Posts Tagged 'exhibition'

A Caribbean-Style Blast from the Past

Whenever I peruse the DMA’s photography collections in the archives, I find something unique in history that catches my eye. Sprinkle a bit of research on top, and voilà . . . I’ve uncovered something for Uncrated!

This time my interest was sparked when I saw this photo of a palm tree in the galleries. And my curiosity grew when I spied a Carmen Miranda-esque basket of fruit and oversize seashells next to it.

Gulf Caribbean International Art Exhibition, June 3–July 13, 1956
Southern Methodist University, Hamon Arts Library, Bywaters Special Collections Gift of Dr. Richard Bywaters and Mrs. Jerry Bywaters Cochran

The palm tree, and the other Caribbean-type accoutrements, added to the atmosphere of the DMFA’s installation of the Gulf Caribbean International Art Exhibition in 1956. The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to celebrate the work of contemporary artists living in the areas surrounding the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea: Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Surinam, Trinidad, Venezuela, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The exhibition was large, with over 160 works, including paintings, sculpture, and ceramics.

Gulf Caribbean International Art Exhibition, June 3–July 13, 1956
Southern Methodist University, Hamon Arts Library, Bywaters Special Collections Gift of Dr. Richard Bywaters and Mrs. Jerry Bywaters Cochran

It was also sponsored by Brown & Root, Inc., a heavy engineering and construction company, which allowed for ten purchase prizes for MFA Houston. Prizes were awarded to six foreign and four American artists. The three top $1,000 prizes went to Alejandro Obregon of Colombia; Cundo Bermudez of Havana, Cuba; and Seymour Fogel of Austin, Texas (“Foreigners Take Over Art Prizes,” Dallas Morning News, April 5, 1956).

Gulf Caribbean International Art Exhibition, June 3–July 13, 1956
Southern Methodist University, Hamon Arts Library, Bywaters Special Collections Gift of Dr. Richard Bywaters and Mrs. Jerry Bywaters Cochran

The DMFA installation of the exhibition, which traveled to four other venues after it closed in Dallas, was considered to be “as invigorating a treat that has come our way in many seasons. There is creative taste in its selection (and creative display)” (“Collection Has Talent to Spare,” Dallas Morning News, June 3, 1956). The author of the article continues the compliment: “the uniformly high level of quality in the paintings [is] matched for a change in the sculpture and ceramic entries with favorites hard to come by.” The exhibition would be remembered and noted as one of the most important exhibitions of 1956 in both Seventy-five Years of Art in Dallas (1978) by Jerry Bywaters and Now / Then / Again: Contemporary Art in Dallas 1949-1989 (1989) by Richard R. Brettell.

Gulf Caribbean International Art Exhibition, June 3–July 13, 1956
Southern Methodist University, Hamon Arts Library, Bywaters Special Collections Gift of Dr. Richard Bywaters and Mrs. Jerry Bywaters Cochran

I hope you have found this 1956 visit to the Gulf and Caribbean eye-catching and interesting as well.

Hillary Bober is the Archivist at the DMA. 

 

 

Back to School: 2016 Fall Teacher Programs

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Arthur John Elsley, Hard Pressed (Any Port in a Storm/Late for School), 1898, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Kim Jordan.

Calling all teachers! We hope your back to school experience bears no resemblance to Arthur John Elsley’s Hard Pressed (Any Port in a Storm/Late for School), so we’d like to help you start the year off on the right note! Check out our Teacher page to discover upcoming opportunities and helpful tips for incorporating the DMA into your lesson plan this year.

We offer a wide variety of resources for educators including information on K-12 Student Visits, Gallery-Guides, Teacher Resources, and more. Be sure to peruse the Types of Student Tours we offer, to get a better idea of the opportunities available to you and your students here at the Museum. As you’ll notice, we’re offering a new STEAM tour this year! You can also schedule a Docent-Guided Tour or a Self-Guided Visit of upcoming special exhibitions, Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt and Art and Nature in the Middle Ages. Helpful tip: be sure to submit your request at least three weeks in advance of your visit to see a paid exhibition for free!

Interested in visiting the Museum with your fellow teachers? You can schedule a Teacher In-Service here at the Museum, or register for an upcoming Teacher Workshop (more on that below!) We’re always looking for new ways to support and celebrate educators, so please be sure to sign up to receive our emails and check the box for Information for Teachers to stay connected.

