Holiday Shopping List 2012

With Thanksgiving a delicious, but increasingly distant memory, the holidays are now upon us! One of my {many} favorite holiday childhood memories is of watching the holiday TV specials—Frosty the Snowman, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and of course Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Do you remember Hermey, the elf who runs away from the North Pole because he wants to be a dentist? I like to think that perhaps he isn’t the only one and that there are elves working for Santa who dream of being firefighters, teachers, accountants, and even artists. So with Cyber Monday upon us, I’m stepping into my role as an art-loving elf and sharing some of my gift ideas for 2012.

For the littles (ages 2-4):

It’s nearly impossible to choose just one thing from the Mama May I shop, because everything is so beautiful, simple and well-made. The toys are open-ended, colorful, and inviting. Pair these counting acorns with the color sorting bowls for dramatic play, color recognition, sorting, and counting.

This Charley Harper take on the classic children’s puzzle not only introduces young children to the work of an American modern artist but also spans the breadth of the living world—mammals, insects, fish, amphibian and even a mollusk!

For the big kids (ages 5-8):

Painting has never smelled so good! GLOB’s natural paint set uses fruits, vegetables and spices to add color and scent to your child’s masterpieces.

When a Kiwi Crate arrives in the mail, you’ll be guaranteed hours of fun and exploration. Themed crates are filled with art materials, creativity sparks, science experiments and more. And with a monthly subscription, this is the gift that will keep on giving!

For the biggest kids (ages 9-12):

This isn’t your grandfather’s duct tape! With bright, modern prints and your child’s imagination, the possibilities are endless for what you can make with this Kid Made Modern Duct Tape Kit. I gave this to my nephew for his birthday, and he immediately tore into it with all kinds of ideas for things that suddenly needed tape. (And in a pinch, you can probably borrow a bit to tape up those boxes for the post office).

“Don’t worry about mistakes. Making things out of mistakes, that’s creativity.” Peter Max’s words set the tone for what Make Art Mistakes is all about—doodling, playing, imagining, creating. Quotations from artists mix with sketching and writing prompts, art concepts and mini-art lessons in this creativity sketchbook for budding artists. Pair this with a set of colored pencils and you have a great gift for the kid on the go.

Happy gift-giving!

Posted by: Leah

**All recommendations are purely my own!**

Friday Photo

DMA’s resident storyteller, Ann Marie Newman.

Bonjour mes amis! Tonight is Late Night at the DMA, and we’re all getting into a French state of mind in celebration of the Posters of Paris: Toulouse-Lautrec and His Contemporaries exhibition.  Our resident storyteller, Ann Marie Newman, is dressed and ready for this evening’s Arturo’s Bedtime Stories.  Stop by the C3 Theatre at 7:30pm tonight to sing songs and share interactive stories about French celebrities, le Chat Noir, and much, much more! Click here for a complete schedule of tonight’s French-inspired events and activities. Adieu!

Drawing with Light

If you stopped by the Center for Creative Connections during the October Late Night at the DMA, then perhaps you saw or experienced the wild creations in the Tech Lab.  Visitors of all ages were given 15 seconds to create a drawing with light.  Light Drawing has been around for nearly a century, and yet it remains a fresh, fun, exercise that many photographers experiment with today.  The influx of new light and camera technologies has made this concept more accessible.

First a word about how it works.  All cameras work by controlling light in two ways –through the aperture and the shutter speed.  The aperture or f-stop determines how much light is exposed in each shot. A smaller aperture, like f/2.8 results in more light being let through, while a larger aperture, like f/22 results in less light being let through:

The shutter speed controls how long the shutter is open.  If your shutter speed is 500, that means that the shutter is open for 1/500^th of a second.  If your shutter speed is 15, that means your shutter is open for 1/15^th of a second, therefore capturing more light (and action) over time:

For drawing with light, it’s best to have the shutter speed set for over 1 second.  When we took our visitors photos during Late Night, we set our shutter speed to 15 seconds.  You are probably best off setting your aperature to a medium setting like around f/8 or f/11.

