Posts Tagged 'behind the scenes'

Open Office: Exhibition Planning

It has been said that the environment we create is a reflection of our state of mind. For Skye Olson, Exhibition Designer at the DMA, this sentiment could not be more true. Her office is crisp and organized with pops of color peeking through exhibition models and paper diagrams. She is in the business of aesthetics, choosing paint, finishes, and elements that will showcase art in the best possible light. The clean lines of her office reflect the detailed approach she takes in designing exhibition spaces. Sneak a peek inside Skye’s Museum office:

skye

Seldom Scene: Installing Form/Unformed

A look back at the installation of Form/Unformed: Design from 1960 to the Present, the first comprehensive overview of our modern and contemporary design collections, on view in the Tower Gallery. Work in the gallery began in October 2010 for the Decemeber 19, 2010 opening. Below are a few shots of the installation process.

DMA exhibition staff, including preparators John Lendvay and Lance Lander and exhibitions graphic designer Kevin Parmer, install the newly opened Form/Unformed: Design from 1960 to the Present in the Level 4 Tower Gallery.

Photography by Adam Gingrich, DMA Marketing Assistant.

 

 

Setting the Exhibition Stage: Gustav Stickley

Have you ever wished you could see what goes on behind closed doors at the Museum before an exhibition opens? Well, we want to bring you in on the action with a few scenes from the installation of the DMA-organized exhibition Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement, which opens this Sunday. If you can’t wait until the February 13 to see more, you are in luck! A FREE sneak peek of the exhibition begins at noon on Saturday.

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Stay Up Late – Late Nights Turn 8!

Back in 2003, when the Museum was turning 100 years old, a team of staff members came up with the idea to keep the Museum open for 100 hours straight to celebrate the occasion. No closing of the doors, no sleep for staff, all hours access for our visitors.

Our 100 Hour Celebration saw over 45,000 visitors in the Museum, and they came at all hours. We were excited to see people in the galleries at 4:30 a.m. looking at works of art, or dancing in our Atrium to DJs at 1:00 a.m. This showed us that people would come to the Museum if we kept our doors open after “normal” operating hours. Throughout the rest of the year, we experimented with after-hour events called Impressionist Evenings, where we worked out the types of programs offered, the best day of the week to hold the event, and how late we should stay open.

After a year of experimenting, Late Nights were born in January 2004. Now, on the third Friday of every month (except December), the Museum is open until midnight, and visitors can explore our galleries, participate in family experiences, go on tours, enjoy concerts, meet artists, and so much more.

This Friday, January 21, will kick off the 8th year of Late Nights. To celebrate, I have put together Late Nights by the Numbers:

77 – Number of Late Nights since 2004
323,989 – Total attendance for all Late Nights
35,557 – Number of visitors at our best-attended Late Night, in June 2007, featuring a concert by Erykah Badu
2 – Number of Arturo puppets we have (one is dressed in PJs and bunny slippers for Late Nights)
203 – Number of tours given during Late Nights
4 – Number of Best of Dallas awards Late Nights have received from the Dallas Observer
298 – Number of cases of water we have supplied for performers
95 – Number of films we have screened during Late Nights
19 – Number of different DJs who have spun at a Late Night, some more than once
8 – Number of times our visitors have done the Chicken Dance during a Late Night, which is every time Brave Combo performs

Stacey Lizotte is Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services.

Seldom Scene: A Weekly Snapshot

 

A DMA conference room where great programming ideas are born.

Uncrated Gets Crated

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:


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