The DMA’s galleries house art from around the world, and each work has a story. Olivier Meslay, the Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art at the Dallas Museum of Art, shares insight about the recent acquisition Erminia and the Shepherds, by Guillaume Guillon Lethière. After you learn about the artist and the history of the painting, visit the work on Level 2 for free!
Posts Tagged 'Free'
Off the Walls: Erminia and the Shepherds
Published June 17, 2013 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Curatorial , European Art ClosedTags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Erminia and the Shepherds, Free, Guillaume Guillon Lethière, New acquisition, Olivier Meslay, painting
Hello, Summer!
Published May 27, 2013 Collections 2 CommentsTags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, Free, Memorial day, Summer
Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer. Enjoy a fun, free (and cool) summer at the DMA with free general admission every day during Museum hours and free activities every week. Check the DMA’s website in the coming weeks for details!
Nic Nicosia, Vacation, 1986, Cibachrome photograph, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Meisel Photochrome Corporation
Pop In to the Pop-Up Art Spot
Published May 8, 2013 Behind-the-Scenes , Center for Creative Connections , DMA Friends ClosedTags: Creativity, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, DMA Friends, Free, Pop-Up Art Spot
On January 21, the Dallas Museum of Art introduced our new Pop-Up Art Spot, a place for free artistic activities in our galleries! Each week, the roaming Pop-Up Art Spot can be found in a different location, such as in the European art galleries on Level 2 or the Asian art galleries on Level 3. When you stretch your creativity muscles at the Pop-Up Art Spot, you can earn points and a badge through the DMA Friends program. Currently, we have three locations mapped out for our cart ,and each location has activities specifically designed to let visitors slow down and enjoy a new experience with works of art.
Here’s an example. When the cart pops up to the 20th-Century American Art Gallery, you can explore how artists use simple shapes to make complex compositions. Activities include using Shape Stencils to make a sketch inspired by Gerald Murphy’s Watch. Is sketching not your skill set? Have no fear! See below for more ideas.
A Shape Stencil Drawing.
A Shape Stencil Drawing
A Shape Poem Response
A Shape Poem Response
When you join us on Level 3 near the entrance to the Asian art galleries, you will find a range of sketching and writing activities. Even the littlest visitors can look at the silver shrine and imagine themselves on top of an elephant. Or, if you are looking for something more challenging, take a Story Starter, find a work of art, and write a story about it. How will your story unfold from the introduction line that is provided?
Elephant Drawing
This week, you can find us on Level 2 in the 20th-Century European Art Gallery. There, you can choose from surrealist-inspired games and creativity games like Speed Sketching, Unusual Combinations, or Take a Chance Poetry. Speed Sketching is great for those with a competitive streak. Play the game and see who can draw the most details from a single painting in two minutes. Unusual Combinations is a great collaborative game where participants take turns contributing to a communal drawing; the end product is a fun surprise for all! Take a Chance Poetry is an easy way to write a poem using the words of an artist from our collection. Start with a poem, then simply black out words to create a new poem of your own.
Unusual Combinations
Take a Chance Poetry
Speed Sketching
The next time you visit the Dallas Museum of Art, look for a Pop-Up Art Spot to have a creative experience with works of art in our collection for free. You might walk away with a new perspective about a work of art, someone you’re with, or yourself!
Jessica Fuentes is the C3 Gallery Coordinator.
DMA Friends: A Daily Dose of Art
Published March 22, 2013 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , DMA Friends , European Art 1 CommentTags: Dallas Museum of Art, dinner and a movie, DMA, DMA Friends, European Art, Free, Rewards
“I travel a lot and always go to an art museum. But it’s expensive. Here—it’s free. I come all the time and stay like fifteen minutes…I get my daily dose of art.”
This month, Robert “Bobby” Kaufman became the first DMA Friend to claim a high-point-level reward offered through DMA Friends, the free membership program that launched in January 2013. “The quality of rewards is so high and a positive incentive for coming [to the DMA].” For 35,000 points, Bobby claimed the “Dinner and a Movie” reward. Come this May, he’ll dine on the DMA’s dime and watch a movie of his choosing with his invited guests in the Horchow Auditorium. Way to go, Bobby!