Here at the DMA, we’re looking forward to the opening of the claw-some new exhibition Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt on Sunday, October 9, and we want educators to take part in the fun with a Teacher Workshop. The exhibition explores the role of cats and lions in ancient Egyptian mythology, kingship, and everyday life, featuring material from the Brooklyn Museum’s world-famous Egyptian collection. Our workshop on Saturday, October 22, will provide educators with the opportunity to enjoy the exhibition before public hours while learning strategies to teach, interpret, and use works of art in the classroom and Museum galleries. Register here–What more purr-suasion do you need? Space is limited, so sign-up right meow!

We look forward to seeing you and your students at the DMA this fall, and we wish you a smooth start to the new school year!

Lindsay O’Connor
Manager of Docent and Teacher Programs

Art’s Inspiration

 

Image of Art Smith photo by Arthur Mones, 1979

Image of Art Smith photo by Arthur Mones, 1979

Last weekend, From Village to Vogue: The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith opened at the Dallas Museum of Art.  In connection with this exhibition, the Center for Creative Connections is pleased to have on view a “Baker” Bracelet by Art Smith, along with a collection of tools owned by the artist.  Because a different “Baker” Bracelet is also on view in the exhibition, we faced the challenge of providing information that would expand on and not simply duplicate the information included in the exhibition.  In the months prior to installing the bracelet, I  learned that “Baker” referred to Josephine Baker.  So, naturally, my first question (and the one that I thought visitors might have) was “Who is Josephine Baker?”

As it turns out, Josephine Baker led quite an amazing life.  Baker was an African-American dancer and singer, who rose to fame in France.  In 1926, her performance in the popular show La Folie du Jour cemented her celebrity status.  During World War II, she worked for the French Resistance both entertaining troops and smuggling hidden messages in her sheet music.  After the war she returned to the United States and was an advocate for the Civil Rights movement.  Her efforts were acknowledged by the NAACP, who named May 20th “Josephine Baker Day.”  Baker, loved for her singing, dancing, fashion and beauty, was greatly admired by artists and writers of the time such as Langston Hughes, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pablo Picasso.  However, what I found most intriguing was that she inspired several sculptures by Alexander Calder.  Calder is known to have been an influence on modernist jewelers like Art Smith, and so their mutual interest in Baker caught my attention.

 

What similarities can you notice in the lines, shapes, angles, and curves between the bracelet and the images of Josephine Baker?

Visit the Center for Creative Connections to see the “Baker” Bracelet and Art Smith’s tools and to learn more about Smith’s inspiration and process.  On view through December 7, 2014.

Jessica Fuentes
C3 Gallery Coordinator

Friday Photos: Hope, Happiness, and Love

Last week, I wrote a blog post for our Uncrated Blog about a community project we are currently hosting in C3. Any and all visitors who enter C3 are invited to contribute to a growing collection of words that relate in some way to the concept of light, inspired by our current exhibition Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World. Check out the post and see the work of art that inspired this project, as well as a time-lapse video of our tree slowly but steadily budding leaves with our visitors’ ideas.

Nur students

Many visitors stop to read the words that others have left behind, regardless of whether they add one of their own. Below is a just a sampling of the thousands of visitor contributions that have been added over the past two months. The size of the words is directly proportionate to how many times they appear on the tree.

Nur wordcloud

Visit Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World through Sunday, June 29, 2014. Visit C3 afterward and add your own idea related to the concept of light!

Melissa Gonzales
C3 Gallery Manager

 

Friday Photos: Turn Your Classroom into an Exhibition!

Last month I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon touring the DMA with four Gifted/Talented students from Bland Elementary. In preparation for an exhibition they were planning at their school, they wanted to learn how museums design gallery spaces, considering decisions such a display, framing, labels, chronology, etc. Ms. Carissa Brophy, the Gifted/Talented teacher at Bland Elementary, recently answered a few questions about this project. We hope the success of her exhibition can inspire a similar project at your school!

How did you develop the idea for a student art exhibition? Is this something you have done in the past?

Ms. Brophy: Students discussed what areas of study we could look at for the year and decided that art was an area our small school could improve upon since we do not have an art teacher at our elementary… The group decided that we could take all of our individual works and create a mini-museum for our school to view. This was a new concept for us.

During the tour, what did your students learn about exhibition design?

Ms. Brophy: My students learned that the space around art can impact the experience of the viewers–small art may need an intimate or small space while large art can fill a large room and be a focal point. Frames can impact the experience of the patron… [and] must match the style so they do not overpower the art. The students [also] learned that you should label artworks to identify medium, type of display mat, artist’s name, year created… and labels should not interfere with the viewing [experience].

What do you think the students gained from visiting the museum? What information did they take away from the experience?

Ms. Brophy: They learned to look at art from different perspectives… They [also] gained knowledge of ways to display collections of art [and] appreciation for other’s art.

