Posts Tagged 'Family'

Make!

Pancakes, music, Lego towers, clothing, art . . . what do all these things have in common? They are things you can MAKE! Whether you sew, bake, build, invent, tinker, or play, it’s hard to deny the thrill that comes when you can exclaim, “I made that!” Here at the DMA, we whole-heartedly believe in the beauty of creativity, from the visions of the artists whose works fill our galleries to the imagination of the visitors who make the museum come to life. So why not throw a party to make merry over the joy of creativity?

On Sunday, April 7th, we’ll be celebrating the power and delight of making in all its many forms at our FREE Family Festival: MAKE! with an exciting lineup of activities for the entire family. Drop in throughout the day to:

  • Climb inside the Artscream Truck’s mobile art gallery
  • Enjoy a performance by the L.V. Stockard Middle School Mariachi Pantera de Oro
  • Meet award-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales
  • Giggle and wiggle as ventriloquist Nancy Worcester performs with her furry friends Waco the Weasel and Larry the Crocodile
  • Watch artist Natalia Padilla transform the ABCs into extraordinary animal art
  • Work with your family and friends to create a community art piece
  • And so much more!

Activities are offered in both English and Spanish. Ver el calendario completo en español.

We hope you’ll make it a date and come celebrate with us!

Leah Hanson is the Director of Family, Youth, and School Programs at the DMA.

Nesting

This week, we open the new and improved Arturo’s Nest in our Center for Creative Connections (C3)! The old play areas and design were so well loved that it was time to refresh and re-imagine this beloved play-learning space for our youngest visitors. The Exhibitions team and I had the pleasure of collaborating with the Education Department to come up with a fresh design that harmonizes with the updated Young Learner’s Gallery just around the corner in C3.

Some of the changes we made include installing new carpet (with giant polka-dots) to help with ambient sound, and applying a brand-new landscape to the walls, courtesy of our Exhibitions Graphic Designer, Kevin Parmer. We’ve added a nightscape to a previously plain wall, which adds to the calming and enveloping charm of this space. For our design team, this project was a playful departure from the many ongoing exhibition design projects in the Museum galleries.

Material samples used in the Arturo’s Nest redesign

There will be a new “nest” structure (coming soon) that will also function as a reading nook, and the daytime landscape will be dotted with interactives that engage our youngest visitors’ budding aesthetic sensibilities. We invite you to explore Arturo’s Nest upon its reopening!

Arturo’s Nest space before

Arturo’s Nest space after

Skye Malish-Olson is the Exhibition Designer at the DMA.

Blast Off Art for All!

Throughout January, our preschool visitors went on an imaginary space journey through the contemporary galleries where they learned about outer space and the roles of astronauts. We pretended Martin Puryear’s Noblesse O. was our rocket ship as we blasted off to look for new planets in the Museum. Some of the planets we discovered were John Chamberlain’s Dancing Duke and Alejandro Puente’s UntitledThe kids were asked which planet they would live on, and what else they would find there. Lots of young explorers said Dancing Duke would be full of robots and skyscrapers, while Untitled would be very cold and icy!

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After our gallery adventure, the kids went to the art studio to make some outer space art to take home. For Arturo’s Art and Me classes, the young space explorers made galaxy paintings. The studio was split into two stations: the first was a splatter paint station to fill up their night sky canvas with colorful stars, and the second, a shaving creme station where they made planets for their galaxy.

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The young artists gently dipped, dabbed, and dripped onto their backgrounds.

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(Some not so gently…Our friend here doesn’t seem too upset about the paint on her face and hair bow though!)

Once their backgrounds were completed, it was on to the shaving creme station. Here, kids dripped vibrant liquid watercolor into trays of shaving creme, then swirled it together to create a beautiful planet pattern. Next, they pressed pre-cut circles into the shaving creme, then squeegeed off the excess creme to reveal a beautiful intergalactic swirl left below!

Next, the young artists glued their planets onto their backgrounds, and viola! A whole new out of this world galaxy painting. Their work speaks for itself, I think!

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This activity is super easy to do at home! If you don’t have liquid watercolor to add to the shaving creme, food coloring works great too! If you need some more instructions on the shaving creme prints, check out Jennifer’s great blog post on the topic, and if you are interested in attending Arturo’s Art and Me or any of the other great classes at the DMA, click here!

Grace Diepenbrock
McDermott Intern for Family and Access Teaching

Friday Photos: Family for All

We know there’s no one definition of family.

