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Archive Page 91

Make This: Adventures in Casting

Published February 11, 2014 Creativity , DIY Tutorial Closed
Tags: Art, Center for Creative Connections, creativity, Dallas Museum of Art, sculpture

Jean Arp, Star in a Dream (Astre en Reve), 1958, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Clark, (c) Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

In talking with teens about what they’d like to do for upcoming classes, casting was a popular idea that I loved but had no idea how to execute. A metals casting class (see Star in a Dream, above) would be fantastic yet totally unfeasible, so I looked for alternative materials and methods that we could try. Over the past several months, I’ve been researching different techniques to meet the following needs: the project to be cost effective (i.e. cheap); the mold had to set within 45 minutes; the process had to be uncomplicated; and the results had to be pretty cool.

I finally settled on a pretty easy way of making silicone molds from inexpensive, household materials. There are many great online tutorials on how to do this, but I chose to adapt this one. Unfortunately, this silicone mold isn’t pourable, but it sets fast and is really easy to make. Alternatively, you could easily use a self-setting rubber medium like Sugru to make the mold if you’re not concerned about set time. I’m using Mod Melts as the casting material for this project to make things easier, but you could experiment with other things like resin, etc. As with any project, make sure your work area is well-ventilated and observe the safety precautions on the material labels.

What you need (this should yield 1-2 small, 2″-4″ castings):

Tube of 100% silicone caulk and caulk gun (VERY important that it’s 100% silicone)
Cornstarch
Latex gloves
Styrofoam cup
Disposable plastic tray
Non-stick cooking spray
Mod Melts and hot glue gun
A small object to mold (you could make your own using modelling clay, etc.) that will fit into the Styrofoam cup

Step 1:

Don your gloves and pour a generous amount of cornstarch along the bottom of your plastic tray. Cut the tip off of the tube of caulk and load it into the caulk gun.

Step 2:

Squeeze the entire tube of caulk into the tray full of cornstarch. Begin incorporating the cornstarch into the caulk until it starts to form a loose ball. I used two pieces of scrap cardboard to toss everything together until it became a paste, then used my hands. Add more cornstarch as needed. I ended up using about 12 oz. of cornstarch.

Step 3:

Continue kneading cornstarch into the silicone ball until it reaches a putty-like consistency and is no longer sticky to the touch.

Step 4:

Press the silicone firmly around your object to make your mold. For best results, use an object with a simple shape that doesn’t have a lot of holes where the silicone could get trapped. Press the mold with the object inside into the Styrofoam cup and leave it to set. (Notice that I’ve left a small hole at the top of the mold where I will pour in the Mod Melts.) I had enough material to cast my object and to make a small, secondary mold.

Step 5:

Check the mold after about 45 minutes–if it has completely set, you should be able to slide it out of the cup. Gently remove the object, taking care not to tear the mold. (You may need to carefully cut the silicone to make a two-part mold in order to do this.) You can see in my bigger mold some sections where I ran into trouble with air bubbles. To avoid that next time, I will have to press more firmly into those sections and give my mold a little more time to set.

Step 6:

Spray the inside of your mold with non-stick spray (optional) and put it back in the Styrofoam cup. Heat your glue gun and load it with the Mod Podge Melts. For the sake of time, I will only cast the smaller mold that I made but I’ll post images of the larger cast on our Flickr page!

Step 7:

When hot, squeeze the Mod Melts into the mold. Once you’ve filled it, give the mold a gentle tap to help any air bubbles settle. Leave it to set.

Once your casting is cool, take it out of the mold. Your results may vary, but don’t worry–if the mold is still intact, you could reuse it to make another casting. And the nice thing about Mod Melts is that afterwards, you can paint your project or draw on it with Sharpie markers, etc.

If you know of an interested teen, have them check out our March Urban Armor workshop–we’ll be doing a similar activity but casting in plastic!

Make and be happy!

