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Friday Photos: In 3D

Published August 18, 2017 Friday Photos Closed
Tags: outreach, Perot Museum, STEAM

One of the best parts of being a museum educator is creating programming for the amazing special exhibitions that come our way. We were especially excited to take on Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion this summer. Her designs are unlike any you’ve seen before, and we love her unique and creative use of materials. Many of her dresses utilize new technology, like 3D printing, to build complex structures.

We’re big fans of art when it collides with science and technology, and recognized this was a great opportunity to reach out to the TECH Truck over at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science for an outreach vehicle meet-up! We collaborated on a summer program for teens at the Boys and Girls Club of Mesquite, where we talked about materials, abstract thinking, and computer-aided design! Students learned how to make 3D models in Sketch-Up, which are currently at the Perot being printed. Here’s a look at van Herpen’s process come to life!

Make sure you visit Iris Van Herpen: Transforming Fashion before it closes this weekend!

Jessica Thompson
Manager of Teen Programs

The Two Käthes

Published August 16, 2017 European Art , Late Nights , Uncategorized Closed
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Guerrilla Girls, Käthe Kollwitz

Join us for Late Night this Friday when we will host artist Käthe Kollwitz of the feminist activist art collective the Guerrilla Girls as part of a celebration of women artists featured in Visions of America. For more than thirty years, women artists from across the country have donned gorilla masks and joined the ranks of the Guerrilla Girls to produce public art campaigns that raise awareness about gender and ethnic discrimination in the art world and beyond. Having decided early on that the members of the Guerrilla Girls would remain anonymous, they took this opportunity to shine some limelight on great women artists of the past by assuming the names of pioneers like Käthe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, and Zubeida Agha.

Guerrilla Girls at the Abrons Art Center, 2015

In an interview for the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art Oral History Program, Käthe explained the origin of their pseudonyms.

“Eventually we realized that we needed individual names within the Guerrilla Girls. When we went places in a group or in pairs, we needed to be individuals in some way. So this idea came up to have dead women artists as pseudonyms, and it was a useful idea because art historians were re-finding and representing the work of a lot of women artists from history. Most of the pseudonyms that people took were artists they’d never heard of before they started and only discovered when they read up on women artists, looking for a name.”

Käthe’s own namesake, Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945), was a German printmaker and sculptor who also addressed social injustice in her work. She also happens to be well represented in the DMA’s collection

Käthe Kollwitz, Self Portrait, 1927, lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred L. Bromberg, 1953.37

Kathe Kollwitz, 1927, Anonymous Photographer, from Kathe Kollwitz Self-Portaits, 2007_w

Kollwitz’s work is at times touching and heart-wrenching with intimate portraits of mothers with their children as well as genre scenes depicting the plight of the urban poor. Her subjects are often gaunt figures whose shadowy eyes and pained poses speak volumes about the dire circumstances under which they lived. Having endured multiple personal tragedies and both world wars, she was an artist who did not shy away from showing the realities of war, poverty, and loss.

Käthe Kollwitz, Hungry children (Deutschlands Kinder Hungern!), 1924, Lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg, 2000.246.FA

Käthe Kollwitz, Boy with Arms Around Mother’s Neck, 1931, Lithograph, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mrs. Leon A. Harris, Sr., 1940.59

Käthe Kollwitz, Revolt (Sturm), 1897, Etching, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg, 2000.192.FA

Remarking on how she arrived at the pseudonym Käthe Kollwitz, the artist said, “It’s very personal for everybody. Käthe Kollwitz is not my all-time favorite artist, but she’s a great role model. She was an activist as well as an artist. She didn’t believe in the expensive, fancy art system. She did a lot of cheap prints that she gave and sold very cheaply. She did a lot of work about working people, about women and children, even work about sex. She was a fierce woman artist.”

Over 70 years after Kollwitz’s death the Guerrilla Girls are continuing the practice of using art to raise awareness. Reflecting on their own 30 year legacy, Käthe will speak about favorite projects and how the group has approached activism in their work. For more information about this and other Late Night programs, visit DMA.org.