So, how can you bring the magic of Drawing with Light into your home?  Here are some steps to get you started:

1. Gather materials: Digital Camera with adjustable shutter speed (all Digital SLRs are capable of this and some point and shoot cameras are as well); a tripod (or other way to stabilize your camera); a few light sources (laser pointers, cell phones, flashlights, Christmas lights, etc.)
2. Set camera to a manual setting where you can control the shutter speed.
3. Set the shutter speed to 15 seconds (or as slower if you want more time).
4. Set the camera on the tripod and position it as desired.
5. Turn off all the lights in the room.
6. Hand the kids the flashlights, laser pointers, etc.  and press your shutter button.
7. Now you have 15 seconds to make a drawing!

The great thing about using a digital camera to capture your Light Drawing is the instant feedback.  Take a few photos where your kids can just play with the lights, with no end product in mind.  After the picture is made, let them look at their creation.

You can keep it simple or get more complicated; work as a team, with one person posing while another draws around them; make words in the air; or dance with the lights and see what happens.  Above all, have fun!

Check out our slideshow for more inspiration.

Posted by: Jessica Fuentes

Artsy Pumpkins

Halloween is just three days away—is your pumpkin ready? Carving pumpkins was always one of my favorite family traditions. It usually took us an entire evening to choose the pumpkin, scoop out the inside slimy bits (yuck!), roast up the pumpkin seeds (yum!), and then decide what kind of face our jack-o-lantern would have. I had a tendency to stick to the traditional triangle-eyed, jaggedy-tooth smiley face.

If you have yet to decorate your own pumpkin, why not take an artistic approach this year? Think of your favorite artist and imagine how his/her style would look if the artist had worked on a pumpkin rather than a canvas.

Here are a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

Action painting pumpkin

Channel your inner Jackson Pollock by dripping and flinging paint onto your pumpkin to create a Jack{son}-o-Lantern. For a darker, spookier effect, draw your color inspiration from the Cathedral painting currently on view at the museum. Or try a rainbow of color by following Kathy Barbro’s tutorial on her blog Art Projects for Kids.

“Cathedral,” Jackson Pollock, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Reis

Pollock Pumpkin from Art Projects for Kids

Color Field pumpkin

In a preschool class I taught last week, the children decided that the orange featured prominently in Mark Rothko’s Orange, Red and Red was “pumpkin orange,” so it seems fitting that Rothko becomes the inspiration for another artsy pumpkin. Create floating fields of color on your pumpkin-canvas with spray or craft paint. Sibylle at the Funkytime blog used bright neon colors, but you could also create a pumpkin using different shades of just one color.

“Orange, Red, and Red,” by Mark Rothko, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated

Ombre pumpkin from the Funkytime blog

Lines and shapes pumpkin

For an even simpler pumpkin project, just use washi tape or scrapbooking tape to create criss-crossing lines of pattern across the pumpkin in the style of Piet Mondrian. Get the how-to at Real Simple here. Or use painter’s tape to section off areas for blocks of color like Bronwyn did on the Queen B Creative Me blog.

“Place de la Concorde,” Piet Mondrian, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of the James H. and Lillian Clark Foundation

Tape pumpkins from Real Simple

Mondrian-inspired pumpkin at Queen B Creative Me

If carving is more your style, check out this amazing slide show of art-inspired pumpkins at The Huffington Post.

Happy Halloween!

Posted by: Leah

Make it Yourself: Custom Skate Decks

Custom skateboard deck by Anton.

On Sunday, teens embarked on a custom skateboard deck design workshop with our special guest artist, Mark Gutting. Mark, who teaches art in Mesquite ISD, has taught summer camps at the DMA for the last several years and has led some dynamite classes focused on design. This weekend he lent his expertise to our monthly Urban Armor class, where participants had the opportunity to gain inspiration from the exhibition Variations on Theme: Contemporary Art 1950s-Present and design boards using screen printing techniques, markers, and paint.