JC Bigornia
C3 Program Coordinator

Teenage Dream: Young Masters

Published February 10, 2014 Behind-the-Scenes , Education , Exhibitions , Teens Closed
Tags: Advanced Placement® Art History, Advanced Placement® Music Theory, Advanced Placement® Studio Art, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Young Masters

The DMA’s Concourse is filled once again with art created by area AP high school students, and that means it is time for the annual Young Masters exhibition. Since 1994 North Texas art and music students have submitted their work to the O’Donnell Foundation’s AP Arts Incentive Program for a chance to be selected for the exhibition and earn scholarships. Check out this year’s selections, on view through April 27 at the DMA.

Friday Photos: Festival Fun

Published February 7, 2014 Community Connection , Family Fun , Friday Photos Closed
Tags: Chinese New Year, Community, crow, el centro college, festival

Every time you visit the DMA, you’ll discover exciting ways to become involved with the Museum’s collection, whether taking part in a Twitter Treasure Hunt on Late Nights, going on an interactive tour during First Tuesdays, or creating your own work of art in Studio Creations. But did you know you can also find ways to get connected with the DMA outside of the Museum’s walls?

Last weekend, the DMA participated in the Crow Collection’s annual Chinese New Year Festival, an event filled with Asian-inspired music, dancing, and of course, art. Not only did the DMA contribute a booth to the lively festival, but we also collaborated with members of El Centro College’s Visual Arts Club to create an engaging experience for visitors. The art club students came up with two wonderful art-making activities–miniature scrolls and a community painting–and drew in more than 600 participants!

Check out photos from the event and keep an eye out for us as we participate in the Art + Science Festival on Saturday, April 12!

Amy Elms
McDermott Intern for Visitor Engagement

ARTifacts: Our Own Monuments Man

Published February 5, 2014 Archive 2 Comments
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Monuments Fine Arts and Archives, Richard Foster Howard, The Monuments Men, World War II

Did you know that a former DMA director was a Monuments Man?

DMFA Director Richard Foster Howard (1935-1942)

DMFA Director Richard Foster Howard (1935-42)

Richard Foster Howard was director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts from December 1935 to May 1942. Howard arrived in Dallas to oversee the completion of the new museum in Fair Park and the grand Texas Centennial exhibition in 1936. He would go on to assemble the exhibition for the Pan-American Exposition in 1937 and start the Texas General, an annual juried exhibition of Texas artists.

Richard Foster Howard (standing) with jurors Xavier Gonzales, Donald Bear, and Frederick Browne judging the Texas section of the Greater Texas and Pan-American Exposition, 1937

Jurors for the 1941 Texas General exhibition: Richard Foster Howard, John McCrady, Boardman Robinson, and W. Whitzle (L to R)

Jurors for the 1941 Texas General exhibition: (L to R) Richard Foster Howard, John McCrady, Boardman Robinson, and W. Whitzle

Education was a major focus of his tenure as director. Howard started free Saturday classes for children in 1937, began the school tour program with the Dallas Independent School District in 1937-38, established the education department with the hiring of Mrs. Alexandre (Maggie Jo) Hogue as the first full-time supervisor of education in 1939, and founded the Museum’s library in 1940.

During World War II, Howard retired from the Museum to join the army and was made a captain in the Army Field Artillery. He served in the European theater with distinction and returned to Germany in July 1946 as deputy chief of monuments, fine arts, and archives for the Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.) He served as a Monuments Man until December 1948. For his service in returning works of art removed by Germans during the war, he was awarded the Order of the White Lion of Bohemia by the Czechoslovakian government and the Star of Italian Solidarity by the Italian government.

When Howard returned from Germany, he resumed his museum career, retiring as director of the Birmingham Museum of Art in 1975.

This Friday, learn even more about this special group of men and women with the opening of The Monuments Men movie.

