There’s No Place Like Home…Or a Museum That’s Open Until Midnight

Next week is Spring Break and we are offering a lot for families and visitors of all ages to do at the DMA.

We will kick-off the week with our WFAA Family First Day on Saturday, March 9. Then, throughout the week you can explore our galleries with self-guided tours, stop by the Art Cart, compete in games with your family, and more!

Stop by our new Art Cart in the Museum galleries.

And to end the weeklong celebration, we invite you to join us for our annual Spring Break Block Party on Friday, March 15. We will be open until midnight for our Late Night event, as will our neighbors in the Arts District: the Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Klyde Warren Park, and the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Each year we program the March Late Night around a fun family theme, from Where the Wild Things Are to Alice in Wonderland and the world of Dr. Seuss. This year, staff debated between Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz, and after some nostalgic discussions and fun brainstorming meetings, we decided to go over the rainbow and follow the yellow brick road to the wonderful world of Oz.

Don’t miss the “Prince of Pop-Ups,” Robert Sabuda, who will discuss his major feats of paper engineering, including his pop-up book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Families can explore the galleries with our Journey Through Oz Family Adventure to find courage, a heart, a brain, and a home. And if you stay late, you can take a tour that looks at the lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) in our collection.

Sword ornament in the form of a lion, Ghana, Nsuta State, Asante peoples, c. mid-20th century, cast gold and felt, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc.

As for films, we decided we didn’t want to show the original Wizard of Oz but instead screen some interesting takes on the classic. So throughout the night you can watch Tom and Jerry’s take on the film as well as The Muppet’s version. And for adults we will screen the cult classic Return to Oz.

Don’t forget to bring your camera so you can take a photo with your friends and family in front of our Emerald City backdrop, accompanied by cardboard cut-out characters from The Wizard of Oz. Glinda the Good Witch is living in my office until the big day!

And if you are a DMA Friend, come to Late Night dressed as your favorite Wizard of Oz character to earn the Midnight Masquerade Badge and 450 points! Not a DMA Friend? Be sure to sign up at the kiosks near the Visitor Services Desks when you arrive.

Stacey Lizotte is the Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services at the DMA.

Holidays in the District

Last week the Dallas Arts District kicked off Holiday in the District with Holidays at the Center. Below are images from the annual tree lighting event provided by the Dallas Arts District. Visit the Holidays in the District page for information on all holiday-related events, as well as tips on holiday shopping in the District.

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Courtesy of the Dallas Arts District

Music and Masterpieces

We are very excited about the upcoming launch of a new program, Music and Masterpieces, produced in partnership with the Dallas Opera, on Saturday, November 10.

We have worked closely with our Arts District neighbor the Dallas Opera on many programs and projects in the past. These have included the commission of the song cycle A Question of Light by writing duo Gene Scheer and Jake Heggie, which was inspired by works of art in the DMA’s collection in honor of our shared benefactor and art advocate Margaret McDermott; hosting several special opera season preview performances; and most recently hosting a recital by Laura Claycomb.

The success and positive response to  A Question of Light started us thinking: How can we connect the art of performance and music with the art in the galleries in a more meaningful way, and more often? After a fun brainstorming session between the DMA programming staff and the Opera’s Marketing and Education department, the idea for Music and Masterpieces was born. The DMA and the Dallas Opera will work together to choose a theme based on an area of the DMA’s collection or special exhibitions that will serve as inspiration for a performance and tour to be held on the same day. Through this pairing, visitors will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of both of these art forms and the influences they have on one another within a shared theme, era, or culture.

Jules Cheret, “Jardin de Paris”, 1890, color lithograph, Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Milton F. Gutglass, M1998.158, Photo by John R. Glembin, Milwaukee Art Museum

Next Saturday’s Music and Masterpieces program is inspired by the exhibition Posters of Paris: Toulouse-Lautrec and His Contemporaries. Nathalie Paulin*, a French-Canadian soprano, will perform music ranging from late 19th-century French opera to art songs and Parisian bistro chansons. A tour of the exhibition will follow the performance. The performance will start at 2:00 p.m, and the tour will begin at 3:00 p.m. Please arrive early as space on the tour is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis the day of the event. 

Nathalie Paulin

We have other Music and Masterpieces programs in the works as well. On January 27, 2013, we will feature Twyla Robinson*, soprano, with Charles Dillard* as accompanist. This program will be themed around the exhibition Difference? and will include music from the 20th century featuring strong feminine themes.

