One of the DMA’s longest running partnerships is with Dallas ISD’s Talented and Gifted (TAG) program.  For the past 21 years, 4th – 6th grade students explore works of art from all times and places through interactive experiences like dramatic interpretation, debate, writing, and sketching.  Since 2000, each visit focuses on a BIG Idea question like “How is a work of art powerful?,” “How is place important?, ”How is perspective used in works of art?,” and “What do works of art tell us about the past, present, and future?”   These open-ended questions support a variety of answers which may relate to students’ life experiences and prior knowledge.

Students from Botello Elementary create verb sculptures using words (i.e. symmetry) that Richard Serra may have used to create his sculptures. They looked Richard Serra's "Untitled" for inspiration.

This year, like the many years before, has been fantastic!  There are 20 schools participating in this four-visit program with two Museum visits and two classroom visits.  Each of these visits lasts for 2 hours and are led by docents and Museum staff.  The TAG teachers commit to having the same 20-25 students participate in the program and it is exciting to see the student’s growth with each visit as they think critically and share creative answers to these BIG Idea questions.

The fall semester began in the classroom with “What does it mean to be an art investigator?,” which focused on looking closely and investigating visual clues in portraits and landscapes, creating verb-inspired sculptures using modeling material, and making connections between music and Claude-Joseph Vernet’s painting, Mountain Landscape with Approaching Storm.

Students from Reinhardt Elementary used their arms and hands to mimic similar gestures expressed in Jackson Pollock's "Portrait and a Dream" and Franz Kline's "Slate Cross."

During Visit 2, students considered the question “How are emotions and gestures expressed in works of art?” as they posed like figures in works of art featured in the All the World’s a Stage exhibition, explored the expressive and emotive qualities of line and color, and created a sequence of events based on contemporary photography by artists, Charlie White and Gregory Crewdson.

The BIG Ideas for the final two visits are ”What are ways cultures can influence each other?” and “What are the connections between art, music, dance, and theater?”   Be sure to look for an update about the TAG Museum program when I blog about the visits later in the spring!

Until next time…

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Learning Partnerships with Schools

theselby.com

In addition to the December (Works of Art) Program Helps pages, BSA National has released a 100th Anniversary Program Helps supplement for this month. It contains additional theme-related activities and projects which promote the 100th Anniversary Celebration.

Link (pdf)

Shopping is one activity that is exciting and physically rejuvenating for most people. It is something that is thoroughly

enjoyed by most folks, with the  exception of  a few. It is undoubtedly the best thing to do in your spare time but what

 happens when you are running out  of precious seconds and the clock is ticking away which happens a lot when the

holidays are around the bend. That is when every precious second counts and you really have none to spare. At this

moment,  the internet comes to your rescue in a lot of beneficial ways, which are  more than one.

At a time when you got to get so much spring cleaning done around the house and decoration boxes to be

brought down, there is just not enough time for one to rush to the shopping mall to pick up stuff. The options available

online are such a boom at this time and all you have to do is just log on to the internet.    It is so great to know that most

businesses, small or big have taken their businesses online in order to make their business a success. And this is beneficial

 to the customer who needs that particular product and has no time to go shop hopping. You will always find options that are

within the area that you live in or close by because of the boom of the internet. Distance is not a problem anymore.

Once you have identified the store or items, even delivery is not a problem. Get your gifts  delivered to wherever you

want it and within the time frame that suits you. What more could one ask for? It works out

 really well in terms of time and money.  www. order-gifts.com  is your key to freedom from

crowded shopping malls during the holiday seasons and sweating it out. You are now equipped

 with the ability to still shop for your gifts and needs in a very constructive and regulated manner. And

what sounds even better, is the fact that you can carry on decorating your little haven the way you want to

as time is all yours. That extra time at home can go in baking goodies and cakes for the family that you love

so much.

An international crackdown on the use of woods from the world’s rain forests to make musical instruments bubbled over to Music City on Tuesday with a federal raid on Gibson Guitar ’s manufacturing plant, but no arrests.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Webb said the search warrant was obtained based on information in a sealed affidavit outlining the investigation.

