Posts Tagged 'collections'

Friday Photos: National Puzzle Day

How well do you know the DMA collection? Celebrate National Puzzle Day by putting your memory to the test and guessing which works of art these puzzle pieces come from. Read the rhyming clues if you want some extra help, then check your answer by clicking the link under each set of puzzle pieces. No cheating!


Find this painting and much more
hanging on the 2nd floor.


It’s not a painting – here’s a hint:
These are pieces from a print.


Filled with colors bright and bold,
This work’s thousands of years old.


Sometimes you just need to sit,
Maybe rest your legs a bit.


If you’re looking for more hands-on puzzle action at the DMA, stop by the Pop-Up Art Spot on the 4th floor in March to recreate a life-size version of Ocean Park No. 29 by Richard Diebenkorn. Happy puzzling!

Paulina Lopez
McDermott Graduate Intern for Visitor Engagement

Student Voices Coming to a Smartphone Near You

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Last October, staff from the Center for Creative Connections, Founder and Director of Make Art with Purpose Janeil Engelstad, and Skyline High School Architecture program teacher Peter Goldstein began a new project building on a past collaboration at the DMA.

Translating Culture: Community Voices at the DMA originally started as an initiative to create links with the community by providing different platforms to share varied perspectives on the collection. After a very successful first collaboration with AVANCE Dallas, the project took a second life with a group of 11th grade Architecture Cluster students at Skyline High School.

After months of hard work, Translating Culture II: Community Voices at the DMA will finally launch on the DMA.mobi site this coming Friday, May 15. That night as part of Late Night, we’ve organized two programs for visitors to engage with this new project.

The events scheduled for the night include a self-guided tour throughout the Museum of new stops (which are both in English and Spanish) and an opportunity to meet up with the students themselves. You can find maps with the outlined stops at the Center for Creative Connections from 6:00 p.m. until midnight. And you can join us there from 8:00-9:00 p.m., where students will be available to talk to visitors about the project, their individual contributions to the site, and to share about their overall experience.

To spark some excitement about the launch, I thought I would speak to two of our key people in this project–Janeil and Peter–and ask them a few questions about Translating Culture II and their expectations for the future. I leave with you their answers below. Be sure to check out the student contributions on DMA.mobi beginning May 15!

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Describe Translating Culture II in one sentence: 

Janeil: Translating Culture II: Community Voices at the DMA is a bi-lingual, Spanish-English, smartphone tour where museum goers engage with and experience interpretations of art work in the DMA permanent collection from the point of view of students from the architecture cluster at Skyline High School.

Peter: It’s a program that provides students with the opportunity to share their insights, observations and experiences with works of art in the DMA collection.

15877460231_9f1789c3e8_kSkyline Students

How will this collaboration contribute to the DMA and the community of Dallas?

Janeil: Translating Culture II is a statement by the DMA that the voices and ideas of people from different Dallas communities and cultures are a relevant part of the dialogue about art. I see this statement as gesture or a sort of offering that creates new spaces for engagement and play. Through the process of the project, new relationships and connections between the institution, the collection and the community have been built, which is a new and valuable thread in the fabric of the community.

Peter: The DMA is an invaluable part of our community–it is a unique place of learning and inspiration with a diverse collection of art from around the world. The DMA encourages and facilitates student and community involvement through a wide range of activities focusing on their outstanding collection of art.

In your opinion, what do you think was most valuable about this project?

Janeil: The expression of diversity and inclusion around art was most valuable, providing access and bringing under-represented voices into the larger cultural conversation, which is a key part of MAP’s mission.

Peter: The Translating Culture II project allowed students to engage in a conversation about works of art that spoke to them on a personal level. The students discussed and analyzed the artworks they encountered, and then created responses that are a reflection of their own unique interests and perspective.

Art has the ability to communicate beyond geographic boundaries and across time. With the support and guidance of the DMA and MAP, the students involved in this project were able to explore works of art from artists and cultures around the world, and then embark on a journey to communicate their ideas and discoveries for others to enjoy.

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What do you hope will come out of Translating Culture in the future?