Mark Gutting demonstrating screen printing techniques using his custom jig.

You can make your own deck at home using the same materials. Blank decks are easy to find and are relatively cheap (we bought ours from the Rec Shop in Dallas; www.recshop.net). Metallic sharpies and paint markers work well, as will acrylic or enamel paint; spray paint would be ideal. To get a nice, clean graphic, use painters tape to mask off the edges off your image before you paint it. Or, cut out a stencil to use–this is a great technique when using spray paint, especially if you want to repeat the same image throughout your design.

Max using a combination of stenciling and painting techniques on his deck.

If you want to get really fancy, try screen printing your deck. You’ll need a screen, screen printing ink, and a squeegee (all available at Michaels and Asel Art Supply, among others). To make things easier, I would use a cut paper stencil design to use with your screen but you can also transfer an image to it using emulsion fluid, etc. For the DIY enthusiast, there are several sites that have instructions for making your own tabletop jig for screen printing skate decks (YouTube is a great resource for that). This set up will not only make screen printing the board’s surface much simpler, but allow you to print multiple decks.

Printing Max’s design using Mark’s handmade jig.

After you finish, let your design dry thoroughly before using it; you’ll also probably want to give it a coat of clear finish if you’re going to be skating on it. If you don’t want to ding up your masterpiece, you could turn it into a wall art display by mounting it in your room or even add some functionality by making it into a cool shelf!

Urban Armor is a monthly program for teens. Go to http://dallasmuseumofart.org/Events/Adults/index.htm for more information.

Posted by: JC

Make This: Back-To-School DIY Stickers!

Ah, back to school. I remember doodling all over my notebooks and textbooks, which I thought made them look cool but was certainly not appreciated by my parents when it came time to return the latter. If your kids are anything like I was, help them add some flash to their gear without the hassle by having them create their own stickers using contact paper and sharpies. The best part about it is that they can layer the stickers they create and then peel them off when they get tired of them, without any mess!

What You’ll Need:

• Contact paper (I used clear, but there’s a wide variety of colors and patterns to choose from)
• Sharpie markers in different colors
• A pair of scissors

Instructions:

• Draw your design in sharpie on your contact paper. If you’re using clear contact paper, you can even trace over an existing drawing or design!
• Cut out the design with your pair of scissors once it’s dry.
• Carefully remove the backing from the contact paper and stick your design on a notebook or other surface.
• When you want to remove the sticker, simply peel it off–it shouldn’t leave any sticky residue. And if your sticker is still intact, you could slap it on something else!

Tools of the trade

 

Draw your design

 

Cut it out…

 

Slap it on!

Other Ideas:

• Create a collage sticker using images from magazines, decorative paper, etc.–lay your cut outs on top of the surface you want to stick them to, then cut a large enough piece of clear contact paper to cover the entire design. Peel off the backing and lay the contact paper on top of the design.
• Running for class president? Stick a design onto some blank buttons to hand out for your campaign!
• Celebrating a friend’s birthday? Decorate the inside of his or her locker with fun (and/or embarrassing) stickers!

Posted by: JC

Letters from Camp: An Insider’s Perspective

Each year, the Family Experiences staff has the privilege of working with a wonderful and extremely talented group of summer camp interns. These dynamic individuals truly make up the heart and soul of our camps and are responsible not only for the day-to-day operation of the program but for also helping to make the connection between our campers and works of art something that is both enjoyable and transformative. We could not run our camps without them! This is the fourth in a four-part series written by our summer camp interns and reflecting on their experiences at the Museum.–JC

What the Kids Taught Me

Throughout the summer, we have been teaching young artist from ages 4-12 about art. Portraiture, landscape, abstract art, print making, and color, were just a few of the topics that we explored. While the teachers and interns were busy teaching the children the basics of art, the kids in fact were teaching us about creativity and life. Here are a few things that I have learned from the students:

1)      It’s okay to color outside the lines sometimes.