Jessie Frazier is Manager of Adult Programming at the DMA

The Light and the Dark

Published August 16, 2017 Access Programs , People 5 Comments
Tags: Meaningful Moments

What is it about art that speaks to us so deeply? How does it tap into our soul and speak so loudly to us, sometimes even uncomfortably shouting our truths to other people? We spend all of our time hiding the deepest parts of our souls from others around us, sometimes even from the people closest in our lives. But art, this amazing living and breathing thing, shouts our truths back at us and makes us feel emotions that we were positive we had locked away deep in our hearts where they could not escape. Suddenly, there it is. That work of art that is so profound, so fierce, that it stops us in our tracks and we are taken aback. This seemingly unassuming piece vividly screaming out to us and all surrounding us.

Two years ago I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Here I was, a four decade veteran of the mind as a psychotherapist, and my mind was the very thing being attacked. I realized something was wrong when I could not get my thoughts straight enough to form words. I could, and can, still speak but there is nothing more frustrating than consistently not being able to think of a word and speak it. My mind has become a tangled web where things often do not make sense and I have to stop and really think about what I want to convey to other people. As parts of my mind grow darker, the more creative and patient I must become–and this is where art has changed my life.

Recently I was able to come to the Museum and spend some time in the quiet stillness of the galleries before it was open to the public during the Meaningful Moments program. As I observed the beauty of this majestic place and wandered the meandering galleries, I took in the colors and the mediums, the brush strokes and the carvings; able to breathe deeply and take in the magnificence of where I was. As I turned the corner of a hallway towards the end of my time at the Museum, I saw a piece that stopped me in my tracks and pulled at my heartstrings.

Jackson Pollock, Cathedral, 1947, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Reis © Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Cathedral is a piece of contemporary art created by the famed Jackson Pollock in 1947. I had never taken stock in contemporary art, really. But this piece stole my heart and was screaming my truth in a way that I didn’t think was actually possible. In this, I see my mind—this mess of black and grey and white. What is the brain if not a mass of neurons, an incredible weaving of all of your thoughts and feelings, experiences and memories; together it creates this masterpiece that we call the brain. Cathedral puts onto canvas what the brain is and more specifically, those who have Alzheimer’s. The beautiful brightness is the living and breathing part of me that is alive, capable of everything. In contrast the inky black is what the Alzheimer’s has taken from me: the plaques, tangles and weaves that steal my mind.

As I sat looking at this enigmatic piece of art, I thought about my experiences over the last two years. I see the parts of me that I had to let go of: my practice, driving, paying the bills. The death of those things is so eloquently represented with the sharp jagged edges of black here. In contrast, I think of all of the things I still have: helping others as much as possible, holding a conversation with my friends, the love of my husband and family. While my brain has betrayed me in ways I cannot express to those who do not suffer from this disease, it has not taken the essence of who I am.

I sit and stare at Cathedral and in it I see who I am: I see that there is a complexity and a depth; there is pain and there is joy, truly a mix of the light and the dark. So often we do not understand that even in illness we are part of a bigger picture; to not let the dark define who we are is what is important. To embrace who and what we are and celebrate ourselves as part of a larger medium of art is the definition of life–for without the dark there would be no light.

Jane McManus
Participant, Meaningful Moments program

Allison Espinosa
Care Advisor, Honor Health Care

How to Install a Robert Smithson

Published August 14, 2017 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Contemporary Art Closed
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Installation, Robert Smithson

A new rotation of artworks was recently installed in the Barrel Vault, our main contemporary art space. Included in this new installation are masterpieces by Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and Hans Hofmann, as well as several newly acquired artworks. One of the highlights of the gallery is Robert Smithson’s Mirrors and Shelly Sand. The work is composed of approximately three tons of sand and 50 mirrors (glued back-to-back in pairs of two) lined up in a row, creating the illusion of infinity when you gaze into them. This engaging piece invites the viewer in and encourages interaction (but just of the mental variety—please remember not to touch!).