Hillary Bober is the digital archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Totes Awesome! Art To Go Family Bags

Published February 4, 2014 Art & Teaching , Resources 4 Comments
Tags: anytime activity, Color, family learning, fun in the galleries, senses

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!

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

Olympics in the Galleries

Published February 3, 2014 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Conservation Closed
Tags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Ice Skating, Winter Olympics

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Ice Skater (verso), 1929–30, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.

No, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s ice skater is not executing a complicated triple lutz, soon to be witnessed by billions around the world during the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He is permanently suspended in his upside-down state, having been painted on the verso of a canvas 17 years after the main painting on the other side, Four Wooden Sculptures, which depicts small primitive sculptures. Both sides of this expressionist artist’s painting can currently be seen (the skater requiring a bit of head tilting) in the DMA’s Behind the Scenes exhibition in the Conservation Gallery.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Four Wooden Sculptures (recto), 1912, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.

Kirchner’s interest in the movement and agility of the human body began early in his career with depictions of Berlin and Dresden cabarets and circuses. He later found inspiration in the bicyclists who practiced racing at Berlin’s Olympia stadium. The DMA’s skater was painted after the artist moved to the Swiss Alpine mountain town of Frauenkirch, near Davos, where he would spend the last 20 years of his life. The area remains a mecca for cold-weather athletics–Davos is now home to both the Kirchner Museum and the Winter Sports Museum.

In 1930, in his essay “On Life and Work,” Kirchner reflected: “Observation of movement has been for me a particularly fruitful source of creative inspiration. From that observation comes the increased awareness of life which is the source of all artistic works.” For Kirchner, most of his sports experience was only that–observation and then the subsequent depictions thereof. The skater and other works such as Ski-Jumpers (1927) and Ice-Hockey Players (1934) were executed after his physical and mental breakdown. Archery seems to be the one sport that the artist attempted himself. In 1933, he wrote to a friend, “My wife is quite a good shot, too. It is an educational sport which makes people take up beautiful attitudes.”

And here’s a view of Kirchner’s Ice Skater that doesn’t require turning the computer upside down.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Ice Skater (verso), 1929–30

Read more about the appearance of athletic activity in Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s work here.

Reagan Duplisea is the associate registrar, exhibitions at the DMA

Makers Made

Published January 31, 2014 Center for Creative Connections , Education , Teens Closed
Tags: Center for Creative Connections, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Maker Club, Maker movement, STEAM education, teen art, teens

Now in its fifth month, Maker Club is a free drop-in program for ages 13-19 that asks, “What happens when art, science, and technology mix?” Capitalizing on the popularity of the Maker movement and incorporating elements from STEAM education, Maker Club is a combination between open studio and led workshop that explores a different theme each month.

Image courtesy of makeymakey.com

Experimentation and open-endedness rule the day as traditional art materials and tech-based supplies are thrown into the ring together. Past projects have included creating a Makey Makey mini-arcade, making found-object sculptures from discarded electronics, and using electro-luminescent (EL) wire and glow-in-the-dark screen-printing ink to make light-up clothing and accessories.

Since no experience is required to take part, Maker Club also provides an opportunity for teens to learn and “level up” a variety of skills–from new artistic processes and creative problem solving, to circuit building, soldering and more. Group learning and collaboration is also a happy by-product of this process; oftentimes, the adult facilitators are learning just as much from the students as vice versa.

So why have a maker-type program in an art museum? To me, the ideas aren’t mutually exclusive, but rather complementary. In the latest issue of Make magazine, Don Undeen, manager of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s MediaLab, writes that all artists are, in fact, makers, and that museums have the potential to be a living forum where the two groups can talk to and inform one another.

There are even makers in the DMA’s collection, and those artists inspire the Makers Club members. Martin Delabano’s Family Portrait gave one teen the idea for this found-object sculture (pictured below). See how many makers you can spot in the DMA’s collection on your next visit.

