Posts Tagged 'DMA Friends'

Texas-Sized Tea with Friends

Published October 14, 2015 Collections , DMA Friends 1 Comment
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In September, a group of DMA Friends joined us for an exclusive and new DMA Friends rewards event: Tea Time, Deep in the Heart of Texas. We began our afternoon getting to know each other over Texas-inspired light refreshments which included sweet tea and lemonade paired with mini jalapeño cornbread muffins and mini buttermilk biscuits, baked fresh especially for us by the wonderful staff of the DMA Cafe.

Dallas Museum of Art_DMA Friends Tea Time, Deep in the Heart of Texas (9)_September 2015_Courtesy of Dallas Museum of Art

We learned interesting tidbits about each other, such as what artwork from the DMA collection Friends wanted to take home.  The Icebergs was the clear winner,  yet another Friend wanted to jump into The Ocean’s Bounty: Undersea Windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany!

Next, we ventured up to the Dozier study room, a meeting space named after and honoring Texas artists Velma and Otis Dozier. Rae Pleasant, the Museum’s  Research Associate for Early Texas Art, showed us objects in the collection that we might not ordinarily see as they are displayed in cases inside the DMA offices.

The “Tea Time, Deep in the Heart of Texas” reward gives DMA Friends a fun social interaction combined with a new way to engage with art. We heard interesting facts, perused archival material and shared personal reactions to the artworks in Dozier as well as in the Museum galleries. Best of all, we deepened and expanded our circle of art Friends!

Start saving your points now and be on the look out for a new tea time with a new theme at the beginning of the new year.

Tanya Miller is the Friends Community Manager at the DMA

Let’s Play Favorites

Published July 8, 2015 Collections , DMA Friends Closed
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There’s a lot to see in the DMA’s collection, so this summer we made it easy for you to view a selection of our highlights. From ancient to contemporary, from paintings to masks to sculptures, our #DMAfaves will have you exploring every floor of the Museum. Grab a #DMAfaves self-guided tour at the Visitor Services Desk and hunt for our twelve #DMAfaves throughout the DMA.

Green Tara, 18th century, Tibet, gilt copper alloy and turquoise, Dallas Museum of Art, the Cecil and Ida Green Acquisition Fund 2005.28
Alexander Calder, Model for Flying Colors, 1973, fiberglass and acrylic paint, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Braniff International in memory of Eugene McDermott 1973.103
Vincent van Gogh, Sheaves of Wheat, July 1890, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection 1985.R.80

Earn Friends points by checking in each time you find one of our #DMAfaves in the galleries. In addition to points, you’ll also receive a fact about every piece of art you find. Not familiar with our Friends program? Find out more here.

Friends Fact Pueblo Woman with Guide

Earn the #DMAfaves Friends badge by finding all twelve!

 

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We want to know your favorite pieces in our collection too! Take photos of your own faves, tag them with #DMAfaves, and post them to social media. We’ll share your pictures on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts all summer long.

 

Paige Weaver is Marketing Manager at the DMA.

Sound Waves

Published May 11, 2015 Behind-the-Scenes , DMA Friends , European Art , Late Nights Closed
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We have plenty in store to stimulate your senses during this Friday’s Late Night, and one program in particular is sure to hit the right note. As part of a special DMA Friends reward, DMA Friend Kyle West has created a soundtrack for our European collection on Level 2 that you’ll be able to enjoy that night. To whet your appetite, listen to this lively jig he paired with Seasickness on an English Corvette. We hope to see you Friday to hear the rest!

François Auguste Biard, Seasickness on an English Corvette (Le mal de mer, au bal, abord d'une corvette Anglaise), 1857, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of J.E.R. Chilton 2011.27

François Auguste Biard, Seasickness on an English Corvette, 1857, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of J. E. R. Chilton, 2011.27

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwmimUm4aeE

Sarah Coffey is the Education Coordinator at the DMA.

The Selfie Seen Around the World

Published January 21, 2015 Collections , DMA Friends , Social Media 1 Comment
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Today marks the second anniversary of DMA Friends and we are so excited to have over 90,000 friends! Today also happens to be Museum Selfie Day, with people sharing selfies in museums from around the world. Celebrate two years of free general admission and the DMA Friends program by sharing your DMA selfie with the hashtag #MuseumSelfie.

Enjoy a few of our favorite Museum Selfies from our DMA Friends, visitors, and staff. If you aren’t already a DMA Friend, sign up for our free membership program on your next visit!