The piece becomes even more interesting when you know the process required to install it. It takes a lot of work and skill to transform the 125 buckets of sand and two crates of mirrors into the finished work of art. There are specific instructions from the artist on how the piece should be installed, but there will always be variances due to the nature of the materials. Thankfully for us, one of our Senior Preparators, Mary Nicolett, has installed the Smithson eight times and is a pro.

First our crew constructs a massive tent made of plastic. This keeps all of the sand contained and ensures that other artworks in the area are protected. On installation day, our stellar team of preparators (professional art handlers) put on their protective gear and prepare to get dirty. After the Registrar (me!) completes a condition report on all the mirrors, they are lined up based on the artist’s specifications and a small pile of sand is poured over them to keep them in place. Once all of the mirrors are in place, the real fun begins. Each preparator grabs a bucket of sand and begins pouring. Once all the buckets are empty, Nicolett begins smoothing the sand into the appropriate shape. At the end of the day, the dusty crew exits the tent to let the dust settle. The next day, the tent is removed and the finishing touches to the sand are completed.

Installation works like Mirrors and Shelly Sand allow our prep team to flex their creative muscles. While we do follow the instructions provided by the artist, the preparators are the ones who physically create the artwork as you see it. A good prep team is vital to any art institution as they are the ones who know the intricacies of a piece and how to safely install it. Thankfully for us, we have one of the best!

Katie Province is the Assistant Registrar for Collections and Exhibitions at the DMA.

Friday Photos: Go van Gogh Guardians

Published August 11, 2017 Friday Photos Closed
Tags: Go van Gogh, Go van Gogh summer library program, Go van Gogh summer outreach volunteers, Volunteer

This summer, Go van Gogh volunteers visited libraries and recreation centers across Dallas to present our Guardians from Around the World program. We are so appreciative of these volunteers and their enthusiasm and dedication for bringing art education to the community. Thank you for a great summer!

If you are interested in getting involved in this fun program, consider becoming a Go van Gogh volunteer! Additional information about this exciting opportunity is available on the Volunteer section of our website.

Andi Orkin
Volunteer Coordinator for Programming

Second Thursdays with a Twist

Published August 10, 2017 Behind-the-Scenes , Second Thursdays with a Twist Closed

Does your typical Thursday night have the dance moves of Michael Jackson, a “potions” class for adults, a tour about beautiful backsides, live covers of the best 80s music, and storm troopers? Would you like it to? If your answer is yes, then you’re going to love our new line-up for Second Thursdays with a Twist!

All year round, every Second Thursday of the month, we are looking at our collection with a pop culture twist. If this program sounds familiar, it’s because this program is The Artist Formerly Known as Off the Wall. We thought we would change up the name, but keep the same day, same time and same fun! We are kicking off the new name and new season of themes this Thursday with Don’t You Forget About Me. The night will have all the 1980’s nostalgia you can handle, a photo booth, a Ferris Bueller themed tour and more.

We hope you all will come out and enjoy Second Thursdays with a Twist, we had so much fun coming up with ideas for these themes and we hope that you will have even more fun experiencing them!

August 10: Don’t You Forget About Me

Geoff Winningham, High School Prom, negative 1973, print 1976, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Prestonwood National Bank, 1981.36.11

September 14: Smooth Criminal

Ralph Gibson, Untitled, 1972, gelatin silver print, Dallas Museum of Art, Polaroid Foundation grant, 1977.79

October 12: Mischief Managed

Owl effigy, Arts of the Americas, 20th century, ceramic, slip, and paint, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Bywaters, 1963.179

November 9: Who Run the World?