We hope to see you Saturday and at future Music and Masterpieces programs!

Denise Helbing is the Manager of Partner Programs at the Dallas Museum of Art.

*Artists subject to change

A Weekend of Celebration

This weekend we welcomed our newest neighbor to the Dallas Arts District, Klyde Warren Park, with two days of activities and free general admission to the DMA. On Sunday, October 28, we also celebrated ancient Mexico through our free Family Celebration, which took place during the closing celebrations of Art in October. We even held some of our programs at Klyde Warren Park. Below are a few pictures from the day’s events. Be sure to visit The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient Mexico before the exhibition closes on November 25!

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Welcome to the Neighborhood

This week our city’s newest amenity comes online: Klyde Warren Park. Now that we have glorious palaces for high culture, bridges into developing communities, and burgeoning opportunities to live downtown, the next accomplishment to celebrate is a green attraction with an identity open for interpretation by every visitor.

The DMA staff looks forward to the impact of a pedestrian-friendly destination just steps from our front door. The car culture of Dallas is not unique, but whatever we can all do to encourage residents and visitors to stretch their legs and open their eyes can only improve the quality of life for all in our city.

Parks and museums share a great deal—we welcome people of all backgrounds, regardless of particular interests, we offer an informal setting for conversation and relaxation, and we don’t prescribe a route, a timetable, or an outcome for your visit. We both try to offer a respite from the commercial din of contemporary life, some perspective on daily life, and enjoyment that comes from a freedom to wander and explore without confinement.

We look forward to collaborating with the Park as it gets underway with programming, and to accelerating the pedestrian-friendly potential of the Dallas Arts District in a variety of ways. Welcome to the neighborhood, Klyde Warren Park!

Celebrate the grand opening of Klyde Warren Park this weekend. The DMA will move the Studio Creations program outside on Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., and on Sunday our Maya ballgame demonstration with Grupo Pakal will be held at the Park at 1:45 p.m. Visit the Park’s website for a complete list of events.

Maxwell L. Anderson is The Eugene McDermott Director at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Stumbling Onto Something New

Hello there! My name is Michele Loftus, and I’m the Marketing Coordinator for The Dallas Arts District. A lot of people don’t know that my organization actually exists, so let me take the opportunity to introduce us. We are an advocacy organization for . . . you guessed it, The Dallas Arts District! Still confused? I’ll put it this way: if you’ve ever eaten at a food truck, ventured out to an artsy block party, or consulted one of our kiosks looking for directions, then you’ve crossed paths with what our organization does. We’re often the ones who close off the streets for late night parties, coordinate the programs, and most importantly, do our best to make it easy for you to be a one-stop shop for all things Dallas Arts District. We bring together all the museums, restaurants, performing arts companies, and venues to promote the neighborhood along Flora Street as a cohesive district. All this being said, we hope you’ll join us for our next big bash, the Summer Block Party, this Friday night from 6:00 p.m. to midnight.

Now in our fourth year of throwing block parties, we’ve had the fortune of attracting more and more people to our neighborhood and educating them on the various offerings of the Dallas Arts District. What’s interesting now though, as observed in our most recent block parties and art crawls, is that people will come not knowing we’re throwing these events in the first place. They’ll stumble upon them for various other reasons: food trucks, a concert at the Winspear, or just driving by. Seeing the streets all lit up with activity, it’s difficult for them to stay away. It’s become something that amazes me every time and is now one of the things I look forward to most when wandering around, sending out my usual tweets, or taking pictures of what’s going on. It’s that curious “So what’s happening over there?” look, and the subsequent “Oh, awesome!” when I tell folks that the museums are open until midnight and send them on their merry way down Flora Street, knowing they’ve caught the buzz of our neighborhood.

Often, I’ve noticed these people are the faithful food truckies who follow their favorites to the ends of the earth, and this time their journey happens to lead to the Arts District. But I’ve also met a fair share of museum-goers who are equally as surprised and excited to find out there’s an entire food court waiting for them just down the street. We even come across people who are members at one institution and have no idea there’s something going on at the others right next door.

This kind of exchange is why we do these events and one of the many reasons we thrive on nights like the Summer Block Party. We’re fortunate to have an arts district that’s all on one street, so we can foster exciting collaborations like these and make it easy for people to stumble upon something new.