Agents of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service made a midday appearance and served a search warrant on company officials at Gibson’s Massman Drive manufacturing plant, where it makes acoustic and electric guitars.

Some hardwoods traditionally used in making premium guitars, such as rosewood from the rain forests of Madagascar and Brazil, have been banned from commercial trade because of environmental concerns under a recently revised federal law.

Under the U.S. Lacey Act, trading in such banned woods is a federal offense, punishable by civil and criminal penalties or the seizure of property. Last year, the U.S. Congress amended a turn-of-the-century wildlife protection law (the Lacey Act) to extend its reach to endangered timber species and plants. See the next post Where Were You When Wood Became A Felony?

The following is a excerpt from the Classical Values Blog. It is very interesting and I highly recommend you read the entire article at http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2009/10/where_were_you_2.html

The 2008 Farm Bill (also known as the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, aka Public Law 110-246).

This amendment [to the Lacey Act] deals with illegal plants — the primary thrust being illegal wood. Henceforth, all wood is to be a federally regulated, suspect substance. Either raw wood, lumber, or anything made of wood, from tables and chairs, to flooring, siding, particle board, to handles on knives, baskets, chopsticks, or even toothpicks has to have a label naming the genus and species of the tree that it came from and the country of origin. Incorrect labeling becomes a federal felony, and the law does not just apply to wood newly entering the country, but any wood that is in interstate commerce within the country. Here are some excerpts from a summary:

The Lacey Act now makes it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions, taken in violation of the laws of a U.S. State, or any foreign law that protects plants. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful to make or submit any false record, account or label for, or any false identification of, any plant.

The definition of the term “plant” includes “any wild member of the plant kingdom, including roots, seeds, parts, and products thereof, and including trees from either natural or planted forest stands.”

[...]

Anyone who imports into the United States, or exports out of the United States, illegally harvested plants or products made from illegally harvested plants, including timber, as well as anyone who exports, transports, sells, receives, acquires or purchases such products in the United States, may be prosecuted. In any prosecution under the Lacey Act, the burden of proof of a violation rests on the government.

[...]

Violations of Lacey Act provisions for timber and other plant products, as well as fish and wildlife, may be prosecuted through either civil or criminal enforcement actions. Regardless of any prosecution, the tainted plants may be seized and forfeited.

Everyone means everyone, which includes every reader of this blog.

Obviously, this means that in the future, the Fish and Game guys will be able to accompany SWAT Team raiders to check all wood in homes and businesses for possible violations. Even if they’re wrong in their suspicions about the wood, it can still be confiscated. (Might that be a goal? To beef up employment at Fish and Game?)

Just think about the law enforcement possibilities alone. After kicking through and impounding your illegal wooden door, a federalized army of government termites could literally strip all wood paneling and flooring from every raided house as suspicious contraband, and haul away all the furniture, wood carvings, picture frames, tools, musical instruments! I can’t think of a better harassment tool. The list of potentially regulated items is mind-boggling:

the scope of products that will require a declaration under the Lacey Act is broad and includes certain live plants, plant parts, lumber, wood pulp, paper and paperboard, and products containing certain plant material or products, which may include certain furniture, tools, umbrellas, sporting goods, printed matter, musical instruments, products manufactured from plant-based resins, and textiles.

[...]

After September 30, 2009, based on experience with the implementation of the electronic system for declaration data collection, we will phase in enforcement of the declaration requirements for additional chapters containing plants and plant products covered by the Lacey Act, including (but not limited to) Ch. 12 (oil seeds, misc. grain, seed, fruit, plant, etc.), Ch. 13 (gums, lacs, resins, vegetable saps, extracts, etc.), Ch. 14 (vegetable plaiting materials and products not elsewhere specified or included), Ch. 45 (cork and articles of), Ch. 46 (basket ware and wickerwork), Ch. 66 (umbrellas, walking sticks, riding crops), Ch. 82 (tools), Ch. 93 (guns), Ch. 95 (toys, games and sporting equipment), Ch. 96 (brooms, pencils, and buttons), and Ch. 97 (works of art). We will announce a specific phase-in schedule for those chapters in a subsequent Federal Register notice.