Forward Facing

Published January 5, 2015 Collections , DMA Friends , Exhibitions Closed
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With the onset of a new year, it’s useful to take stock of what is up next at the Museum. At the end of January, we will mark the second anniversary of DMA Friends, our much-heralded free membership program. With more information gleaned from our visitors than ever before, we are excited to share insights among four major art museums exploring the opportunities presented by this program, thanks to a six-figure grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and DMA are partnering in a roll-out of the museum Friends program, and will have much to learn in the months ahead.

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Maxwell L. Anderson discussing the Wittgenstein Vitrine with AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Chris Heinbaugh

 

Following the evocative exhibition of 19th-century oils titled Bouquets: French Still-Life Painting from Chardin to Matisse, which local critics hailed as one of the best  exhibitions of 2014, we look forward to presenting three remarkable exhibitions of art of the last half-century. Between Action and the Unknown: The Art of Kazuo Shiraga and Sadamasa Motonaga opens on February 8 in the Hoffman Galleries, for the first time revealing some of the breadth of the Museum’s newly formed collection of postwar Japanese painting and sculpture, which augments an already major collection of European and American art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The newly acquired Marcia H Travels (1970), the first work in the DMA’s collection by the Guyanese-born British painter Frank Bowling, will be displayed along with four other paintings by Bowling from private collections. Frank Bowling: Map Paintings, opening February 20, will mark the first time in nearly forty-five years that these “Map Paintings” will be brought together since their debut at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1971.

Rounding out the spring, the US premiere of the internationally traveling exhibition, Michaël Borremans: As sweet as it gets, on the work of contemporary Belgian artist Michaël Borremans opens at the DMA in March 2015. Co-organized by the DMA and Center for Fine Arts, Brussels (BOZAR), this retrospective will draw our visitors into the fascinating realism of one of today’s most heralded painters.

A feast for the eye, all are made possible by the generous supporters of the DMA, to whom the Board and staff extend our sincere appreciation. I look forward to welcoming you to the Museum this winter and spring, and hope you will encourage others to join as DMA Partners to undergird free general admission—a year-round gift to our community.

Maxwell L. Anderson is The Eugene McDermott Director at the DMA

Celebrating Friendship: The First 12 Months of DMA Friends

Published January 13, 2014 Center for Creative Connections , Collections , Dallas , DFW , DMA Friends , Education , Late Nights Closed
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The DMA Friends program turns a year old this month, and what a year it’s been! Our DMA Friends have helped reshape the way people visit the Museum—collecting points and badges—and the experiences they have at the DMA. There are so many highlights that we decided to recap some of the greatest hits of the past 12 months.

January – Let’s Get This Party Started
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We launched the DMA Friends program, as well as our return to free general admission, with a day full of free activities on January 21, 2013. By the end of that first day, we had over 800 new friends. New DMA Friends have continued to join with enthusiasm—in fact, we welcomed the largest number of DMA Friends between December 26 and 31. Happy Anniversary, DMA Friends!

February – Busy Bees
February
The first full month of our new gallery activity, the Pop-Up Art Spot, was very pop-ular. DMA Friends love taking a creative break in the galleries with inspiration from the DMA’s collection. The Pop-Up Art Spot is currently the most popular activity for DMA Friends.

March – Rewarding Rewards

Lacey with her red hat

With all of their visits, activities and check ins, DMA Friends started raking in their points quickly. Our first high value reward, Dinner and Movie, was redeemed only two months after the launch of DMA Friends. It was the first of many special rewards redeemed this year, including the Art Beauty Shoppe reward, which you can read more about here.

April – Cindy Sherman Doppelgängers
April
We encouraged DMA Friends to test their creativity with our Cindy Sherman Super Fan activity. DMA Friends grabbed their wigs, costumes and cameras and tweeted their interpretation of Cindy Sherman for extra points and a bonus badge. DMA staff even got in on the fun—see more here.

May – Hera, Medusa and Zeus. Oh My!
May

Throughout the year, DMA Friends have had the opportunity to earn special limited-edition badges. In May, those who came to Late Night dressed as their favorite Greek hero received the Midnight Masquerade Badge, not to mention some adoring and impressed fans.

June – Indonesian Celebration
The DMA celebrated the award-winning catalogue Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art with a week of activities, which was right up our DMA Friends alleys. The DMA’s Asian Galleries received the most visits by DMA Friends, with over 18,000 check-ins!

July – The President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy
July
We were halfway through our presentation of the DMA-organized exhibition Hotel Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy in July. This exhibition was the most visited exhibition of 2013 by DMA Friends.