To discover something new for yourself, visit us at this Friday’s Summer Block Party. The museums will all be open until midnight. For more information, visit http://thedallasartsdistrict.org.

Michele Loftus is the Marketing Coordinator for The Dallas Arts District

A White Wonderland at the DMA

Francis Guy, "Winter Scene in Brooklyn," c. 1817-20, Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., 2008.23.McD

We are getting into the spirit of the holiday season here at the DMA and in the Dallas Arts District , and we would like to invite you to the Museum for some great holiday shopping and fun holiday entertainment.

And while you are here, be sure to visit the galleries and try to spot all of our white and wintry works of art. Here are a few to get you started:

Level 4

"Veryround" chair, Louise Campbell, designer, Zanotta, Italy, maker, designed 2006, steel with enamel, Dallas Museum of Art, DMA/amfAR Benefit Auction Fund, 2008.49

Anne Whitney, "Lady Godiva," c. 1861-64, marble, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Alessandra Comini in memory of Dr. Eleanor Tufts, who discovered the Massachusetts-backyard whereabouts of this long-forgotten statue and brought it to Dallas, 2011.8

 

Level 3

Door with human figure, Indonesia, South Sulawesi, Sa'dan Toraja people, 18th or 19th century, wood, Dallas Museum of Art, Gift of the Eugene McDermott Foundation

Auguste Rodin, "The Poet and the Contemplative Life," 1896, marble, Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, 1985.R.64

Level 2

Ben Nicholson, "White Relief," 1936, oil on carved board, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1963.77.FA

Gustave Courbet, "Fox in the Snow," 1860, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, Mrs. John B. O'Hara Fund, 1979.7.FA

Barbara Hepworth, "Contrapuntal Forms (Mycenae)," 1965, marble and teakwood, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Clark, 1971.94

 

Level 1

Installation view of "Encountering Space" at the Dallas Museum of Art

And visit the exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk on Level 1 to see white used in fashion:

Lady Gaga wearing Jean Paul Gaultier, "Flare Magazine," 2009, © Max Abadian

Craig McDean, "Untitled (Maggie Rizer)," "Vogue" (U.S.), October 2002, "The Hussars" collection, "La Mariée" wedding gown, fall-winter 2002–2003, © Craig McDean/Art + Commerce

Visit the Museum Store in person or online at ShopDMA.org for unusual gifts to give this holiday season. And be sure to join us for two exciting holiday performances when The Barefoot Brigade presents their annual The NOTcracker dance performance on December 17 and on December 18 Undermain Theater presents a reading of the classic Dylan Thomas poem A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

Have a fun and safe holiday season and we hope to see you and your family at the Museum!

Wendi Kavanaugh is the Member Outreach Manager at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Stacey Lizotte is the Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Closing Celebration for Art in October

Sunday we wrapped up the month-long celebration of the Dallas Arts District, Art in October, with a day full of events throughout the district. The DMA hosted a free Carnival of Creativity and Doggies in the District. Below are few photo highlights from the day.

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How to Throw a Block Party

Have you ever wanted to throw a block party but don’t know how to go about it? One of the interesting things about my job is that I now know a lot about what goes into making a good one.

On June 17 we’ll host our third annual Summer Block Party in the Arts District, and I wanted to share a little of the “backstage” planning. The Summer Block Party has always involved the Arts District museums and Downtown Dallas Inc., and this year we are also working with the Dallas Symphony and the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

The first part of planning any big event is getting all the “players” together to discuss ideas and work out the details. Our first Arts District group meeting was the first week of April, and we have had two group meetings since then. Agenda items for these meetings included planning joint programs, discussing street closure logistics, and crafting a marketing plan.

A street performance during a Summer Block Party

After these meetings, the “point person” from each institution goes back “home” to work out the specifics. Here at the DMA we had meetings with our Security, Operations, Membership, and Marketing teams to go over all the details for the DMA’s Late Night, especially the Summer Concert featuring The Polyphonic Spree. Between that first planning meeting in April and the event on June 17, I will have had fourteen internal meetings with various staff members just about this one event.

A past Late Night Summer Concert on Ross Avenue Plaza

Another aspect of throwing a block party is closing the streets between the museums. We do this so we can have programs outside and for the safety of all our visitors, who will be walking back and forth between the institutions. Closing the streets requires a permit from the City, which must be submitted forty-five days before the event. Once we get the okay from the City, we have to secure police officers, outdoor lighting, port-a-potties, and street barricades.