Did they mention shipping pallets and cargo braces? Wood is not only in stuff, it’s in the stuff that the stuff comes in! Nearly everything is regulated.

Oh, and you firearm owners out there, let’s not forget gun handles!

Ch. 93 Headings (arms and ammunition).
9302 — Revolvers and pistols.
93051020 –Parts and accessories for revolvers and pistols.
Ch. 94 Headings (furniture, etc.).
940169 — Seats with wood frames.
Ch. 95 Headings (toys, games, & sporting equipment).
950420 — Articles and accessories for billiards.
Ch. 97 Headings (works of art).
9703 — Sculptures.

Glad I don’t own an art gallery, but my picture frames are not labeled, which means there are probably multiple potential felonies in progress in my home. (Perhaps I should be more careful about what I say.)

And while the NRA might not have noticed the impending crackdown on gun handles, at least IKEA is starting to speak up.

Between Wood Control and the Consumer Product Safety Nazis, I pity anyone in the secondhand business, including all Ebay and Craigslist sellers as well as people holding garage or yard sales.

In short, I pity the American people. This is not their fault, though, for no one has any control over what is going on. Not even the despicable fools we call “legislators” who cannot read the “laws” they pass because they are not meant to be read. As to the enforcers, they are only doing their job. They have to earn a living. And we are supposed to respect them, because they lay their lives on the line, “protecting” the public! From felonious wood!

Obviously, the full implications of this dramatic loss of freedom are beyond the capacity of a single post. After all, I am just one blogger, doing this by myself, without the kind of access to data that media organizations and think tanks might have. So, I cannot possibly hope to analyze everything. As things stand, I became exhausted last night just reading through the Lacey Act Amendment stuff pertaining to wood — and that was one mere fraction of an execrable, unreadable monstrosity. I don’t mean to whine, but slogging through such horrors is not exactly my idea of Saturday night fun. But who the hell else is going to do it? Flooring and furniture industry blogs? Who the hell reads them except people in the business? They’re all greedy tree haters and have no credibility. Besides, all big business is the enemy right now. We need to stand up not only against Big Cereal, but now Big Flooring! Big Siding! Big Furniture! (Is there such an industry as Big Chopstick?)

To read the entire article please go to: http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2009/10/where_were_you_2.html

The December (Works of Art) Program Helps pages from BSA National are available (free) for download.

Cub Scout Program Helps is a great resource for crafts, games, activities, and more for pack meetings and activities and Tiger, Wolf, and Bear den meetings.

Link (pdf)

[Link updated: 2009-12-01]

The second floor European gallery was recently reinstalled, and among the new works of art is a series of four mythological paintings by the French court painter Francois Boucher. The paintings are on loan from the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. The works of art included in the installation are Mercury Confiding the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs of Nysa, Boreas Abducting Oreithyia, Venus at Vulcan’s Forge, and Juno Asking Aeolus to Release the Winds. All of these paintings were produced for Jean-Francois Bergeret de Frouville in 1769, the year before Boucher died.

What a wonderful sight these paintings are! When I see them in person, I am always amazed at their large scale. Light pinks, greens, and blues express the grandness of eighteenth-century French Rococo art in the hands of Boucher.  Each painting was carefully composed by the artist using diagonal lines to form each scene and arranging the mythological figures in the foreground and in the sky.  Boucher has given these figures the curves of voluptuous women and muscular men. 

Boucher portrays each god or goddess with his or her attributes to tell each story. For instance, in Venus at Vulcan’s Forge, Vulcan is seen leaning forward giving Venus a sword, completely under her powers and submissive to her will. In fact, he is in love with Venus, which Boucher indicates with the doves and putti on his lap. In the lower right corner, a three-eyed figure in Vulcan’s forge is shaping steel to make weapons. Above the main scene the sky is revealed to show putti and other figures looking on at Venus and Vulcan.

To see photographs of these paintings being installed in the European gallery, visit the DMA’s Flickr site.

