Friday Photo: Summer Art Camp Fun

Two mustachioed campers pose for a photo while adding the finishing touches to their exhibition.

Posted by: Andrew

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 third in a four-part series written by our summer camp interns and reflecting on their experiences at the Museum.–JC

For the past couple of summers I have caught myself relaxing by the pool, hanging out with family and friends and constantly practicing for the up and coming marching season with the band. I never thought I would find myself spending countless hours with wild kids all summer and I never thought I would enjoy the company of them as much as I have.

The summer camp kids astound me. It’s amazing how many different personalities walk through our doors. From kids who think they are ninjas, constantly striking new warrior poses; to kids who have their whole life planned out, becoming the mayor of a huge city; they all have one thing in common–they are all creative. Sometimes we find creativity in unexpected places. When parents sign their children up for art camp they expect to see creativity in all the artwork created throughout the week and they sure do find it! If only the parents could see all the creativity that happens during the week that does not end up on paper.

Take our ninja for example. He wasn’t always the most focused child when we were in the galleries, but once you asked how a ninja could relate to the piece of artwork we were viewing he was quick to come up with a wonderfully creative story and it was hard to stop him! I will never forget in ABCs of Art when we took a special field trip to the Crow Museum to learn some yoga. When we began the exercises our special ninja was not really in the mindset to participate in yoga until he heard of a special pose called warrior. He quickly jumped in and explained to me that all warriors exercised like that to defeat the evil wicked villains. In this case our ninja’s creativity was not always found in his art work but instead in his action stories he created in his wild imagination.

Thomas Sully, “Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire”, 1843

Most of the creativity in the camps comes from inspiration during our gallery walks. Our story teller took our Think Like a Pro camp to view the Cinderella painting by Thomas Sully and asked the kids why they thought Cinderella had a slight smirk on her face. Without hesitation the students threw out answers: her cat made her happy, the prince finally told her he loved her, and she was happy because she tricked her wicked step mother. After the kids individually had a story that went along with the painting they looked around the room and found ways to incorporate the other works of art into the story of Cinderella. Their imaginations bloomed later the next day when they each got to make up a completely new story with the help of a painting they choose themselves.

Personally, my favorite creations from the students are the most random ones. A mustache outbreak was formed in one of the classes and eventually everyone was wearing a cutout mustache and had an alter ego. Although we don’t tell the parents all the other wild things their children come up with during the week I am glad I got to experience all the imaginative creations with the kids. This summer has been the most enjoyable experience and I could not ask for anything other than that.

Posted by: Toni Madrid

Friday Photo

Summer Art Camps: A happy camper proudly displays her Jackson Pollock-inspired action painting.

Posted by: Karen Parrish

Summer fun with WFAA!

We are so excited for our free WFAA Family First Day at the Museum this Saturday, July 28. The Museum will also have a special preview of The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico – for free! We will have a wide variety of activities for families to enjoy on Saturday, including the chance to meet WFAA’s Shelly Slater and WFAA meteorologist Steve McCauley.

Arturo meeting some new friends at a recent Family Celebration.

Families can meet Arturo, our family mascot, play games with our friends from Radio Disney, and  enjoy the Medical City Community Art room to watch a puppet show about learning the signs of a stroke before making a one-of-a-kind puppet. In the Studio, families can use a variety of materials to create their own jewelry based on work seen in The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico exhibition and can sketch from objects in the exhibition with artists during Sketching in the Galleries for Kids.

Visitors enjoy sketching in the galleries.

After searching for stories in the exhibition, join staff from the Dallas Theater Center and members of the cast from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to teach families how stories are translated into a musical. Be the star of your own story in the galleries! Music educators will be in the Ancient American galleries teaching families all about songwriting and Latin rhythms inspired by the DMA’s head of the rain god Tlaloc.

Ann Marie at a recent event weaving stories about works of art for families to enjoy.

Families won’t want to miss a unique performance by award-winning storyteller, Ann Marie Newman! Ann Marie is sure to bring works from Ancient Mexico to life during her StoryART performance, this time with help from WFAA’s Shelly Slater. Don’t forget to stop by the Ancient Art of the Americas gallery to see WFAA meteorologist Steve McCauley as he talks about storms, cloud seeding, how to measure rainfall, and more – all in relation to the rain god Tlaloc. Families will also want to watch an unforgettable performance from the Ollimpaxqui Ballet Company, as they thrill and delight with songs, dances, and cultural traditions of Mexico.

A young visitor creating in the Studio with a little help from Arturo.

The Museum will have programming for even the youngest visitors! Children between the ages of two to four can stop by Arturo’s Nest to make a rainstick. Children of all ages will enjoy Yoginos: Yoga for Youth by the Crow Collection of Asian Art in our Level 3 galleries, and end your day at the Museum by relaxing and watching the family film, the Pot that Juan Built. It will be a fun day – hope to see you here!