There’s family we’re given and family we choose,
Family we luck into, family we couldn’t bear to lose,
Family that’s near and family we miss every day,
Family for hugs and reminding, “It’ll all be okay!”
From parents to grandparents, sister to brothers
(All those whom we couldn’t replace with any others),
Aunts, uncles, and cousins – the list never ends,
Coworkers and communities, good friends and best friends,
And let’s not forget pets! Dogs and cats, too,
For a friendly tail wag or nuzzle when we’re blue.
Let us wish for your holidays (should you celebrate any –
I won’t name them all for I know there are many):
Enjoy some time with your family, be it minutes or hours,
And please know we’re so grateful to count you in ours.

With love,

Jennifer Sheppard (and everyone else at the DMA!)
Teaching Specialist

Let’s Get BooksmART!

 

Our literary and performing arts series Arts & Letters Live just announced the 2017 lineup of award-winning authors and performers, and we are just overflowing with excitement! Arts & Letters is the only literary series that is part of an art museum (that we know of!), and we love celebrating the connections between reading, writing, and art! Every year we host some wonderful children’s authors, and this year is no different. Get cozy with these books while the weather is still chilly, then come see us at the DMA to make some artful literary connections with the whole family!


the-inquisitors-tale-coverAdam Gidwitz
Sunday, February 26, 3:00 p.m.

Adam Gidwitz is the New York Times bestselling author of the Grimm trilogy. He spent six years researching his latest book, The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, in which the adventures of three children take them through medieval France to escape prejudice and persecution. They save sacred texts from being burned, get taken captive by knights, face a farting dragon, and face a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel. Learn more.

Before the talk, your family can embark on a scavenger hunt exploring works of art in Art and Nature in the Middle Ages.


thumb-erin_philipsteadErin and Philip C. Stead
Tuesday, April 4, 11:30 a.m.

Erin and Philip Stead live and work side by side creating heartwarming stories such as A Sick Day for Amos McGee, winner of the 2011 Caldecott Medal. Erin’s forthcoming book Tony returns to themes of friendship and loyalty with the late poet Ed Galing’s tale of a boy and his horse. Philip’s latest, Samson in the Snow, highlights the power of simple acts of kindness to bring hope and light to even the coldest world. Learn more.

Following their talk at 3:30 p.m., join us for an illustration workshop (ages 6 and older) led by Erin and Philip Stead. Advance reservations strongly recommended as space is limited.


playbookKwame Alexander
Saturday, June 10, 2:00 p.m.

New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander kicks off summer reading with his latest book, The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life. A strategy guide written with middle grade readers in mind but motivational for all ages, The Playbook “rules” contain wisdom from inspiring role models such as Nelson Mandela, Michelle Obama, Lebron James, and more. The author of 21 books, Alexander received the 2015 Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor for his book The Crossover. Learn more.


See the entire lineup for the January-June season to see if your favorite author will be coming to town this year. Hope to see you there!

Madeleine Fitzgerald
Audience Relations Coordinator

Friday Photos: Mural Mania

In celebration of Nicolas Party’s installation along the Museum’s concourse, our September Home-school and Family Workshops focused on the world of murals. After walking through the “magical underwater forest” as one participant called it, families had an interactive lesson about different forms of public art, including murals, installations, and graffiti. They were challenged with a matching game of pairing local Dallas murals to their locations, followed by a riveting game of Jeo-Party, a spin on the classic game show featuring questions about the artist.

After taking another closer look at Pathway, we came back to the studio to create our own larger than life masterpieces. Using vibrant chalk pastels on large sheets of butcher paper, the young artists had a blast creating their murals!

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Our next Family Workshop is on Saturday, October 8 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. You can register and find out more information here!

Grace Diepenbrock
McDermott Intern for Family and Access Teaching

DMA Education Staff Braves ‘Icemageddon’

This past weekend brought freezing temperatures and several inches of ice to North Texas. As the outside world turned into a scene similar to Church’s The Icebergs, the DMA shut down, leaving us with an unexpected four day weekend. When we returned to work on Tuesday, I had fun polling members of the DMA Education team on how they spent their ‘Icemageddon.’

Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt

Frederic Edwin Church, The Icebergs, 1861, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Norma and Lamar Hunt

Home Time:

After getting over a bad case of the canceled Dallas Marathon blues, I hunkered down for a lazy weekend with my roommates complete with pajamas, a roaring fire, several baking experiments, cat snuggling, and season 1 of Doctor Who.

Leah Icemageddon

Leah Hanson also enjoyed nesting at home and spent her time off “warming up next to the fireplace, eating cookies and watching the movie Elf with friends.”