Martin Delabano, Family Portrait 1963, 2001, mixed media, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bryant M. Hanley, Jr., Lorine and David H. Gibson, and Sonny Burt and Bob Butler

JC Bigornia is the C3 program coordinator at the DMA.

Happy Chinese New Year

Published January 31, 2014 Friday Photos Closed
Tags: Chinese New Year, Holiday, horse, Lunar New Year

Today is the start of Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year. Traditionally, this day marks the beginning of the plowing and sowing season, but this festive holiday also celebrates new life. All over the world, people are celebrating the Incoming Year of the Horse. So we rounded up some of our own horse artworks to kick off the Lunar New Year. Come visit our fabulous fillies tomorrow and then join in the celebration at the Crow Collection’s annual Chinese New Year Festival!

Artworks shown:

Antoine–Louis Barye, Turkish Horse, c. 1838, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund
Polo horse tomb figure, China, 618-907 A.D., Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Rothwell
Harrison Begay, Indian Woman on Horse, 1952, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase
Horse-and-rider figure (elesin Shango), Yoruba peoples, Africa, Nigeria, Owo, 17th to 18th century, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.
Bank Langmore, Horse Silhouette, Bell Ranch, New Mexico, 1974, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Paul Brauchle
Horse and rider, Boeotia, Greek, 6th century B.C., Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Clark
Cynthia Brants, Horse and Rider, n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, Creative Arts Guild fund, Seventh Southwestern Exhibition of Prints and Drawings, 1957
Deborah Butterfield, Horse #6-82, 1982, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Edward S. Marcus Fund
Anthony Gross, Horse Bath, 1954, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred L. Bromberg

Andrea Severin Goins
Interpretation Specialist

Happy 30th Anniversary 1717 N. Harwood

Published January 29, 2014 Archive Closed
Tags: 1984, 30th anniversary, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Harwood Street

January 29, 1984, was a warm, clear day. At 12:15 p.m. a ribbon was cut . . .

Ribbon cutting ceremony on January 29, 1984, marking the grand public opening of the Dallas Museum of Art’s new downtown location.

Visitors poured into the new galleries . . .

First visitors in the new museum, January 29, 1984

First visitors in the new Museum building, January 29, 1984

And the great city of Dallas finally got the great art museum it deserved.

Brochure with slogan "A great city deserves a great art museum" encouraging Dallas residents to vote "yes" in the 1979 bond election providing funds to build the new Dallas Museum of Art.

Brochure with the slogan “A great city deserves a great art museum,” encouraging Dallas residents to vote “yes” in the 1979 bond election to provide funds to build the new Dallas Museum of Art

Hillary Bober is the digital archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Get Immersed in Contemporary Art

Published January 28, 2014 Art & Teaching Closed
Tags: Art, Contemporary Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Pop-Up Art Spot, senses, Tyler Rutledge, works of art

Have you ever wondered how it would feel to create a painting over eight feet tall and almost seven feet wide? If so, stop by our newest Pop-up Art Spot in the Contemporary gallery and get immersed in Richard Diebenkorn‘s Ocean Park No. 29. Visitors of all ages are invited to assemble a life-size puzzle of this painting with large pieces of felt. Just be ready to get physical as you bend over, stretch, and reach as far as you can to put it together!

Toast rack

Tea strainer with caddy

Pickle jar on stand with tongs

Ice bowl and spoon

This Pop-up Art Spot engages other senses, too: use your sense of touch (unusual in an art museum!) as you explore the texture of oil paint on small canvas samples or pair different scents with the colorful paintings around you.

Below is our upcoming schedule for the Pop-up Art Spot. We change locations from week to week, so be sure to visit us between February 11-16 to engage your senses!

February 11-16: first floor, Contemporary gallery

P.S. – This Pop-up Art Spot was created by our wonderful intern Tyler Rutledge, who was featured in a blog post last month.

Melissa Gonzales
C3 Gallery Manager

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