August – Into the Deep
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The DMA Friends reward Into the Deep was featured in the Dallas Observer in August. Since the launch of DMA Friends, 26 guests have explored the Museum’s art storage by redeeming this exclusive reward.

September – Coast to Coast
In September, we received great news: the DMA was awarded an IMLS grant to help fund the expansion of a platform of engagement based on the DMA Friends program to partner institutions, including the Denver Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Stay tuned this year for exciting news as their plans develop.

October – Late Nights, High Numbers
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Ten months into our program, we reached over 30,000 new DMA Friends! And they loved October’s Late Night, when we welcomed the largest number of new DMA Friends during our monthly event.

November – Overnight at the Museum
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Ten DMA Friends visited exhibitions, attended lectures, created art at the Art Spot and more to earn 100,000 points since the launch in January. Those DMA Friends and a few of their buddies were the first people to ever spend the night at the DMA. Read about their fun overnight adventure here and start saving your points now!

December – Feeling the Love
DMA Friends are making news around the world! In December, The Economist magazine put the spotlight on DMA Friends with its “How to Win Friends” article on the program.

Celebrate the first year of DMA Friends, as well as the DMA’s 111th birthday, this Friday during Late Night. We have a lot of fun events in store, including a few surprises for DMA Friends! Check out the Late Night schedule here to start planning everything you want to do.

If you aren’t already a DMA Friend, be sure to sign up for the free program on your next visit.

Kimberly Daniell is the manager of communications and public affairs at the DMA and Sarah Coffey is the assistant to the chair of learning initiatives at the DMA.

Hide and Go Seek: A Behind-the-Scenes Field Trip to Permanent Collection Storage

Published January 8, 2014 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Conservation , Curatorial , DMA Friends Closed
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A few months ago, the seven other McDermott Interns and I toured art storage with Anne Lenhart, associate registrar for the permanent collection. Each year, McDermott Interns explore the storage facilities and get a sneak peek inside the DMA’s collection. We spotted more than a few hidden gems during the tour, which you can find, too, through our DMA Friends program. DMA Friends points can be redeemed for an Into the Deep reward that explores art storage. See snapshots of the secrets of storage below!

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First stop, Main Storage: Adolph Gottlieb’s Orb, 1964, is rolled out for closer inspection. If you would like to see it for yourself, the painting is on view through March in the Museum’s Hoffman Galleries.
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Second stop, Conservation Office: Mark Leonard, chief conservator, works on a painting’s mounting in his old office. With the opening of the Paintings Conservation Studio in November, his work process is now on public display.
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Third stop, Photography: Here works, such as water pitchers, are photographed for publication.
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Fourth stop, Cold Storage: Marc Quinn’s blood heads have never been stored here. If they ever do come to the Museum, we’ll have the proper storage for them!
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Fifth stop: Textile Storage: Textiles are tightly packed on rungs.
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Sixth stop, Large Objects: While some artists do not designate what particular hardware and software to use for digital artworks, some do. We have a nice collection of “ancient” relics.
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Seventh stop, Prop Storage
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Eighth stop: Meso-American and Small Objects Storage: Anne gives Amy Kaczmarek a closer look.
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Temple Shipley is the McDermott Curatorial Intern for Contemporary Art at the DMA.

A Year of Launches, Anniversaries, and Free at the DMA

Published December 31, 2013 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Conservation , Dallas , DFW , DMA Friends , Education , Exhibitions Closed
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The year 2013 has been an exciting one at the DMA. We’ve welcomed more than 540,000 visitors, launched new programs, and hosted 11 exhibitions. Below are a few of the Uncrated team’s favorite highlights from the past year.

