Posts Tagged 'families'



Artful Eggs

The Easter holiday is almost upon us, and I for one am so excited to decorate Easter eggs! I am proof of the fact that this festive activity is for children and adults alike. Moreover, if approached in the right manner, decorating Easter eggs can be downright artistic. Beautiful eggs don’t require expensive materials or a BFA–in fact, all it takes to create some slamming shell designs is inspiration, imagination, and a few items found around the house!

Step 1: Boiling the eggs. Boiled eggs stand up better to the treatment required to decorate eggs (dyeing, drawing, wrapping). Place eggs in a medium sized pot and add enough water to reach about an inch above the eggs. Bring water to a roaring boil, remove from heat, then cover eggs for 15 minutes. Drain water, and allow eggs to cool. (This step can be accelerated a bit by placing eggs in a bowl of water in the refrigerator).

Drying rack made with flathead pins and foamcore.

Drying rack made with flathead pins and foamcore.

Step 2: Preparing the materials. As I said, artful eggs require simple materials: newspaper, food coloring, spoons, tongs, glass cups or mugs, white vinegar, a small paintbrush, tempera paint, hot water, Styrofoam board, and flathead pins. Placing flathead pins in a grid pattern on foam board creates a great drying rack for dyed eggs.

To mix colors, place 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 2/3 cup hot water in your cup along with 3 drops of food coloring. Add more drops to darken the dye. This is a great (albeit stinky) way to review color mixing with kids–experiment and see what fun colors you can come up with!

Step 3: Finding inspiration. Inspiration can come from a variety of sources, but for this year’s batch I’d recommend using the DMA’s permanent collection as a muse. The Museum’s encyclopedic collection provides a wealth of ideas, and, who knows, you might gain some artistic insight during the art-making process! When choosing works of art I looked for bright colors, simple shapes and bold lines, as these would lend themselves well to my oblong canvases. Here are the four works I decided upon:

Step 4: Decorate! Before diving into your artistry, wipe each egg down with some vinegar (this will prepare the shell for the dyeing process).  It was interesting to use works of art that employed different decorative techniques.

  • The Matisse egg was first dipped into an orange dye for two minutes (increasing the amount of time in the dye will lead to a darker color).  After the egg dried, a small brush with tempera paint was used to add blue and green leaves and red berries.

splat

  • To create the neutral background of the Pollock, the egg was dipped into orange and then blue dye (about 10 seconds each). I was then able to perform my own version of action painting!  With my paintbrush I flicked, splattered and flung watered-down black, white and grey tempera paint onto the egg. (Action painting can get messy, so newspaper comes in handy!)
  • Rothko’s contemplative color duo was completed by dipping the bottom of the egg in the orange dye (for about 30 seconds) and the top in red (30 more seconds). The egg should be left to dry between each dip. The middle portion of the egg was not taped, since I think the frayed edge caused by the dye enhanced the Rothko-style.
  • Completing the Mondrian egg took a little tempera paint and patience! Who knew that painting a grid pattern onto a rounded surface isn’t the easiest thing to do. With the straightest lines I could muster, I painted Mondrian’s primary color scheme onto the clean, un-dyed surface of the egg. It took a few layers of paint (left to dry in-between) to achieve more opaque colors.

Step 5: Display and Enjoy! 

Artful eggs. L-R: Henri Matisse, Ivy Flower; Jackson Pollock, Cathedral; Mark Rothko, Untitled; Piet Mondrian, Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Black, Yellow, and Gray

Artful eggs. L-R: Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Piet Mondrian

These artful eggs are too good to keep to yourself!  Share your masterpieces with us through Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or even post them here on DMA Canvas–we’d love to see your DMA inspired works of egg-art! Now that you’ve completed your artwork the real question emerges: which will taste better, a Matisse or Pollock deviled egg?