How was this new information translated into the exhibition design for your classroom?

Ms. Brophy: We viewed the space in our room with the desire to create flow for our patrons to enjoy all the student-created art, not just stand in one spot.

Are there any elements of the exhibition that you found more successful than others?

Ms. Brophy: Students loved the entire experience [and] parents said they loved the [classroom] museum. We had several comments on the digital tour the artists recorded for their display.

Do you have any suggestions for teachers who want to adapt this idea for their classroom?

Ms. Brophy: Have fun and let the students make it their own!

A huge thank you to Ms. Carissa Brophy and all of her students at Bland Elementary! And congratulations on your wonderful exhibition!

Hayley Prihoda
McDermott Intern for Gallery and Community Teaching

 

Getting Schooled at the DMA

Over the next couple of months, as you’re wandering down the concourse of the DMA, you may notice an eclectic mixture of vibrantly colorful paintings, intricate sculptures, detailed music compositions, and even essays on display just outside the Center for Creative Connections. That’s because our 16th annual Young Masters exhibition is underway!

The Young Masters exhibition is the product of a collaboration between the Dallas Museum of Art, AP Arts Strategies and the O’Donnell Foundation, in which Dallas area high school students who are completing AP Art History, Music Theory or Studio Art courses are invited to submit work to be chosen for display. A whopping 732 works were submitted for this year’s exhibition and from those, 60 final works of art were chosen.

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Tuesday night marked the DMA’s annual Young Masters Reception and Award Ceremony in which members of the Dallas community came together to recognize and celebrate the talent of this year’s selected students. The night began with family, friends, students, and teachers crowding into the concourse to take photographs with the selected works of art.

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The celebratory photographs and mingling were followed by everyone making their way into Horchow Auditorium to recognize each individual student and reveal a selected nineteen students who received top honors in the exhibition. Ceremony attendees heard a reading of the top selected essay, listened to a beautiful performance of the top selected music composition, and learned more about the artistic process and inspiration behind the top selected works of studio art.

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Though most awards have been announced, there are still ways that you can get involved with the exhibition. During March and April Late Nights, be on the look out for staff or volunteers who will be handing out People’s Choice Award fliers for you to cast your vote in any of the three exhibition categories. You can also learn more about selected works from the exhibition at the March and April Late Nights when students are interviewed here at the DMA.

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Amy Elms
McDermott Intern for Visitor Engagement

Friday Photos: Emotional Performances

Last month, Shannon Karol and I led a group of K-12 teachers through the Cindy Sherman exhibition.  The goal of this teacher workshop was to encourage educators to explore the artistry of both Cindy Sherman and photography by examining works of art spanning Sherman’s forty year career. We investigated themes of identity and performance as we considered Sherman’s role as photographer, model, art director, make-up artist, and stylist.

We concluded the workshop with a performance-based activity that shed light on Sherman’s artistic process.  Each teacher was given an emotion card and–without revealing their specific emotion–was asked to direct a partner to convey this emotion through facial expressions, body language and costumes. Everyone had a great time dressing up and playing director–take a look at the entertaining results!

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Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

What I Learned from the Stark Museum

Last week, I traveled to Beaumont with Jessica Harden, the DMA’s Director of Exhibition Design, to present at the Texas Association of Museums Annual Conference.  Together, we presented on the topic of Building an Interactive Art Exhibition with two colleagues from the Stark Museum of Art: Allison Evans, Registrar, and Elena Ivanova, Chief Educator.

Hands-on spaces and interactive art exhibitions have been on the rise in art museums. In 2008, we launched the Center for Creative Connections (C3), a permanent space dedicated to providing interactive learning experiences for visitors of all ages. Our portion of the presentation addressed the changing nature of the C3.  Over the years, the space has evolved and transformed, bringing in new works of art and offering a variety of experiences. The Stark’s portion of the presentation spoke to their experience of developing a temporary interactive exhibition called Explore Art: Materials and Methods Revealed. From July-September 2012, this exhibition enabled visitors to “discover the techniques and tools artists use and have the opportunity to create their own art in hands-on areas.”

When gauging the success of these types of exhibitions, art museum educators are hoping visitors will slow down, spend time looking, and have a meaningful experience with works of art. On average, visitors to the Stark spent thirty minutes in the exhibition. 57% of visitors stopped and looked at works of art for a significant amount of time and 48% of visitors were able to mention a specific work of art that they remembered from the exhibition.

Being a smaller institution, the Stark cannot dedicate a permanent space like C3 within their museum. However, they have been able to implement some of these interactive aspects into their new exhibitions. Take a look at some of the recent interactives they have integrated below.