Janeil: I hope that the visitor who takes one of these tours has his or her imagination lit in a way that inspires new thinking or new ideas, and brings joy.

Peter: Our hope is that the work you see on the DMA.mobi site will spark the interest of other students (and adults!) and inspire them to explore the incredible richness and diversity of the Dallas Museum of Art. Translating Culture is about discovery–and sharing those discoveries with others.

Eliel Jones
McDermott Intern for Visitor Engagement

Thanksgiving Still-Lifes

Inspired by the DMA’s newest exhibition, Bouquets: French Still-Life Painting from Chardin to Matisse, I thought it would only be appropriate for my first Canvas blog post to incorporate still-lifes from our collection. So with Thanksgiving just behind us, I wanted to share some my favorite food-related still-lifes in our collection.

This 17th century still-life makes even the most wonderful Thanksgiving leftovers seem bland. Anyone care for some lobster?

Abraham Hendricksz Van Beyeren, Still Life with Landscape, 1650s, Dallas Museum of Art, The Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle Collection, gift of the Hoblitzelle Foundation

Abraham Hendricksz Van Beyeren, Still Life with Landscape, 1650s, Dallas Museum of Art, The Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle Collection, gift of the Hoblitzelle Foundation

After all of the yummy turkey, stuffing, casseroles and potatoes , how about some fruit (and maybe champagne) to lighten your leftover hangover?

Severin Roesen, Fruit Still Life with Champagne, 1848, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Pauline Allen Gill Foundation

Severin Roesen, Fruit Still Life with Champagne, 1848, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Pauline Allen Gill Foundation

The Friday after Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday all on its own. I like to stay in, enjoy my friends’ and families’ company, relax and read the paper, and eat some yummy leftovers (maybe even a turnip or two!). It is the best part of the holiday weekend!

William Michael Harnett, Munich Still Life, 1882, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase

William Michael Harnett, Munich Still Life, 1882, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase

I hope you enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday! And if you didn’t finish your Christmas shopping last weekend or you’re looking for a cyber Monday fix, don’t forget to check the Museum Store’s website to find many unique presents and local crafts!

Happy Holidays!

Madeleine Fitzgerald
Audience Relations Coordinator for Programming

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The DMA is positively blooming with floral still-life paintings this winter, thanks to the amazing works on view in Bouquets: French Still-Life Painting from Chardin to Matisse. Visitors can enjoy these paintings and even find a bit of creative inspiration in a sketching gallery, outfitted with a fresh floral arrangement, drawing supplies, and a place to display their drawings.
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Inspired by the exhibition, DMA staff took a turn curating their own still-life creations. From traditional to offbeat, we hope you enjoy these interpretations of this classic genre that has inspired artists for centuries. If you’re feeling inspired, create your own still life and post it to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #BouquetsDMA—you may just see yourself retweeted!

Anthea Halsey is the Senior Marketing & Social Media Manager at the DMA.

Art Beyond Sight at the DMA

October is nearly over and at the DMA we have had another fun month of Art Beyond Sight programing. This is our eighth year of presenting programs related to Art Beyond Sight and many of our programs focused on exploring works of art using senses other than vision. Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month, sponsored by Art Education for the Blind, is celebrated by over 250 cultural institutions all over the world and focuses on the idea that everyone must have access to the world’s visual arts in order to fully participate in his or her community. At the DMA, we hope to not only make our programs welcoming to visitors of all abilities, but to specifically raise awareness of making art accessible to people with vision impairment.

John Bramblitt talking about his artistic process with visitors in the studio.

John Bramblitt talking about his artistic process with visitors in the studio.

This year several of our programs for families, from First Tuesday to Arturo’s Art and Me related to Art Beyond Sight themes. Children had the chance to experience tables full of various textures and smells on First Tuesday and explore the galleries on a family tour focused on the senses. Toddlers explored texture in the African Art gallery and learned about Braille and raised line drawings. Even Arturo’s Nest, our space for children aged four and under, was stocked with toys and interactives that highlight the senses.