Letters from Camp: An Insiders 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 second in a four-part series written by our summer camp interns and reflecting on their experiences at the Museum.–JC

Over the course of a week, the students in our summer camps amass an impressive collection of their own works of art. At the end of every camp, all the children put together an exhibition to show off their masterpieces to their families.

There’s another subset of work that these children produce that typically goes unseen. They are doodles, happy accidents, free drawing exercises and many other pieces of art that are hard to classify. It’s peripheral art and it’s worth examining a bit closer.

I’ve been fortunate enough to collect some of these oddities from students over the course of the summer and, in my humble opinion, they aesthetically rival some of the more structured projects from camp. They utilize unique mediums like painted paper towels or hole-punched sheets of foil. One of the most quirky and refreshing examples came from an eight year-old named Kate, who gave me a blank book of colored tissue paper called The Book of Nothing; it’s a beautiful minimalist piece that would fit in perfectly with the DMA’s current Variations on Theme exhibition.

Juliette, aged 8, used watercolor paint on paper towels to make this untitled piece.

Ella, aged 8, used the same medium as Juliette. They both called these “abstract paper towels”.

Juliette, once again, utilized a paper towel, but used oil pastels instead of watercolor paint on this one.

Ella, using markers on paper, modeled her leaf after the leaf-like shapes in Henri Matisse’s cutout paper collages.

In a way, though, this art is not peripheral, but rather a fitting product of a child’s imagination and creativity. Teachers and parents rightfully celebrate the excellent works of art that children put forth. We should turn our attention to some of these marginal creations. This kind of output shows us that children have a constant desire to create that should be nurtured. I think it’s a good sign that children have such a voracious appetite for creativity that extends past the standard expectations of a project.

As the summer winds down and the school year starts up again, it’s important for a child to find time to exert their creative energy into miscellaneous works of art. Most of the time, all that involves is giving children the time and supplies to start creating. Encourage them to explore imaginatively without fear of looking silly or wasting their time. So let’s be aware of what is happening in our peripheral vision. You never know what kind of little treasure you’ll find.

Posted by: Andrew Palamara

Friday Photo: Summer Art Camp Fun!

This young Jackson Pollock shows his enthusiasm for art with action painting. Splattering and spraying paint made this project his favorite of the week!

 

These trendy tweens prepare to strut their original outfits down the runway after a fun and inspiring week of fashion. The girls loved creating their own stylish shirts, pretty pleated skirts, heavenly headpieces, and banging bangles!

Posted by: Lily, 2012 DMA Summer Art Camp Intern

Meet our Summer Interns!

Madeleine and Laurel at the Dallas Museum of Art

We are so fortunate to have two wonderful University of North Texas graduate students working with us in the Family Experiences and Access Programs Education Department this summer. Let’s welcome Laurel and Madeleine!

Meet Laurel

Hi everybody! My name is Laurel and I am one of the Education interns at the Dallas Museum of Art for the summer of 2012. I’m so excited about this opportunity and am ecstatic to be spending the summer with wonderful people amid beautiful artwork!

Here are a few interesting facts about me:

1. I was born in San Diego, California and moved to Flower Mound, Texas when I was five, and have lived here ever since.

2. I attended Stephen F. Austin State University for my undergrad and received a degree in Art History in May, 2010. In August, 2010 I began my graduate career at the University of North Texas. I currently have one semester left until I will get my master’s in Art History with the Museum Education Certificate.

3. I have a young cat named Rosie and she is the best! She can get a little crazy at times but she is really sweet cat and I love her.

4. I interned at the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art in Marietta, Georgia in the summer of 2009, and was the Public Programs Intern at the Crow Collection of Asian Art in the summer of 2011. I have learned so much from my past internships and look forward to learning even more at the Dallas Museum of Art this summer.

5. I am extremely blessed to have two amazing nephews, and a niece on the way. They have helped me learn about how children think and learn, which has greatly helped me in the museum education field. I can’t wait to return the favor and teach them about art and share my love and passion for it with them!

Edgar Degas, Ballet Dancers on the Stage, 1883, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin B. Bartholow

6. One of my favorite works of art at the Dallas Museum of Art is Ballet Dancers on the Stage by Edgar Degas. I love this painting for a few reasons. First, I love the movement and texture Degas is able to portray. The soft brush strokes that make up the dancer’s skirts seem to float in air and create a texture that resembles glittering tulle. Secondly, I love how Degas creates an image where some of the dancers are not whole images. While we cannot see the other dancers or complete figures, we know this is a large group but Degas has decided to focus in on a certain area of the frame. This creates an asymmetrical composition that draws the viewer’s eye into the painting. I also love the pastel colors Degas uses. The soft hues reflect the colors that would be seen at a ballet.

Meet Madeleine

Hello everyone! My name is Madeleine and I am an Education intern this summer! I am currently getting my masters in art history at UNT and my museum education certification. I am so excited for all of the fun things to do and see at the museum over the next couple of months! Here are some fun facts about me:

1)      I am originally from Harlingen, Texas, a small town in the Rio Grande Valley near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. I spent most of my childhood either on the beach or nursing a brutal sunburn.