Amy Wolf
Teaching Programs Coordinator

Nico Di Mattia who uses Photoshop to create some of the most amazing works of art you will ever see

Source:
http://www.epiccarnival.com/2009/11/10-of-best-speed-painting-videos-you.html

The HeART Auction has been launched! It is now up and running here: http://myworld.ebay.com/iowajulz/
To donate items to this auction please email give2manie@yahoo.com.

The November 2009 Cubcast from BSA National is available (free).

Part 1 has ideas for den meetings and more utilizing the December “Works of Art” theme.

Part 2 has suggestions on doing chartered organization service projects.

Part 1 mp3 file

Part 2 mp3 file

[Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

Here is the December 2009 (Works of Art) monthly theme emblem. It is $1.29 from BSA Supply Group.

Link

The Simon Kenton Council Buckeye District roundtable packet for December 2009 is now available.

Buckeye District puts together a great roundtable packet each month. This one has games, cooking ideas, crafts, songs, skits, ceremonies, and more for the December “Works of Art” theme.

Link (pdf)

We have started a new weekly feature: a photo post each Friday.  A different staff member will post a few photos each week.  This week, my ”Friday Photos” are details of a few of my favorite artworks in the gorgeous new reinstallation of our European galleries.

Molly Kysar
Head of Teaching Programs

Detail of The Bath of Diana by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, c. 1855

Detail of Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Turban by Eugene Delacroix, c. 1827

Detail of Portrait of the Honorable Mrs. Seymour Bathurst by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1828

Detail of Winter (Woman with a Muff) by Berthe Morisot, 1880

The new Baloo’s Bugle is out.  Baloo’s Bugle is a great monthly unofficial publication with games, activities, ceremonies, puzzles, crafts, and other ideas for den and pack meetings. This one covers the December “Works of Art” theme.

For Webelos Scout den meetings, this Bugle also has activities for the Craftsman and Scientist Webelos activity badges.

Also inside is a helpful article on “Making Art with Boys.”

There is a sad note concerning Bill Smith, Roundtable Guy. It says that he recently had a stroke and is in rehab.  Please keep Bill Smith and his family in your prayers. 

Click here (link) to download Baloo’s Bugle in pdf format or here (link) to download it in Word format.

The December 2009 Cub Scout Monthly Theme is “Works of Art.”

Here is the official BSA theme description:

“December is a time of celebration and giving. This is a perfect month for involving friends in doing good deeds and creating holiday magic through art.

Cub Scouts use their artistic abilities to create holiday decorations, gifts, or cards. This artwork might be put on display in nursing homes, in churches, schools, or homes, and at the pack meeting or at a meeting of the chartered organization.

Boys can make cards and ornaments and share them with residents of a local nursing or retirement home, children’s hospital, or community center and do a “Good Turn for America.”

Boys can discover different forms of art, write poems, attend a musical or performing art show, or visit a local art museum. Works of art can become gifts for family members.

The Academic belt loop or pin in Art or Music could be worked on in conjunction with these projects.”  [Bold added]

Link [Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

[Link updated: 2009-12-01]

Our work on a new grant project, Connect: Teachers, Technology, and Art, has officially begun!  Through the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and their Museums for America grant program, the DMA was awarded $150,000 in October 2009 to begin redesigning online teaching materials.  Over the course of the next two years, we will work to create five new dynamic, web-based resource units that present the wealth of our collections in African and South Asian art.  How will we do it?  Thoughtfully, by connecting these three things:

Teachers: Results from a 2007 evaluation with 450 teachers, which focused on how teachers learn and teach with art, will inform the initial selection and organization of artwork images and information.  Staff will also collaborate closely with twenty teachers, who will help design and test the new teaching resources in their classrooms.  How do you currently use the Museum’s online teaching materials?  We welcome your comments!

Technology: Digital images, video, and audio, similar to those on DMAtv, will enliven the resources by providing extended information about works of art and cultures.  Imagine all of this packaged into custom units that are easy for teachers to access, search, and share with students.