One of the first rules that children learn when they do art is to color inside the lines. While this may work to be more appeasing for the adult’s trained eye, it also stifles the child’s ability to think in their own unique way. The training to follow the instructions the lines with the rest of the class, changes the child’s creativity from free flowing to uniform. This standardization is then realized in adulthood when adults are then told that they need to “think outside the box” or in more artistic terms, color outside the lines. We should skip the middle phase and allow the creativity to flow no matter what stage of life we may be in. I have seen that the kids have it right from the start – be fearless in creativity and do not always conform to the lines determined for you.

2)      Don’t let ability limit creativity

As most can see, four- year olds do not have the greatest finesse with their art. However, it has never stopped them from creating! After a certain age, people are discouraged from doing things that they are not particularly skilled in which tends to put a lid on some children’s inventiveness and curiosity. What I have seen from the young children is that even when they can’t draw a perfect shape or choose the most realistic colors for their self – portrait, there is still a beauty in the individuality that cannot be replicated. I have learned to appreciate that unique beauty in their art as well as mine and, even further, in life.

3)      Look at things from a new angle

One project that a 9-12 year old class did was to create still life paintings from the objects that were set on their table. When the project was announced, the students immediately got to work knowing automatically how they would create their masterpiece – except for one student. This one student, Antonio, looked at his still life alligator piece from several angles then asked the teacher, “Can I do my still life from a bird’s eye view?” This was a strange and exciting because I had never thought of doing a still life painting from another angle other than straight on.  But when I saw his painting, I found it to be brilliant, unique, and added a new perspective to the alligator piece that I had never really considered. Since then I have begun to look at pieces from different views, noticing the small wonders from weird angles that would normally be ignored. Antonio taught me to never see things strictly as they are and to use different ideas and points of view to make art and life more fascinating.

4)      Abstract art is from the heart

The very first week of camp, I worked with a group of 4 and 5 year olds. While discussing what the class would say for their exhibition on Friday, one child raised their hand and said “Abstract art is from the heart.” This phrase has been my source of inspiration, motivation, and understanding this summer. Art is a blank slate for any concept, feeling, sensation, memory to become realized. With the stresses of everyday life, I forget that I always have art to turn to for relief and rejuvenation. Another reason why I love this phrase so much is because when I don’t understand a piece of contemporary art, I think about this phrase and imagine the emotions that the artist went through while creating the work and I gain a better appreciation for the piece and the artist. This awesome saying has truly transformed the way that I interact with art by giving me more revere and love for free flowing creativity.

In conclusion, these wonderful young artists have taught me that creativity should never stop in the classroom. Art and imagination go hand in hand and are in every aspect of life. I should never stop creating, never stop wondering, and never stop coloring.

Posted by: Lily Ngaruiya

Letters From Camp: An Insider’s Perspective

Professional storyteller and educator Ann Marie Newman directs a gallery experience for summer art camp students.

Each year, the Family Experiences staff has the privilege of working with a wonderful and extremely talented group of summer camp interns. These dynamic individuals truly make up the heart and soul of our camps and are responsible not only for the day-to-day operation of the program but for also helping to make the connection between our campers and works of art something that is both enjoyable and transformative. We could not run our camps without them! This is the first in a four-part series written by our summer camp interns and reflecting on their experiences at the Museum.–JC

During my first week of camp, I worked with the 4-5 year olds in a camp called Art Lab. It was a camp in which science and art were used side by side to show how they related to each other. This is a pretty big idea for 4-5 year old to understand; however, I should never have underestimated their young minds.

There was one student in the class who was continually causing distractions or refusing to follow the rules. He loved ninjas and was very energetic and imaginative. He would continually talk while the teacher was talking or interrupt her to ask questions. He would run around and play fight with the other boys in the class, distracting them from their own work. He could never stay still in the galleries, and wanted to touch every single piece of art.

