Karen A. Colbert
Teaching Programs Intern

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