The crafty Danielle Shulz also spent her Icemageddon watching movies (making it through all five Harry Potter flicks!), and sewing some fabulous curtains. She was quite content to come back to work and find that her loving work pal, Stacy Lizotte, had made her delicious cookies during her time off.

Quality Kid Time:

The long weekend gave parents a chance to spend some quality time with their little ones. Melissa Gonzales spent her Icemageddon watching movies, making soup, and playing with her son, Eli.  She also completed a few craft projects during Eli’s naptime. Kudos to you, Melissa!

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Jessica Fuentes also kept busy with her daughter, Julia. “Being stuck inside with a 7 year old ball of energy for 4 days was fun and problematic.  We had to get outside, so my daughter opted to go sledding… she thought I should try it out, but I preferred to watch her. Julia also built a shelter to camp out in while we watched old Disney movies and I Love Lucy.”

Amanda Batson was able to get out of the Big D to spend an epic weekend in Austin caring for three little girls. “We had an incredible time staying safe and warm away from all the ice! We watched the new Disney movie Frozen, drank pink hot cocoa, played board games and had tasty s ’mores. On my way back to Dallas I stopped by the University of Texas at Austin campus where I completed my MA in Museum Studies to soak in some memories and then decided to get a new tattoo! But this trip would not have been complete without a visit to the nationally acclaimed Round Rock Donuts! At least I had delicious glazed bites to keep me calm through the scary, icy drive home.”

Outdoor Adventures:

Amy Elms, an Austin native, enjoyed exploring and taking photos of the the snow outside of her apartment. “I’ve mostly lived in cities that very rarely get snow or ice, so it’s always exciting when the area I live in is transformed into a winter wonderland! As soon as I woke up on Friday, I went and explored the park near my apartment complex. It was fun to crunch around in the ice and see all the icicles hanging from the trees. It was a little tricky to walk around without slipping and falling though!”

Amy Elms Icemageddon

Amy’s neighbor, Hayley Prihoda, also took photos of Dallas’ unexpected winter wonderland. She also spent time at Half Price Books where she kept warm and entertained.

A bit further up north, Madeleine Fitzgerald and a fellow Dentonian ventured out for chips and salsa to survive to Icemageddon. They soon discovered that they weren’t the only ones who had that idea…

Madeleine Fitzgerald Icemageddon

Although it was a bit foggy coming back to work after Icemageddon finally defrosted, it was fun to hear about how the DMA Education staff braved the storm. How did you spend your time off?

Amelia Wood
McDermott Intern for Family and Access Teaching

Friday Photos: Summer Programs

Summer is finally here! And there is no better way to spend that free time than to visit the DMA and take advantage of our engaging summer programs. Throughout June and July, visitors can explore works of art in the Museum’s galleries through sketching, family tours, story times, interactive games and more! There is no need to pre-register for these activities–just show up and enjoy them for free!

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And if you participate in our free DMA Friends program, you can earn the new Summer Family Fun Badge when you attend one tour, one story time, one sketching in the galleries, and one family game. We’ll see you soon for some summer family fun!
 
 
Danielle Schulz
Teaching Specialist

Friday Photos: Spring Break

Many families have enjoyed spending their Spring Break staycation at the Museum! We’ve had several activities this week including puzzles, interactive tours, and a family film, Dropping in on Picasso.

Families participated with our interactive Story Time, led by Museum Education staff who read books in front of related artworks and engaged children in a gallery activity. Kids (and a few adults) donned capes and crowns and pretended to fly across the sky in our photo shoot inspired by the exhibition, Chagall: Beyond Color. Adults and kids competed against each other in a battle of wits and creativity during our ART You SmARTer Than Your Grown-Up? game. Indeed, kids were smarter than their grown-ups!

Our week of fun culminates tonight during Late Night. Our theme this month is the Wizard of Oz, so the evening will be full of family friendly activities you won’t want to miss. And DMA Friends who drop by donning their favorite pair of ruby slippers will find a surprise waiting for them over the rainbow!

Holly York
McDermott Intern for Family Experiences

Seldom Scene: Noon Year’s Eve

We celebrate the arrival of 2011 a bit earlier than most during the second annual Noon Year’s Eve with Radio Disney and over 4,200 visitors joined us. Families enjoyed a morning filled with games, give-aways, art, and a countdown to the new year at 12:00 p.m. We had to share some of our favorite moments from that day with you on Uncrated, enjoy!



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