Art: Works of art from Africa and South Asia will be the focus for the five new resource units.  The units will reflect recent curatorial scholarship and upcoming catalogue publications for both collections.  They will also highlight artworks recently added to the collection, such as the olumeye from Nigeria and the Buddha Sakyamuni from Thailand.

Kneeling female figure with bowl (olumeye)

Buddha Sakyamuni

Grant work to tackle over the next two months includes taking inventory of great images, information, video, and audio content related to the African and South Asian artworks, as well as selecting ten teachers to begin collaborating with staff.  If you would like to hear more about the grant, please feel free to email us.  Also look for future progress reports on the Connect project here on the blog or delivered via the Educator Newsletter.

Nicole Stutzman
Director of Learning Partnerships with Schools and the Community
nstutzman@DallasMuseumofArt.org

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Learning Partnerships with Schools
jmarvel@DallasMuseumofArt.org

Dorothea Tanning’s Pincushion to Serve as Fetish has inspired me to create a soft sculpture project for our afterschool program.  All it took was some cool fabric, a stapler, polyester stuffing, and a hot glue gun.

I tested the project first and made an example before introducing it to the students. What does it look like to you?

The students were really excited about their fabric choices.

Inspiration for the project. See Pincushion to Serve as Fetish in the Center for Creative Connections.

One of the Dallas Museum of Art’s most recent and exciting exhibitions, Performance/Art, centers around contemporary works of art. Along with paintings and installations, the exhibition includes two films, one by Eija-Liisa Ahtila and the other by Yinka Shonibare. Shonibare’s film, Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), is based on an opera by the same name by Giuseppe Verdi and is a visual spectacle that will attract and intrigue visitors.

Un ballo in maschera, Yinka Shonibare MBE

While the story underlying Shonibare’s film is interesting (the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden), so too is the real life of the artist. Shonibare was born in London in 1962 but raised in Nigeria. This duality of experience and identity is explored in much of his work, which extends beyond film and includes sculpture, painting, photography, and installation. As apparent in the brilliant costumes in Un ballo in maschera, Shonibare frequently works with dyed fabrics which complicate issues of history, colonialism, and our global economy.

Shonibare’s art delves into complex ideas, often layered with multiple points of view, and he emphasizes the aesthetic experience in the process. Some works, such as Lady on Unicycle and Hopscotch, both large-scale installations, include mannequins dressed in Dutch wax-printed cotton. Others, like Dorian Gray, are two-dimensional and include less flamboyant imagery, in this case neutral-colored prints.

Since being awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2005, Shonibare has taken the honorary title as part of everyday usage of his name. This small action hints at what much of his artwork overtly discusses, specifically the ambiguous and contradictory relationship he has with his nationality and identity. More information about Yinka Shonibare and his artwork can be found online at Art:21.

If you would like to experience Un ballo in maschera as well the other works in Performance/Art and All the World’s a Stage, come to our Teacher Workshop this Saturday, November 7, where we will be going through the exhibitions and talking about performance. To sign up, e-mail teacherprograms@DallasMuseumofArt.org or select the Teacher Programs link on our ticketing Web site  to register online.

Logan Acton
McDermott Teaching Programs Intern

By Anne Koch. Via: Dossier Journal

Black Olive

Egg

Rice Cracker

Lobster Roll

Watermelon

Beer

Apple

Caviar

Cocktail

Ice Cream Cone

Dancers of Tlaxcala (Danzantes de Tlaxcala), Carlos Mérida, 1951

It’s an exciting time in the Arts District with the grand opening of the AT&T Performing Arts Center.  In honor of our new neighbor, we’ve developed a new Go van Gogh school outreach program called Creative Connections: Lights, Camera, Action! that focuses on three diverse works of art in the Museum collection and invites students to respond creatively through movement and drama.  Creative Connections programs are 90-minutes long, during which students participate in what we call ”experiments” that involve collaborating with others, applying multiple approaches to solving problems, and producing a creative expression.  These programs can be messy, loud, and challenging - and they are definitely a lot of fun.

If you’re a 3-6th grade teacher and don’t mind a little bit of noise in the classroom, I hope you’ll consider this program for your students.   I promise you’ll be amazed and impressed by the creativity, thought, and enthusiasm they put into their performances.  Requesting a program is easy with our online form. 