For several of our programs, we welcomed artist John Bramblitt, who has collaborated with us on ABS programming for the past 5 years. We love having John as an integral part to our programs; he is a favorite summer art camp special guest and often a featured artist at past large Museum-wide events. This year, John gave a gallery talk with an overview of his process as a painter who is blind. John focused on the way that he integrates music, texture, and even taste into his artwork. John brought several paintings and invited visitors to look closely–even to touch, something that is rare in an art museum!

John also helped to lead Meaningful Moments, our program for visitors with Alzheimer’s disease. This is John’s fourth year to be a part of the program and he is definitely a crowd favorite! This year, we focused on immersing participants in a sensory experienced focused on two paintings in the American galleries. John shared how he integrates a sense of place into his landscapes and then participants described the paintings in detail to John, as he sketched their descriptions onto a Styrofoam sheet. Over the years, I have noticed that visitors give some of the best and most detailed descriptions of artwork when asked to share their thoughts with John–and his drawing of the described painting certainly amazes! To help immerse visitors into each artwork, we played related sounds, shared scents that connect to the paintings, and passed around tactile objects inspired by the works. In the studio, participants used numerous materials with a range of textures to create their own textural landscape.

For both Late Night Studio Creations and our homeschool program, John helped us to explore artwork with music. In the studio, participants listened to different elements of the same song (vocals, piano, or the percussion instruments) and imagined a color for the song before creating a shape or design with oil pastel using their chosen color. After gluing their shapes to a larger piece of paper, John played the song in its entirety and invited visitors to imagine a color for the song. Visitors used watercolor paint to paint over their shapes to create their own musical-inspired artworks. The process of cutting shapes and piecing them together was inspired by one of John’s recent studio experiments of cutting up and reassembling dried paint. For the homeschool program, we linked the musical studio activity to the galleries through a discussion with John about a painting by Georgia O’Keeffe that was inspired by music and movement.

We have had so much fun with John this October for an enjoyable month of sensory exploration. For more information about the Art Beyond Sight programs at the DMA, please click here.

Amanda Blake
Head of Family, Access, and School Experiences

Friday Photos: Superheroes!

Firefighters, doctors, policemen – heroes are all around us…even in art! In the August Arturo’s Art & Me class, visitors met some of the heroes of the DMA, including Vishnu, a Hindu god, and Takenouchi, a Japanese warrior. Then, the little heroes-in-training made heroic outfits to match their super personalities.

Check out the fun below!

 

Emily Wiskera
Graduate Intern for Family and Access Teaching

Friday Photos: Old Haunts, New Friends

Museums often seem to inspire very personal and strong emotional bonds, and it is not uncommon to hear people talk of specific works in a collection or favorite locations within a building as akin to “friends and family.”  As a former DMA Education employee who has recently returned to the Museum, I have enjoyed spending the last several weeks rediscovering some of my favorite spaces and works of art here.  Of course, along the way, I have stumbled across some new works of art and changes at the DMA that I am becoming newly acquainted with!   I thought I would share this –admittedly quirky and idiosyncratic– tour of “old haunts and new friends.”

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I have always loved the tree that grows in the middle of our upper office area, particularly when viewed from one of the hallways radiating from it.   Also, the tucked-away chairs at the corner windows on the fourth floor are my favorite place to sit and read a few pages of a book during a break, followed only by the view of Fleischner Courtyard from the Mayer Library (Did you know we have a fantastic library the public is welcome to use for research?)

 

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Another favorite object is one of Winston Churchill’s paint sets, tucked away with a wonderful assortment of his letters, telegrams, small works on paper, and assorted memorabilia in the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection.

 

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As a lover and student of Surrealism, I was delighted to see two works on view that I had not previously viewed in person: René Magritte’s Our Daily Bread (Le Pain Quotidien), 1942, and Dorothea Tanning’s Jeux d’Enfants, 1942.  The deep-set frame of  the Tanning is particularly lovely, I think!

 

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Nearest the Ross entrance in the Founder’s Room are a set of window panels designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, originally from the Francis W. Little House in Deephaven, Minnesota.  It was interesting viewing the geometrically-designed “grilles” in the window against one of the orange-and-white striped hanging cloth panels in Daniel Buren’s Sanction of the Museum from 1973.