Eventually he needed to hold someone’s hand every time we went to the galleries, so I and the other intern would switch off holding his hand. He was such a ball of energy that by the time we would get back from the gallery our arms would be sore from all the spinning kicks and lunging punches he had been doing. He was always full of questions about what we were doing and why we had to be so quiet and still, and why he couldn’t pick the art that he wanted to see instead of looking at the art that the teacher wanted him to.

“Vishnu as Varaha”, 10th century, India: Madhya Pradesh, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of David T. Owsley via the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation and the Alconda-Owsley Foundation, E.E. Fogelson and Greer Garson Fogelson Fund, General Acquisitions Fund, Wendover Fund and gift of Alta Brenner in memory of her daughter Andrea Bernice Brenner-McMullen

One gallery visit we went up to see a statue of the god Vishnu. He enjoyed ninjas, warriors, and super heroes and was enthralled when listening to the teacher explaining the story of Vishnu saving his lover, Bhu Devi from the depths of the sea. He could picture himself as Vishnu, the brave and noble hero. This related directly to what made him tick, and it sparked his imagination. He asked questions about the symbols that Vishnu held (the chakra, the mace, and the conch shell) wondering about their purposes and how they could be used to give Vishnu “super powers”.

When we got back to the classroom the children were asked to create a sculpture using different wooden shapes and there was no requirement that their sculpture relate to the gallery visit. He was ready. He grabbed an assortment of shapes and went to work. He seemed more focused than in the other projects, talking to his classmates less, and hadn’t gotten up once to practice his ninja moves on the other boys in the class. I asked him what he was making and he explained to me that he was building Vishnu.

I was surprised and a bit confused because to me his sculpture looked nothing like the statue we had seen in the galleries. He began to point out where the chakra was, his mace, his 4 arms, the conch shell he had even found a wooden piece to represent Bhu Devi! I was amazed. He had made his own interpretation of the statue with the limited materials he had been given. All the major parts had been incorporated, and he had put a lot of thought into choosing which wooden pieces would work the best. I was in awe, all week this child had been a handful, distracting the rest of the class and refusing to follow rules or listen to instructions. All he had needed was something that engaged him and sparked his imagination.

I want to see this kind of engagement and focus in all the students. He was one of the only students to relate the gallery experience directly to what he was creating in the classroom. How can educators engage their students directly as individuals, so that they are learning and retaining the information that they are given? And how can they work with the students individually when there is a large group of students that they are teaching? How can educators learn to pinpoint a student’s interest and help them grow and expand in that direction? How can student’s behavior be controlled, not through discipline or punishment, but by creating an environment in which they are so engaged that there are no opportunities for them to act out I haven’t uncovered the answers to my questions yet, but I am interested in reflecting more on these ideas as I continue to intern at the DMA this summer.

Posted by: Karen Parrish

What’s New in the Studio: June

Ettore Sottsass Jr., “Carlton” room divider, designed 1981, Dallas Museum of Art, anonymous gift

How would it feel to be a work of art? For this month’s Studio Creations project, we’re asking you to imagine just that. Grab some drawing supplies from the Art Studio in the Center for Creative Connections and then take a trip to the American Painting and Sculpture galleries on Level 4. Make a quick drawing of an object that catches your eye and share it with the rest of your family. As you look at each others’ drawings, create short stories about yourselves as the works of art you selected. Then return to the Art Studio to create your own storybooks from what you’ve written!

Try this activity out at home with your kids by creating “Furniture Diaries”. Have them choose their favorite piece of furniture in your home to draw. What do they like about that piece? Create a story about its “life” using the following questions to get started:

• Imagine this piece of furniture came to life. What would its personality be like? What would its voice sound like? How would it move?
• Who was it built by? Where did it live before it came to stay with us? Did it have any other owners?
• What’s a typical day for this piece of furniture? What does it and the other furniture in the house do while we’re away?
• If this piece of furniture wasn’t owned by us, where would it be?