I sat down with Bobby for a chat last Thursday and discovered that he is without a doubt one of our most loyal DMA Friends. He stands out among our growing crowd of 5,500+ Friends who participate in DMA activities ranging from viewing art in the galleries to making something in the Center for Creative Connections to attending our weekly Gallery Talks. Bobby earns points by visiting and participating often, in short spurts. He spends most of his time in the American and European galleries, where he returns to favorite works and leaves feeling inspired. “I can’t paint. . . . But looking at the masters is a reminder to me to try to create something important.” An aspiring poet, he hopes to make his mark in the field of writing one day. He eloquently related to me how details in two of his favorite European paintings—in particular the gestures of figures in each painting—inspire him to be evocative and thoughtful when describing characters through his words.
Born and raised in Dallas, Bobby told me that he came to the Museum maybe once when he was growing up. Two years ago, his parents gave him a DMA membership when he took a teaching position in the English Department of a Dallas-area high school. Then, he started visiting the DMA every few months. Since the DMA returned to FREE general admission and launched the DMA Friends program in January, he’s visited nearly every day–often after school on weekdays. He opted not to renew his DMA membership because the DMA Friends program gives him exactly what he needs for an art museum experience.
Want to learn more about how to become a DMA Friend and earn points and rewards like Bobby? Visit DMA.org/friends and then come by the Museum to see us!
Nicole Stutzman Forbes is the Chair of Learning Initiatives and Dallas Museum of Art League Director of Education at the DMA.
It’s a Big Day for the DMA
Published November 28, 2012 Behind-the-Scenes , Collections , Curatorial , Dallas , DFW , Special Events ClosedTags: Dallas Museum of Art, DMA Friends and Partners, Free, Free Admission
Yesterday we announced our move to free general admission in 2013 along with the launch of an innovative free membership model, the DMA Friends & Partners program. DMA Friends & Partners will not only strengthen our existing relationships with you but also forge new ones, expand audiences throughout greater Dallas, and build a robust global online community.
The DMA Friends program will provide free membership to anyone who wishes to join and will include opportunities for increased access to Museum programs and staff. The DMA Partners program will seek the support of individuals, corporations, and foundations desiring to be a part of the Museum’s efforts to deliver access to its extensive collection and diverse public programs. DMA Partners are also welcome to become DMA Friends and earn rewards through engagement.
DMA Friends earn rewards by engaging with the Museum both at the DMA and online. We will also create a new online engagement platform through which virtual badges are awarded to Friends who really plug-in and make the DMA a vibrant place to be. Badges will give you new ideas about ways to use the Museum that you’ve never thought of before. Earning badges will unlock special rewards and recognition like free tickets to special exhibitions or behind-the-scenes tours with DMA staff.
Our reasons for going free can be explained very simply: the DMA values the participation of the public more than we value the modest return realized from paid general admission. Art museums are different from other cultural destinations because we don’t rely as much on admissions to pay the bills. Our model is closer to that of a public library: we receive substantial philanthropic support from generous individuals, government agencies, foundations, and corporations, and we serve the public by seeking an educational outcome, not a commercial one.
The best part of our work is in seeing how artworks from across 5,000 years of visual creativity can change the way we think about the world, and how we feel about ourselves, as individuals and as a society. We look forward to welcoming you and to learning together.
Find out more about DMA Friends & Partners in the Press Room and watch yesterday’s press announcement below.
Robert Stein is the Deputy Director at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Seldom Scene: Load Three Tons and What Do You Get?
Published July 23, 2012 Ancient Art , Behind-the-Scenes , Dallas , Exhibitions , Installation 2 CommentsTags: Ancient Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Free, Mexico, The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico, WFAA
We have been receiving and unpacking crates for a couple of weeks in preparation for the opening of The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico on Sunday, July 29. This exhibition contains a number of works weighing hundreds of pounds, including a sculpture of sandaled feet weighing more than three tons, so we brought in some extra equipment and helping hands to assist in the installation process, which you can see below. Join us this Saturday, July 28, for a free sneak peek of the exhibition (normally $14) during the WFAA Family First Day from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Photography by Adam Gingrich, Administrative Assistant for Marketing and Communications