Artworks Shown:

  • Henri Matisse, Ivy in Flower, 1953, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation
  • Jackson Pollock, Cathedral, 1947, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Reis
  • Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1952,  Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated
  • Piet Mondrian, Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Black, Yellow, and Gray, 1921, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of Mrs. James H. Clark

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

Special thanks to Alex Vargo for her eggcellent work.

Anytime Activities: Family Fun Tote Bags

Anytime_ToteBags_edu21

Family Fun Tote Bags

As part of the DMA’s return to free general admission, the Education Division is creating a host of activities that can be utilized by visitors anytime the Museum is open.  The Family Fun Tote Bag is an anytime activity we are particularly excited about and eager to share with families.

Each tote bag is centered around a specific theme, like Color or The 5 Senses, and is filled with a variety of collaborative activities that are appropriate for children of all ages.  Activities fall under four categories–Write, Make, Talk, and Play–and therefore support diverse learning styles and cater to personal interests.

WRITE – Visitors interested in observation and reflection while in the galleries are invited to…

Family completing a writing activity in the American Art gallery.

Family completing a writing activity in the American Art gallery.

– Use their senses to write a poem about what they see in an artwork.

– Generate a Mad-Lib using sensory adjectives.

– Compose a postcard to a friend about a work of art.

– Create a narrative based on a work of art using story dice.

 

 

MAKE – For the family members eager for hands-on activities the tote bag encourages…

Creating with the Materials Grab Bag

– Sketching a work of art with mixed-up, wacky colors!

– Creating a 3-dimensional illustration by drawing on a styrofoam sheet.

– Using a viewfinder to focus on and sketch specific details of an artwork.

– Producing a unique, site-specific work of art in the galleries using the Materials Grab Bag.

 

 

TALK – Enthusiasts of discussion-based activities will enjoy…

Color mixing activity

Color mixing activity

– Working as a family to talk about a work of art using as many movement words as possible.

– Searching for a favorite color in at least three different works of art and explaining what you like about each.

– Using adjectives and sensory details to describe a work of art to a family member that has been blindfolded.

– Experimenting with mixing colors together using the color paddles, and describing what you see.

PLAY – Families with active learners will enjoy…

Playing a game in the galleries

Playing a game in the galleries

– Playing the card game Memory, with a colorful twist!

– Testing one another with brainteasers.

– Staging a game of charades inspired by the surrounding works of art.

– Following their noses to find a work of art that matches a smell jar from the bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beauty of the Family Fun Tote Bags is each individual family member can design their own museum experience based on personal interest!  Families can explore works of art together by participating in collective games and writing activities.  Or, for more individualized learning, each member can choose and perform a different activity while still sharing the same space.

Working on separate Tote Bag activities

Working on separate Tote Bag activities

Exploring new activities together

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Family Fun Tote Bags are still in the testing phase, but they should be available soon for visitors to check out in the Center for Creative Connections–so keep an eye out for them on your next visit to the Museum!

Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

Make Your Own Festive Holiday Ornaments!

Winter has always been my favorite season—it brings back cozy memories of home and the holidays. Growing up in Ohio, I loved how decorated homes would transform our neighborhood into a bright, festive place. Set against a background of snow, it was like a living Norman Rockwell painting.

To help rekindle that holiday spirit, here is a simple and fun way for you and your family to create ornaments together out of recycled materials from around your home!

Materials:
• Paper (patterned or construction paper, old drawings, book pages, posters, etc.)
• Scissors
• Hole puncher
• Ribbon, string, or yarn
• Stapler and staples
• Rotary trimmer or paper cutter (optional)

Instructions:
1. Using your rotary trimmer, cut the paper into strips; they can be any size you like as long as all the strips are the same (for reference, I used 1”x8” strips). If you don’t have a rotary trimmer cut the strips by hand using your scissors.

Materials

2. Stack an odd number of strips on top of each other—I find that seven to nine work best.
3. Find the top of the middle strip and stagger the rest of the strips stacked on top of and underneath it to create a pyramid shape. Staple the stack together to secure it.