Anna Hyatt Huntington, Joan of Arc, modeled, 1910; cast c. 1915, bronze, Dallas Museum of Art, Kiest Memorial Fund, 1924.3

December 14: In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Dan Flavin, alternate diagonals of March 2, 1964 (to Don Judd), March 2, 1964, daylight and cool white fluorescent tubing, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Janie C. Lee, 1976.74.A-G

January 11: Ice Ice Baby

Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt, 1979.28

Katie Cooke is Manager of Adult Programming at the DMA

Warhol and Monroe, Inked Immortal

Published August 8, 2017 Exhibitions Closed
Tags: American Prints, Andy Warhol, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Marilyn Monroe, modern art, Niagara, Pop Culture, Visions of America

In August 62 I started doing silkscreens. I wanted something stronger that gave more of an assembly line effect. With silkscreening you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across it so the ink goes through the silk but not through the glue. That way you get the same image, slightly different each time. It was all so simple quick and chancy. I was thrilled with it. When Marilyn Monroe happened to die that month, I got the idea to make screens of her beautiful face the first Marilyns. – Andy Warhol (1981)

Visions of America

Andy Warhol was always interested in the morbid and he often found artistic inspiration in taboo occurrences such as Marilyn Monroe’s tragic death. He first started producing Marilyns in 1962, bringing the starlet’s likeness back to life. According to MoMA Learning, through these Marilyn works “he (Warhol) reveals her public persona as a carefully structured illusion.” It wasn’t until 1967 however, 5 years after Monroe’s untimely departure, that the infamous print in Visions of America: Three Centuries of Prints from the National Gallery of Art came about.

Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn)

Warhol based the print on a publicity photograph by Gene Kornman for the 1953 film Niagara, as were his famous Marilyn Monroe silkscreen paintings of 1962. Now the prints are synonymous with the vixen herself, both’s popularity and intrigue as pungent as they were in the sixties.

Publicity photograph by Gene Kornman for the 1953 film Niagara. Image from www.moma.org via web link

We invite you to celebrate the birth week of Warhol by visiting Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn) in Visions of America: Three Centuries of Prints from the National Gallery of Art today. The popular print is one of a set of ten, don’t miss this opportunity to spend some time with this rare beauty.

Julie Henley is the Communications and Marketing Coordinator at the DMA.

The Student Becomes the Master

Published August 8, 2017 Art & Teaching , Camps and Classes , Museum Insight Closed
Tags: Interns, internship, Summer Art Camp, Summer camp

Summer art camp interns play many roles during their time at the DMA: teaching assistant, museum navigator, problem solver, carpool coordinator, bathroom trip taker, funny face maker, and–most importantly–friend to all campers! This year, we added three exciting new roles to their list: researcher, lesson writer, and teacher. For the first time, in teams and under the supervision of DMA staff, our 2017 summer art camp interns researched, wrote, and taught their very own summer camps.

These interns had six weeks to plan their camps, collecting ideas and teaching tricks from other camps and teachers they worked with along the way. We provided them with basic themes to start from, but from that point on their camps were entirely their own, from the works of art they focused on to the projects they made in the studio. They taught techniques, guided campers in looking and talking about art, and–like every good teacher–improvised when things didn’t go according to plan.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce our two teaching teams: Team Sense-sational Art and Team Portrait Party!

Team Sense-sational Art: Sharidyn Barnes, Jenna Buckley, and Mary Judge

Sharidyn helps problem-solve turning pipe cleaners into letters of the alphabet.

Jenna and a camper work together on a project.

Mary reads a story to campers during snack time.

Team Sense-sational Art was tasked with planning a camp all about art and the five senses for a group of children ages 6-8. They divided and conquered, each taking on one or two senses and planning a day around it. Sharidyn found she had a knack for getting into the why and how of art-making, Jenna dazzled with her knowledge of art history and fun facts about the collection, and Mary ignited campers’ imaginations with dramatic storytelling and gallery exploration.

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Team Portrait Party: Madeline Bumpass and Paige Alexander

Madeline helps a camper sort through materials for a colorful project.

Paige shares a silkscreen used in printmaking with campers in the gallery.