2)      I attended Trinity University in San Antonio and majored in art history with a focus on Impressionism and Post-Impressionism art. While I lived there, I spent a lot of time going to Spurs games (and I’m completely outnumbered in DFW).

3)      I also interned at the San Antonio Museum of Art for 3 semesters, and after graduating, I became the assistant manager of their museum store for almost 2 years. It was so much fun shopping all day with a museum’s credit card!

4)      I love cooking, especially when it involves vegetables and herbs from my tiny garden. My favorite thing to cook (and eat!) is tiramisu.

5)      Since Laurel, Leah Hanson and I all have red hair, we are planning to take over the universe sometime soon… But we’ll start with the DMA!

Vincent van Gogh, Sheaves of Wheat, 1890, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection

My favorite piece in the DMA’s collection is Sheaves of Wheat by Vincent Van Gogh. I’ve always been very fascinated by the paintings he did towards the end of his life, especially Wheatfield with Crows (which is in the Van Gogh Museum’s collection in Amsterdam). I always thought that Wheatfield with Crows was the last painting he made before his death in July 1890, but after reading the information about Sheaves of Wheat on the DMA’s website, I learned that it was possibly created after the Wheatfield with Crows painting. I find the difference in color palette to be the most intriguing part of this painting, especially when compared to the Wheatfield with Crows. It is muted and pale, not bold and bright in contrast like the more well-known “final painting.” I would like to imagine that the softer painting was created closer to his death, at a time where he had finally found some peace.

Be sure to stop by the DMA for our mid[we]eek Wednesday programming in July and you just might find Laurel and Madeleine giving a Gallery Tour at 1:30pm or leading Sketching in the Galleries from 2-4:00pm!

Posted by: Mary

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

Friday Photo: Making Friends in the Passion for Fashion Summer Art Camp!

Campers had a great time creating outfits and modeling them on the runway for family and friends today!

Posted by : Mary

Family Time: Spotlight on the George Grosz Exhibition

Howdy!

Explore your own ideas of Dallas with your family and discover those of artist George Grosz in the Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas exhibition. Explore the galleries containing Grosz’s amazing watercolor paintings for the Impressions of Dallas series which he painted during his four day visit to Dallas in 1952.

George Grosz, Flower of the Prairie, 1952, University Art Collection, Southern Methodist University, Gift of Leon A. Harris, Jr.

The paintings and photographs included in the exhibition will help you see what Dallas looked like in 1952. Find the videos of people playing, at home, and attending public events in Dallas. Imagine what it would have been like to grow up in Dallas sixty years ago. Think about what you and your family would wear, what kind of vehicle you would have, where you would live, etc. With your family, think about how your life in 2012 is similar and different from the way it might have been in 1952.

Let’s imagine that we are visiting Dallas for the very first time. What do you expect to see during your visit to Big D? When the artist George Grosz came all the way to Dallas from his home in Germany, he expected to see a large prairie with cotton fields, cows, and oil wells! Instead he was surprised to see a growing, busy, and fashionable city with skyscrapers and theaters. He was so impressed by the cowboys and the clothing they wore, that he even bought a ten gallon hat and pointy cowboy boots for himself! What items or clothing do you have that reminds you of Dallas?

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 was invited to come to Dallas by the owner of the A. Harris and Company clothing store to create a series of watercolor paintings titled Impressions of Dallas. He created four oil paintings and 17 watercolors from his Dallas experiences. He stayed at the Adolphus Hotel, the only building from that era that still functions as its original purpose. What view of the city do you think he could see and paint from the birds-eye view of his hotel room that differs from the view he would see while standing at a distance from the city?

George Grosz, Dallas Skyline, 1952, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. Harris and Company in memory of Leon A. Harris, Sr.

Try these activities!

• What recognizable logos do you see in George Grosz’s paintings? What are your favorite Dallas symbols and logos?  Can you find some of them on a map of Dallas?
• Take an art and architecture  stroll of  the Arts District and downtown Dallas with your family! The Business Council for the Arts has a wonderful tour available online and in print version!
• Create a story about an imaginary city inspired by your visit to the DMA and downtown Dallas!
• Check out Lilla-a-design for an adorable cityscape activity to try! Although all of the text may not be in English, the photos are worth a thousand words!
• Draw a city from a bird’s-eye view, a bug’s-eye view, close up, and from a distance.
• Explore Share & Remember for kid-friendly tips on watercolors.
• Create a cityscape of the future by drawing the city of your dreams with watercolor pencils. Then go over the pencil lines with a wet brush to blur the colors and give your drawing a futuristic look!
• Ask your grown-up to download the free iPad app for the exhibit Flower of the Prairie: George Grosz in Dallas and learn more about the exhibit together!
• Books to read and share:
  • Don’t Eat the Bluebonnets by Ellen Leventhal, Ellen Rothberg and Bill Megenhardt
  • Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
  • Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist

Have fun!

Posted by: Mary