Stacking

Stapling

4. Repeat the process at the other end of the ornament. The strips of paper will fan out, leaving you with a spire-like shape.

Bottom

Finished

5. To hang your ornament, punch a hole at one end and string a ribbon through it.

Punching Holes

Try using different colors combinations when you stack your strips of paper. Also, increasing or decreasing the distance that you stagger the strips will change the shape of your ornament. Experiment with different supplies to further embellish your ornaments such as glitter, paper edgers, or shape punches!

Group shot

Hanging

Have fun creating and have a happy holiday season!

JC Bigornia
C3 Program Coordinator

Texas Late Night

Howdy, y’all! This past Friday, the DMA showed folks a rootin’ tootin’ good time at our Late Night celebration of the Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas exhibition. With a theme as big as Texas, you can bet that there was lots to do here at the Museum. With live folk bands playing in the Atrium Cafe and in the galleries, visitors could hear old-time, toe-tapping, traditional Texas music almost anywhere they went. Adult crowds could be seen gathering for tours of the exhibition and  surrounding the watercolor demonstrations led by artist Scott Winterrowd. Lectures, talks, and films throughout the night also kept the adults scurrying from one program to the next. Families had a rip-roaring time in the Center for Creative Connections studio constructing their own Dallas building to contribute to a three-dimensional city skyline. Also in C3, kids created Texas-inspired bandanas and participated in Yoga for Kids. To get a peek at all the festivities, check out the slide show below.
.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

.
One of my favorite moments from the night was bumping into a family I had taught during a Go van Gogh Summer Library Program. When I stumbled upon them, they were in C3 doing yoga and discussing what kind of building they would create in the studio. They excitedly told me all about going into the Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas exhibition to see all of the works of art we had talked about during the Impressions of Dallas library program. “They know everything!” the kid’s impressed dad exclaimed. It is always a joy to see familiar faces in the Museum. To learn a little more about the Go van Gogh Library Program, check out Amy’s blog post from last week. Every participant receives a free family pass, which you could use at the next Late Night on August 17.

What was your favorite moment from the Late Night?

Hannah Burney
Go van Gogh Programs Assistant

Texas-sized Free Day!

Howdy, Texas!  Around these parts, we’re all pretty familiar with a fella named Big Tex, an icon of the State Fair of Texas in Dallas’ Fair Park area.  If Big Tex could take a stroll across town, you know he’d be sure to mosey up for some fun at the DMA‘s First Tuesday on July 3.  He could add some flair to his bandana in the art studio, join a roundup for stories and songs about Texas, search for Texas artwork treasures throughout the Museum, and more!  From 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, the DMA will be bustling with activities for families and kid folks.  We invite you to bring your pardners for the celebration on Tuesday, July 3, and kick off the national holiday a little early with some Texas pride.  General Museum admission is FREE!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Texas artwork treasures featured in the slideshow include:
George Grosz, Cowboy in Town, 1952, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. Harris and Company in memory of Leon A. Harris, Sr.

George Grosz, Dallas Night, 1952, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, anonymous gift in memory of Leon A. Harris

George Grosz, Cattle, c. 1952-53, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. Harris and Company in memory of Leon A. Harris, Sr.

George Grosz, Cotton Harvest, Dallas (Cotton Pickers), c. 1952-53, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. Harris and Company in memory of Leon A. Harris, Sr.

Nicole Stutzman
Chair of Learning Initiatives and Dallas Museum of Art League Director of Education

Cast Your Vote for the DMA and Nickelodeon's Parent's Picks!

The Dallas Museum of Art is nominated for Nickelodeon’s Parentsconnect Parent’s Picks Awards for Best Museum in DFW!  The Parents’ Picks Awards is a nationwide online poll that allows parents to vote for their favorite family places, products and parenting tips.  Help us make the DMA a TOP PICK.  Vote for the DMA online at www.parentsconnect.com/parents-picks from July 7th until August 31st.


Archives

Flickr Photo Stream

Categories