      • Going free!
        We returned to free general admission on January 21 and have loved every minute of opening our doors for free to the North Texas community.
      • Getting more than 41,000 new friends
        In January we launched DMA Friends, the first free museum membership program, and our new friends have been earning points on their visits and redeeming them for unique rewards for almost 12 months!
      • DMA sleepover
        Speaking of unique rewards, we hosted our first DMA Overnight in November. Ten DMA Friends redeemed 100,000 points to spend the night at the Museum with a guest while exploring the galleries after hours, participating in new DMA games and sleeping under the watchful eyes of Tlaloc.
        Overnight Guests
      • C3 got a facelift
        Come by and see new works of art and activities for all ages in the front gallery of the Center for Creative Connections on Level 1.
      • A sky of denim
        The DMA co-organized exhibition Jim Hodges: Give More Than You Take (on view through January 12!) is full of beautiful and interesting works of art, but we had the privilege of being the first venue to ever show his denim work Untitled (one day it all comes true). It was amazing getting to witness Jim Hodges viewing his completed work on display for the first time.
        hodges
      • Happy Anniversary!
        This was the year of anniversaries here at the DMA, including the 110th birthday of the DMA, the 80th anniversary of the Dallas Free Public Art Gallery becoming the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the 50th anniversary of the merger of the DMFA and DMCA, the 30th anniversary of the DMA Sculpture Garden opening, the 20th anniversary of the Hamon Building opening (which includes Level 4 and the Atrium), Arturo’s 10th birthday, and the 5th anniversary of C3.
      • From Greece to Dallas
        We had a year of amazing exhibitions, from a celebration of President Kennedy in Hotel Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy to the colorful world of Chagall’s sculptures, drawings and costumes in Chagall:Beyond Color, from the famous Discus Thrower from the British Museum in The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece to welcoming the local art community in DallasSITES: Available Space.
      • Art/Arte
        This fall we launched our first-ever bilingual (Spanish and English) guide for visitors, written by members of the Dallas community through a partnership program with AVANCE-Dallas and Make Art With Purpose. Pick one up at the Visitor Services Desk on your next visit.
      • Texas hops and barley
        This summer we had a Texas beer social for Museum staff and sampled brews that come from the Lone Star State. Uncrated team member Melissa Nelson Gonzales out- sipped the competition and won the beer tasting contest!
        beer
      • Eyes of the  Ancestors
        In June we celebrated the publication of our catalogue Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art and welcomed special guest Dhalang Purbo Asmoro, who hosted a public gamelan and wayang performance with musicians from Java, Bali and New York. This month, the book was named the winner of the 2013 International Tribal Art Book Prize.
        Indonesian_Celebration_Wayang_Performance_2013_047
      • Creative rest stop
        We launched a new program this year, the Pop-Up Art Spot, taking C3 into the galleries and inviting visitors to enjoy a creative break while exploring the Museum. Over 12,000 visitors of all ages have participated in drawing, writing and other creative activities!
      • New digs
        In 2013 a portion of the south end of the building was under renovation for the new DMA Paintings Conservation Studio (watch the transition here). Visitors can see into the DMA’s Conservation Studio and explore the conservation process in the adjacent gallery for free during Museum hours. A recent conservation project, Daniel Buren’s Sanction of the Museum, hangs in the Concourse and leads the way to the studio.
        conservationburen
      • A Texas-size howdy!
        Our Visitor Services Team, which greets every guest of the DMA when they walk through our doors or visit the galleries, also got a makeover. You may have noticed their friendly smiles and new outfits during your visits this year.
        GA

Thank you for helping us make 2013 a great year. We wish you a very happy new year!

Kimberly Daniell is the manager of communications and public affairs at the DMA.

Sleeping with Art: Not in the Biblical Sense

Published November 8, 2013 Behind-the-Scenes , DMA Friends 2 Comments
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A year ago, before the launch of DMA Friends, we were brainstorming unique and fun rewards to offer. One idea we all jumped on was to hold a DMA Overnight at the Museum. We decided that this would be the “big reward” for DMA Friends to redeem, worth 100,000 points!

Ten months later, ten DMA Friends had earned enough points to redeem the reward. So on Friday, November 1, we hosted our first DMA Overnight!

The Overnight Crew!

The Overnight Crew!

We started planning for the DMA Overnight late this summer, and the question that we kept asking ourselves was “what are we going to do with our guests this evening?” Could they roam free for hours on end, should we pack the evening with activities, would they even want to sleep at some point or test their endurance by staying awake the entire night?

Arriving at the Overnight!

After researching other museums’ overnight programs, which were mostly nature and science museums, we put together a schedule that included an hour of free time, a curator-led tour, three different gallery activities, a midnight snack, an optional early sleep time, watching a film or playing games, and finally a time for “lights out,” when everyone had to be in their sleeping bags for the night (which ended up being close to 4 a.m.).

Knowing this group had done a lot at the DMA (they did earn 100,000 points after all!), we wanted them to have a new experience in the galleries, so we created a game for the DMA Overnight called Roll with It! This competitive dice game took the guests throughout the Museum as they searched for a work of art that matched the roll of the dice. One die gave a gallery location, one gave a feature that the work needed to include (red, 3D, animals), and one gave an action for the guests to do (pose, sketch, make a sound) in response to their chosen work of art. The team that completed the most rolls in 30 minutes won the game.