Many museums look to us at the DMA as an example of how to achieve this type of exhibition. We are fortunate to have supportive staff and donors who believe in the mission of C3, and enable us to continually offer these types of experiences to our visitors. What I learned from the Stark Museum was that small institutions are also prime places for similar initiatives, on a smaller scale.

Jessica Fuentes
C3 Gallery Coordinator

Exciting Things in Store for 2013!

2013 is only two weeks old, but it is already looking to be a fantastic year!  This is a groundbreaking year for the Museum, and as always our goal is to invite everyone to have an unforgettable experience with the DMA.  This is just a sneak peak into the many exciting activities and engaging programs that will take place at the DMA this coming year.

dma_friends_partners[1]Free General Admission!! Perhaps the most exciting news of the year: the DMA will offer free general admission to everyone beginning January 21st.  We are in the midst of planning some fun opening-day activities, including tours of the collection, performances in the galleries, art-making activities and much more!  In addition to free general admission the Museum is also offering free membership which we are calling DMA Friends.  Everyone who comes to the Museum can join the DMA Friends program free of charge.  This unique approach to membership values participation and engagement, and DMA Friends will gain expanded access to Museum programming and will be rewarded for their activity within the Museum and in the local cultural community.  Stay tuned for more information about this exciting program or learn more from our Director, Maxwell L. Anderson.

Events and Programs

  • Late Nights at the DMA Every third Friday of the month the Museum stays open until midnight and offers a multitude of experiences for visitors of all ages. Join us Friday, January 18th as we celebrate the DMA’s 110th birthday! Dance the night away to the music of Brave Combo, join in on a special workshop with guest artist John Hernandez, whose work Hi-C Avenger is currently on view in the Center for Creative Connections (C3), explore our special exhibitions, compete against other teams in a Creativity Challenge, go on personal tours, and more! Check our Late Night page for a complete schedule of upcoming events.
  • Autism Awareness Family Celebration February 2nd The DMA is a leader in providing inclusive experiences for a diverse set of audiences. The Autism Awareness Family Celebration provides a safe, comfortable way to introduce the Museum to families of children with autism and show them how they can have a successful visit to the DMA with their child on the Autism Spectrum.  The Center for Creative Connections will be open and available before the Museum opens, from 9am – 11am, for parents and children to play and enjoy art together in a fun environment. Participate in staff-led gallery experiences, enjoy an interactive musical performance, and create a work of art in the studio. Pre-registration is required as space is limited.
  • First Tuesdays at the DMA The Museum arranges special, thematic programming on the first Tuesday of every month that is specifically designed for children ages five and under, but of course all ages are welcome! We invite families to enjoy thematic art-making activities, story times, performances, and gallery activities. Activities are focused on a different theme each month. February 5th: Materials Mania; March 5th: Over the Rainbow. Check our family page regularly for event updates and a complete list of activities.

Upcoming Exhibitions

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Marc Chagall, Entre Chien et Loup (Between Darkness and Night), 1943, oil on canvas, private collection

Chagall: Beyond Color February 17 – May 26, 2013 This beautiful exhibition places the prolific artist’s beloved paintings alongside his works in sculpture, ceramics, and collage to explore his relationship with space and volume. The centerpiece of the exhibition will be a display of costumes made by Marc Chagall in 1942 for the production of the ballet Aleko, choreographed by Léonide Massine with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The ballet’s première took place in September 1942 in Mexico City, followed by the Ballet Theatre of New York production, and the costumes have not been seen in the U.S. since. Dallas is the only US city to secure access to this exhibition, what a treat!

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Loren Mozley, Winter Fields, 1948, oil on canvas, collection of Susan and Claude Albritton III

Loren Mozley: Structural Integrity February 17 – June 30, 2013 Within the realm of Texas art, Mozley played a key role in shaping generations of young artists who received instruction from him during his tenure of thirty-seven years (1938-1975) in the art department at the University of Texas, Austin. The exhibition is the first retrospective of the artist’s work since 1978 and will bring together choice works by Mozley (1905-1989) dating from the late 1930s through the 1970s with the aim of re-visiting Loren Mozley’s bodu of work and revealing his debt to forerunners such as Cézanne, and his responses to modernist trends.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled, 1981, Type C print, Dallas Museum of Art

Cindy Sherman, Untitled, 1981, Type C print, Dallas Museum of Art

Cindy Sherman March 17 – June 9, 2013 Cindy Sherman is widely recognized as one of the most important contemporary artists of the last forty years, and is arguably the most influential artist working exclusively with photography. This traveling retrospective exhibition traces the groundbreaking artist’s career from the mid-1970s to the present and brings together more than 170 key photographs from a variety of the artist’s acclaimed bodies of work, for which she created numerous constructed characters and tableaus. This is the first comprehensive museum survey of Sherman’s career in the United States since 1997, the exhibition draws widely from public and private collections, including the DMA.