Finally, there is a little tucked away kitchenette in the Museum’s office area where I was always fascinated by a framed Dallas Morning News front page from 1984 announcing the donation of the Reves Collection, and I was pleased to discover it was still there.  I love how this is an historical artifact of the worldly context during which this important collection was added to the Museum, a preserved moment in time akin to the recreation of the Reves’ villa here.

 

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Two newer features of the Museum that I am quickly becoming quite fond of are the recently acquired painting by Norwegian Romantic painter Johan Christian DahlFrederiksborg Castle by Moonlight, and the Conservation Studio across from the Founder’s Room.  Not only is the Conservation Studio fascinating to glimpse into, but the works on display outside it offer insightful peeks into little-seen aspects of objects like gallery labels and abandoned paintings hidden by frames.  (And, if you look carefully at my reflection in the window, it appears the female figure in the painting is tapping me on the shoulder.)

What are some of your favorite works of art and tucked away places here at the Dallas Museum of Art?  Please leave your examples in the comments!

 

Artworks shown (in order of appearance):

  • René Magritte, Our Daily Bread (Le Pain Quotidien), 1942, Dallas Museum of Art, Gift of Nancy B. Hamon in honor of Margaret McDermott.
  • Dorothea Tanning’s Jeux d’Enfants, 1942, Lent by Private Collection.
  • Frank Lloyd Wright, Window panels from the Francis W. Little House, “Northome” in Deephaven, Minnesota, 1912-14, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Greenlee, Jr.
  • Johan Christian Dahl, Frederiksborg Castle, 1817, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O’Hara Fund.

 

Josh Rose
Manager of Docent and Teacher Programs

Friday Photos: Contemporary Kids

Throughout the month of January, our Early Learning program participants have enjoyed spending time with contemporary art here at the DMA.

January’s Toddler Art class focused on the colors found in Sam Francis’ breathtaking Emblem. The toddlers had a blast pretending to mix and splatter paint onto the giant canvas!

We also celebrated a successful launch of the DMA’s newest class, Art Babies, designed for children 0-24 months and their caregivers.

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Amelia Wood
McDermott Intern for Family and Access Teaching

Artworks shown:

  • Mark Rothko, Orange, Red, and Red, 1962, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated
  • Sam Francis, Emblem, 1959, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated
  • Sam Francis, Untitled (Black Clouds), 1952, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, by exchange
  • Adolph Gottlieb, Orb, 1964, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase
  • Ashville Gorky, Untitled, 1943- 1948, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase, Contemporary Arts Council Fund
  • Clyfford Still, Untitled, 1964,  Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated
  • Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park No. 29, 1970, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated

Friday Photos: Back to School

The start of the new school year is upon us! It’s an exciting time for kids, adults and educators alike, so what better way to commemorate this time of year than by highlighting works of art from the DMA’s collection that have a scholastic connection. Peruse these works of art and think about how they relate to your memories of school. Do they inspire excitement? Dread? Nostalgia? Click on the images to learn more.

Artworks shown:

  • Olin Herman Travis, Country School House, n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. H. Belo Corporation and The Dallas Morning News
  • Thoth, God of Learning and Patron of Scribes, Egyptian, 663-525 B.C.,  Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Elsa von Seggern
  • Geoff Winningham, High School Prom, 1973, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Prestonwood National Bank
  • Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company, Library Table, 1865, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the 1992 Silver Supper and an anonymous donor in honor of Charles L. Venable
  • Howard Baer, My First Day at School, n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts, The Alfred and Juanita Bromberg Collection, bequest of Juanita K. Bromberg
  • Larry Brown, Untitled #8, 1986,  Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. I. C. Deal

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

DMA Staff Art Show

Last Friday, the Dallas Museum of Art Staff celebrated the opening of a new show, Crawl Space: Within the Walls, which features works of art by our very own staff. Crawl Space turns the spotlight around onto those who make possible the other wonderful exhibitions on view here at the Museum. In this show, you will find a myriad of subjects and media by representatives from many of the DMA’s departments, from curators to grant writers to the gallery attendants who insure the safety of our collection.