Create a simple accordion book from a long sheet of drawing paper for your kids to write and illustrate their stories. Decorate the front and back covers and display their collected books for all to see!

Studio Creations is a drop-in  art-making activity for families offered on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00-3:30 p.m. with some exceptions. Join us for a different activity each month that is based on a work in the Museum’s collection or special exhibition. Volunteers are on hand to help you and your family stretch your imaginations! Studio Creations is free with paid admission to the Museum and all supplies are provided; no registration is necessary.

Posted by: JC

Scout it Out at the DMA

If you have a Brownie or Cub Scout in your life, you know all about the quest for more badges or belt loops. But for those of you uninitiated into the life of scouting, let me tell you about the call of the merit badge. To a kid, a merit badge is like a mini-trophy, proving to the world all the cool things you can do. A little circle of fabric declares to everyone “I can cook!” or “I can tie knots!” And the best part is, anyone can earn them—there are no winners or losers when it comes to badges. There are badges for just about everything, from archery and coin collecting to babysitting and geocaching. The only grown-up equivalent I can think of is a résumé (which isn’t nearly as fun and doesn’t work as an accessory).

Evidence of my own love affair with earning badges

From my experience as a Girl Scout, badges are a way to help children explore new ideas, work towards a goal, and make memories. As the lazy days of summer draw near, why not use those same objectives and take a “scouting” approach to your summer fun? Make up your own family fun badges for the summer as a way to plan out things to do to keep the kids busy. And use the Dallas Museum of Art as your go to place to earn your badges (after all, we have really great A/C here!)

How to make a badge in 4 easy steps:

1. Make a list of activities your family wants to do, places you want to visit, skills you want to learn, books you want to read, and so on.
2. For each item on your summer to-do list, think of 2 or 3 “requirements” that your children must accomplish in order to earn a badge. Where possible, think of activities that will require the kids to try something new, stretch themselves, meet new people, or work as a team.
3. Do it! (Here’s where all the fun happens!)
4. Use art supplies, photographs, or materials around the house to craft the actual badge and create a way to display all the badges your family has earned—perhaps create a summer scrapbook, a badge bulletin board, or keep track of your progress on a family blog.

The library, museums, swimming pool, nature preserve, and zoo are all great places that offer plenty of opportunities for creating your own family badges. Here are some ideas to get you started for scouting out summer at the DMA:

• Animal Safari badge: Search for animals in the paintings and sculptures on display. Bring a sketchbook and make a safari journal of all the creatures you discover.
• Around the World badge: See how many different countries you can “visit” by finding works of art from around the world. Level 3 of the museum is a great place—you can visit Africa, Indonesia, China, and Japan!
• Artsy-Pants badge: Visit the Center for Creative Connections on Level 1 and see what art materials are available at the Space Bar. Challenge everyone in the family to create something, then share your works of art with each other.
• Budding Botanist badge: Investigate the silver collection on Level 4 and search for signs of leaves, berries, and vines in the silverware on display. To really challenge yourself, bring along a nature guide and see if you can match what you see in the art with actual specimens.
• Collector Connector badge: Choose one or two galleries in the museum and have your child select works of art that she would want to add to her own collection. “Collect” your pieces by taking digital photos of the works of art (remember to turn your flash off and follow any signs regarding photography). At home, have your child create an additional piece of her own for the collection. What is the same? What is different?
• People Pleaser badge: Investigate the many portraits featured on Level 2 or Level 4 of the museum, then imagine a story about the person in the painting, or create your own self-portrait.

Disney’s Family Fun Magazine has been challenging families all year long with their own Badges of Fun program that puts a scouting spin on family fun. Check out their badges for more inspiration and start planning your own summer o’ scouting.

Posted by: Leah