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Marble statue of a discus thrower (diskobolos), Roman period, second century A.D., © The Trustees of the British Museum (2012).

The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece May 5 – October 6, 2013 This internationally touring exhibition of more than 120 objects explores the human form through exquisite artworks exclusively from the British Museum’s famed collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. Iconic marble and bronze sculptures, vessels, funerary objects, and jewelry are among the treasures that explore the human form, some dating back to the second millennium B.C.

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Gene Gordon , John F. Kennedy reaching out to crowd in Fort Worth, November 22, 1963, 1963, gelatin silver print, Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Hotel Texas: An Art Exhibition for the President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy May 26 – September 15, 2013 In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the DMA will bring together the works of art installed in the president’s suite at the Hotel Texas during his fateful trip in 1963. The original installation, orchestrated by a small group of Fort Worth art collectors, was created especially for the president and first lady in celebration of their overnight visit to the city and included paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Thomas Eakins, Lyonel Feininger, Franz Kline, and Marsden Hartley, and sculptures by Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore, among others.

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Jim Hodges, With the Wind, 1997, Scarves and thread, Fuhrman, Amanda and Glenn, photo by Alan Zindman

Jim Hodges: sometimes beauty October 6, 2013 – January 12, 2014 This October, Dallas will premiere a major traveling exhibition and the first comprehensive survey to be organized in the United States on the work of contemporary American artist Jim Hodges. Co-organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and the Walker Art Center, this exhibition explores the trajectory of the artist’s twenty-five-year career, highlighting the major themes that unify his multilayered and varied practice. Comprising approximately seventy-five works produced from 1987 through the present, this exhibition examines how Hodges transforms both everyday and precious materials into poignant meditations on themes including time, loss, identity, and love.

We hope to see you soon!

Danielle Schulz
McDermott Intern for Family Experiences

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

It’s another gorgeous sunny day in November here in Dallas. This warm and temperate fall weather could not have been more perfect for the recent opening of the new Klyde Warren Park right across the street from the Dallas Museum of Art. Just two weeks ago, this new urban green space celebrated it’s grand opening with over fifty free programs and a whopping 44,000 excited visitors. The DMA also participated in the lively festivities, offering outdoor art-making workshops and even a re-enactment of the ancient Maya ballgame in connection with our exhibition The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico. The park continues to provide free daily programs, and has already become a populated community space beloved by the locals.

This 5.2 acre deck park features a children’s playground, a gated dog park, putting greens, ping-pong tables, a reading area, and plenty of open green grass to play or picnic on. With something for absolutely everyone, the park brings people together from all walks of life.

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If you’re taking advantage of this wonderful weather and want to explore some of the DMA’s outdoor spaces, we have a couple beautiful spots for you to check out as well. For a tranquil stroll surrounded by trees, waterfalls, and life size sculptures, I highly reccomend heading out to the Sculpture Garden: it’s the perfect place to find inspiration or relaxation.

The Fleischner Courtyard is another great outdoor space to enjoy some sun or shade.

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There are a few special areas of the museum where the archituecture allows for the exterior and interior space to interact, creating a sense of the natural world from the inside. One of my favorite such places is the Atrium Cafe, where colorful glass Chihuly flowers float in the frame of the floor-to-ceiling window. With the colors made vibrant by sunlight and romantic by moonlight, it’s a breath-taking sight at any time of the day.

The recent Karla Black installation titled Necessity seems to also create a similar relationship between man-made objects and nature. Cascading down from the ceiling in front of the glass doors to the Sculpture Garden, the cellophane of this large-scale sculpture catches the natural light and produces a sparkling, rippling effect much like a stream or waterfall. The holes in the sculpture and translucent material allow for glimpses of the trees and nature just beyond the doors of the artwork. While standing in the concourse it’s easy to feel as if you’re transported to an outdoor oasis.

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I hope you all enjoy this weather while it lasts- you now know where I go to soak up the sun!

Hannah Burney
Community Teaching Programs Assistant

Artworks used:

  • Dale Chihuly, Hart Window, 1995, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Linda and Mitch Hart
  • Karla Black, Necessity, 2012, Courtesy Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London and Galerie Gisele Captain, Cologne

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