Team Portrait Party planned a camp focused on portraits throughout the ages, from Roman busts to modern-day selfies, for a group of girls ages 9-12. Madeline and Paige worked together on each of the days, taking turns leading conversations in the galleries and getting elbows-deep in clay, paint, and fabric in the studio. It was a week of singing (lots of Disney and Taylor Swift), masterpiece-making, joke-cracking, and serious fun.

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Now that their camps are done and their internships have concluded, Jenna, Mary, Sharidyn, Madeline, and Paige are wrapping up their summer vacations, heading back to another year at college, and who knows – maybe one or two are on their way to a career in museum education! Congratulations on a job well done, ladies!

Photo Aug 04, 1 00 27 PM (2)

Jennifer Sheppard
Teaching Specialist

Friday Photos: Sands of Time

Published August 4, 2017 works of art Closed
Tags: Contemporary Art, Summer

Some old friends are back on view in our Barrel Vault galleries this month. Stop by the Museum to savor those last few days of summer: you might just enjoy a sandy view sans the salt and heat!

Installation view: Robert Smithson, Mirrors and Shelly Sand, 1969–1970, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of an anonymous donor; the Vin and Caren Prothro Foundation; Rusty and Deedie Rose in memory of Vin Prothro and in honor of his cherished grandchildren, Lillian Lee Clark and Annabel Caren Clark; The Eugene McDermott Foundation; Dr. and Mrs. Mark L. Lemmon; American Consolidated Media; Bear/Hunter; and donors to the C. Vincent Prothro Memorial Fund, © Estate of Robert Smithson / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Sarah Coffey
Education Coordinator

After Hours: Staff Art

Published August 2, 2017 Behind-the-Scenes , Staff Closed
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Staff Art Show

Ever wanted to know more about the staff at the Dallas Museum of Art? Until November 26, After Hours: Works by DMA Staff will be on view on Level M2. The show features 60 works by 38 staff members and showcases talents from many different mediums, including video and sculpture work. DMA employees whose roles at the Museum range from gallery attendant to librarian participated in the exhibition.

David Caldwell, a Gallery Attendant Supervisor at the DMA for 5 years, created his painting Marie Madeleine En Provence Devant Un Monolithe Kubrick this year based on the story of Mary Magdalene in the South of France and the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Caldwell has a BFA with an emphasis in Broadcast/Film from SMU. When asked how his position at the DMA inspired his artwork, Caldwell said, “My role at the DMA has inspired my paintings. As a Gallery Attendant, I learned about La Pausa [the home of Wendy and Emery Reves in the South of France], the phrase means ‘the pause.’ I found out that it refers to a French legend that Mary Magdalene fled the Holy Land a few years after the crucifixion. She and her entourage were adrift on a boat in the Mediterranean. They came to shore at what is now the French Riviera in Provence. Legend has it that Mary and her friends, on their journey inland, rested in a grove of olive trees that reminded them of home. That olive grove is said to be located on the property, called La Pausa, of Coco Chanel and then Wendy and Emery Reves. I would have never known this story had I not worked at the DMA.”

Center for Creative Connections Coordinator Kerry Butcher graduated with a BFA in Studio Arts with an emphasis in photography. Butcher entered two photographs she took during a road trip to Montana with friends in 2015. Using a gently used point and shoot film camera, Butcher said, “I had the intent of really working on refocusing my eye on capturing moments that were personal to me, something I felt I had somewhat lost touch with since graduating college.”

Burdette Katzen, a Library Assistant at the DMA for 18 years, created an oil painting titled Morning in Byzantium for the show. When speaking of her work, Katzen stated, “I especially enjoy depicting ordinary women performing typical tasks during their average days. Although there are many impressive paintings of spectacular landscapes, and colorful flowers, I believe there is great beauty to be seen in the simple things of everyday life.”

On your next trip to the DMA, stop by the exhibition and check out the works created by the staff!

Samantha Nemazie is the Exhibition Design Intern at the DMA.

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