I asked the participants to consider their pieces in relation to the DMA’s permanent collection by responding to the question: “If you could have your work installed next to something from the DMA, what would it be?” Here is a sampling of the responses:

“I would love it if my two photographs could flank [Andrew Wyeth’s That Gentleman]. I believe the images all have similar tones that reflect stillness, reflection, and solitude.” – Reagan Duplisea, Associate Registrar for Exhibitions, 4 years at the DMA

  • Andrew Wyeth, That Gentleman, 1960, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Art Association Purchase.
  • Reagan Duplisea, Ascendez (Tribute to Madame J, I), 2010
  • Reagan Duplisea, Descendez (Tribute to Madame J, II), 2010.

“I would like to have Banquete Chair with Pandas installed next to my collages. My collages are playful and speak to 1950s consumer culture while the Campana chair does something similar with a 21st century sensibility. Also, both may be said to deal with the theme of animals run amuck.” – Dana Harper, Assistant Librarian, 4 years at the DMA.

  • Dana Harper, Dream Kitchen #1, 2012.
  • Fernando and Humberto Campana, Banquete Chair with Pandas, designed 2006, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund.
  • Dana Harper, Dream Kitchen #2, 2012.

“I would love to see my painting, Garden of Earthlike Planet Delights, paired with this mask. The mask is primal, dark, mysterious, and speaks of danger and tribal ritual. I love listening to the big three Diaghilev-era Stravinsky ballets in sequence and on ‘repeat all’ while I paint. For me, it isn’t hard to imagine some faraway, earthlike, but strange world in our galaxy where there may exist primitive humanoid tribes experiencing life in ways similar to our own prehistoric times.” – David Caldwell, Gallery Attendant, 1 year at the DMA.

  • David Caldwell, Garden of Earthlike Planet Delights, 2012.
  • Northern New Caledonia, Mask, late 19th – early 20th century, Dallas Museum of Art, The Roberta Coke Camp Fund.

“I would want my drawing to go next to Sir Winston Churchill’s Self-Portrait from the Reves Collection. It’s a very simple colored pencil drawing of a pig. I think my drawing (of my dog, Cooper) would have a lot of fun hanging out with Churchill’s drawing.” – Hayley Dyer, Teaching Specialist, 2 years at the DMA

  • Winston Churchill, Self Portrait, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection.
  • Hayley Dyer, Mon Petit Chien, 2012.

“I have always been fascinated with using people as my subject matter, because from a simple gesture, expression, attire, or scene, there is almost always a story behind them.” – Kay Sims, Lead Security Supervisor, 15 years at the DMA

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Last Respects, 1887, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection.
  • Kay Sims, Sketchy Doodles, 1989-2011.
  • Rembrandt van Rijn, Three Heads of Women, One Asleep, 1637, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Calvin J. Holmes.

“If my piece, Tie Down Thoughts with a Culinary Flair, could be installed next to something from the DMA’s collection, I would imagine it flanked by Bruce Conner’s Knox and Robert Rauschenberg’s Night Hutch. Both of these artists layer found images and objects, resulting in a uniquely recontextualized composition. The layers range from subtle, delicate pieces of cloth referencing “hoarfrost” to attention-grabbing objects protruding from the surface of a chunky assemblage. The layers in my work are meant to mimic the inner layers of the subconscious and how they relate to our outward perceptions. Both of these artists have greatly influenced my understanding of creating a language through mixed-media.” – Nicole Norton, Visitor Services Assistant, 1 year at the DMA.

  • Bruce Conner, Knox, 1963, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund.
  • Nicole Norton, Tie Down Thoughts with a Culinary Flair, 2012.
  • Robert Rauschenberg, Night Hutch, 1976, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the artist.

Crawl Space will remain on view through January 6, 2013 in the Mezzanine 2 hallway.

Alex Vargo
McDermott Intern for Gallery Teaching


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