With a background in art history and a bit of studio art, the task of writing a program about performance intimidated me.  However, I have the great fortune of working with talented people, and I interviewed some of them during my initial research.  I spoke with Lanita Sene, who I know through our partnership with the South Dallas Cultural Center.  Lanita leads African dance and culture classes during Summer Arts at the Center.  I also spoke with Blanca Reyna and Calvin Rollins, who I met through our partnership with the Ice House Cultural Center summer camp.   Blanca specializes in Aztec culture, and Calvin is a dance student at Southern Methodist University (he also attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing  and Visual Arts).  Last, I spoke with my colleague Amy Copeland who studied dance at Booker T. Washington and other studios in the Dallas area. 

This talented group provided many helpful ideas, like warm-up exercises that capture the students’ attention and focus.  Another great suggestion was empowering students by giving them specialized roles in their performances and encouraging them to lead peer critiques. 

I tested the program with 4th graders and 6th graders who created dances, music, masks, and skits inspired by artworks in our exhibition All the World’s a Stage: Performance in the Visual Arts.  The shyest students contributed by helping to plan, write, and direct the performances.  The boldest students reveled in the opportunity to show off in front of their peers.  Afterward, one teacher remarked that it was fun seeing her students in a new light, and the other felt it was a great program for bilingual students.

 This past Friday, I trained our volunteers and gave them the same challenges students experience during the program.  I watched as they worked together in groups, sometimes giggling, at times with their brows furrowed.  They all agreed that they can’t wait to bring the program to Dallas classrooms.

 It’s showtime!

Melissa Nelson
Manager of Learning Partnerships with the Community

Desk (Model #500) Charles Rohlfs c. 1899-1901

Decorative arts at the DMA has again soared to new heights with the opening of the exhibition The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs. The exhibition showcases over forty pieces of furniture and related objects produced around the turn of the twentieth century. What makes the show so exciting is the artistic designs and individuality of each hand-crafted piece. Curving lines and intricate forms come together to make inventive designs that demonstrate the artist’s interest in the creation of “artistic furniture.” Rohlfs chose not to be aligned with any particular artistic movement, but instead produced furniture that was bold and imaginative. Many of these works of art are displayed so visitors can walk around them as if they are sculptures.

My favorite work of art in this exhibition is the Desk (Model #500). Curving, smoke-like designs rest on top of an arch reminiscent of a Gothic cathedral while carved patterns on the lower half allow one to look through to the inside. Wood grain patterns on the surface create meandering playful ripples across the desk’s surface. While looking at the desk, I think about how Rohlfs chose to make a functional piece as well as an artistic work of art. This is something that must be seen in person!

The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs will be on view until January 3, 2010.

-Amy Wolf
Teaching Programs Coordinator

Explore ten works of art in the new All the World’s a Stage:Celebrating Performance in the Visual Arts teaching materials.   These resources include information, images, music, and  much more! 

I encourage you and your students to discover ways that these works of art communicate ideas about the power of performance.

Until next time…

Jenny Marvel
Manager of Learning Partnerships with Schools

What do we seek to achieve in life

Making our tongues as sharp as knife

Cutting up others in a verbal fight

Seems to give us better sleep at night

Striving to make ours the loudest Voice

All we create is a whole lot of noise

Lost is the Virtue of Silent Work

That’s led us such treasures unearth

Born to sore the sky like a carefree bird

Yet we’re stuck up in the middle of the herd

So attached to the familiar faces

We end up going all the wrong places

Even in the herd – some say they’ll fly

Shed their winter coats and take to the sky

They say some day the road will appear

That takes off from earth – brings the heavens near

But up in the sky, there is no road

Nothing to guide us – not a single sign board

Yet the birds somehow find their way

Crossing continents, every Jan and May

The pitch of their sound doesn’t show their might

Coz their true strength is in the length of their flight

They find their way through life’s turbulence

Coz they listen – to the ‘Sounds of Silence’

                                                                       - Spruhal Mody