Roll with It!

DMA Overnight by the numbers:

1,000,000 – points earned by 10 DMA Friends to attend the Overnight

23 – Friends

108 – glow sticks worn

3 – hand-made dice

10 – “art babies” created during the Creativity Challenge

1 – ghost story

5 – Friends who got up early to do yoga in the galleries

4 – average number of hours Friends slept during the DMA Overnight

Lights Out at the DMA

We were also excited to have Luke Darby from the Dallas Observer join us for the DMA Overnight. You can read about his experience here.

Stacey Lizotte is head of adult programming and multimedia services at the DMA, and designated RA of DMA Overnight.

Permanent Waves and Lipstick Craves

Published October 21, 2013 Behind-the-Scenes , DMA Friends , Guest Blog Post Closed
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When my husband, Bryan, unexpectedly told me that he had redeemed the Art Beauty Shoppe reward from the DMA Friends program, I could hardly contain my “blow-your-wig” (check out other 1930s lingo) excitement. Bryan and I are in love with the DMA. We are both researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and its close proximity to the Museum allows us to easily enjoy lunch breaks and late night events in one of our favorite places. I was particularly surprised that he had used his points because we were trying to redeem a voucher for the coveted Overnight at the DMA, which takes 100,000 points. (I was actually able to redeem it for us—see you there on November 1!).

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Lacey (second from right); her husband, Bryan; her friends; and Pouf stylists

With the Art Beauty Shoppe reward, three of my friends and I were able to have our hair and makeup done in 1930s style and then have photos taken in front of the DMA’s 1934 painting Art Beauty Shoppe by Isaac Soyer. Pouf Blow Dry Salon accommodated the four of us just as if we were the four customers in the painting.

I was elated to get to share my love of the DMA with some of my friends in such a “swell” way. So I gave my friends, Amanda, Stephanie, and Katrina, a “dil-ya-ble” and we hit the Internet and antique malls to find the perfect vintage-style dresses to wear for the occasion.

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Bryan had the idea of adding props to make us look as if we were actually sitting in the salon, waiting for our appointment. He found a spring 1934 edition of Women’s Home Companion for us to peruse. I could “bump gums” for hours on that magazine alone, but I digress.

Lacey with her vintage copy of Women's Home Companion

Lacey with her vintage copy of Women’s Home Companion

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Amanda was able to find a 1930s cigarette holder, Stephanie brought tons of “snazzy” 1930s-era costume jewelry, and, with the addition of my red hat and mirror, we knew we were going to look like a group of “hot tomatoes.”

Lacey with her red hat

Lacey with her red hat

Amanda with her cigarette holder (don't worry, there were no cigarettes!)

Amanda with her cigarette holder (don’t worry, there were no cigarettes!)

The day of the photo shoot went off with a “bang”! We had quite the “hop.” The ladies from Pouf did an amazing job. They even saved the day when Katrina’s hair hadn’t quite dried enough—she ended up with quite a cool up-do. With our “keen” makeup and “nobby” hair, we posed our hearts out in front of the compelling painting. It was so much fun!

Katrina with her updo

Katrina with her up-do

Stephanie with the vintage mirror

Stephanie with the vintage mirror

Then, to top it off, Sarah Coffey—DMA assistant to the chair of learning initiatives, and organizer of the event—wasn’t going to take back stage or “goldbrick” around. She gave us a history of the painting and style of the time period. What I found most interesting was that not only did Soyer have his friends pose for the painting, but the granddaughter of the woman with the red hat actually spoke to the Museum about the piece. She informed them that her grandmother had just been engaged to her grandfather prior to sitting for the painting, and you can actually see her engagement ring while her nails are being painted a bright red. It’s so fascinating that each piece in the DMA’s collection has its own unique and interesting human history. Thank you so much Dallas Museum of Art for bringing this piece to life for me during such a wonderful experience!

Lacey Smith is a DMA Friend and researcher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

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O'Keeffe may be her name, but this artist's work has been long eclipsed by that of her famous sister. Now #IdaOKeeffe's distinct creative identity is getting the spotlight it deserves in "Ida O'Keeffe: Escaping Georgia's Shadow". Opening TODAY, discover uA remarkable performance by @dallasblackdance in our American Art Gallery with choreography inspired by artist Dorothy Austin’s “Slow Shuffle”. See more #DMANights highlights in our story! . . #MyDMA #DallasMuseumofArt #AmericanArt #Dance #DancePerformanc
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