After our programs are confirmed, we then work with our graphic designers and editor to create a schedule of events, which we give to visitors when they arrive that night. We submit text three weeks in advance to give them time to edit and design the schedule, have staff review the schedule, and make any last minute changes before sending it to the printer. We then update our website with all the current information, and our PR department sends out a press release and begins posting on Facebook and Twitter.

Proof for the Late Night Schedule of Events

Lastly, to continue in the tradition of my previous blog post about Late Nights, I thought I would end this post with a new Late Nights by the Numbers list:

272 – number of emails I have sent and received about the Summer Block Party since April

52 – number of performers and artists featured during the June Late Night

7,000 – number of Late Night event schedules printed for this night

6 - number of food trucks that will serve food during the Summer Block Party

2 – number of clues the DMA will tweet for the Museum Art Challenge on Twitter

12 – number of port-a-potties on-site during the Summer Block Party

4 - number of rotating mirror balls that will be used during The Polyphonic Spree concert

Stacey Lizotte is Head of Adult Programming and Multimedia Services.

Artfully Green

Reduce, reuse, and recycle. As Earth Day rolls around, we’re reminded of our impact on the environment. But what are we doing at the Dallas Museum of Art to be green? Uncrated went on a search to find out.

Each year, over half a million visitors step through the Museum’s doors, and our large building is 500,000 square feet, taking up two city blocks in downtown Dallas. Our global collections span over 24,000 works of art, and we produce an average of eighteen exhibitions each year. We have an underground parking garage, a cafe, a store, and over two hundred employees.

With this large footprint, we were excited to find out about some long-standing practices and a few new ones that the DMA is using to reduce its impact on the environment:

• Three years ago, The City of Dallas and the DMA retrofitted the building’s entire energy management systems in order enhance energy efficiency. Efforts included replacing our boiler and chillers, adding eco-friendly light bulbs, low flow toilets and water fixtures throughout the museum. As a result, utility consumption has been reduced over 50%.
•  The Museum has a water management system throughout the building. It is a smart system with rain sensors for our hardscape and landscaping.
•  We added healthier, more drought-tolerant trees along the Museum bordering St. Paul Street.
•  All chemicals and cleaning agents used at the DMA are eco-friendly.
•  DMA employees are offered a discount to ride the DART system to work. There is a bicycle rack located on Ross Avenue Plaza.
•  When layouts of our galleries are changed for new exhibitions, we reuse studs and building materials. All crates and art packing materials are reused and/or recycled.
•  The DMA participates in a recycling program with the City of Dallas. The profits the City makes are sent into the general fund for City programs such as Park and Recreation projects and Fire Department equipment.
•  All copy paper used at the Museum has a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste content.
•  All of the printed materials produced by our Creative Services team are printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper, using an FSC-certified paper distributor, and 95% of the commercial printing (100% local) that the Museum does uses an FSC-certified printer.
•  The admission tags that visitors receive when they visit the DMA are collected and reused. Look for boxes at the Visitor Services Desk to recycle your tag when leaving.
•  The Museum Store features products from many local artists and craftsman and also has a wide variety of eco-friendly products.
• Our cafe uses compostable or biodegradable disposable containers and recycles all plastic, glass bottles, paper, cardboard, wine corks, and cooking oils. This summer, we will begin working with a food composting company.
•  The cafe menu consists of locally purchased organic produce, sourcing through local vendors within a two hundred-mile radius. Soon, the cafe will implement new infused water stations and glass-bottled waters, phasing out plastic-bottled water.

The DMA is working with the U.S. Green Building Council to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for these efforts. We hope to have our designation by August 2011.

For a selection of works on view at the Museum that incorporate recycled materials, visit our sister blog, We Art Family, for their Earth Day post. And for eco-friendly activities, emerging green technology, and thought-provoking ways to think, work, and live green in Dallas, join us today and tomorrow in the downtown Dallas Arts District for the free Earth Day Dallas Festival (the DMA will have FREE admission on Saturday, April 23, 2011!). To reduce your carbon footprint, ride DART to Pearl Station and walk to the Arts District.

Happy EARTH Day!

Mandy Engleman is the Director of Creative Services at the Dallas Museum of Art