1. The concept for Silver Supper evolved from legendary collectors and generous DMA donors Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle, who used their remarkable silver collection to entertain guests many decades ago.

2. In 1987 the Hoblitzelle Foundation donated much of this silver collection to the DMA. Since then, Silver Supper has raised more than $1 million to benefit the DMA’s Decorative Arts Acquisition Endowment Fund.

3. The first Silver Supper, held in 1988, welcomed just eighteen guests and raised $7,000.

4. Past Silver Supper themes have ranged from formal 18th-century-style English dining to life in the art deco world of the Roaring Twenties. The centerpiece (and dessert!) for the 1998 event, chaired by Jessie Price, was a larger-than-life cake shaped like the Palace of Versailles.

Silver Supper certainly has come a long way in the last twenty years! This year’s event, themed The Great Makers of American Silver, will showcase an extensive display of silver treasures at the DMA, from the opulence of the Gilded Age to the most progressive work of the last century. Below are a few photos from the January 10 pre-event cocktail reception at the Carolina Herrera store in Highland Park Village.

For one work of art specifically, Lee Bontecou’s Untitled, we ask visitors to respond to one of three prompts:

• To me, sharing space with this work of art feels like…
• The words or pictures that come to mind when I look at this work of art are…
• If this work of art was part of something larger, describe what it would be.

Untitled (35), Lee Bontecou, 1961

We have gotten a lot of great responses from visitors and want to share a few with you. Once a month we will have an “Off the Wall” post featuring three responses left by visitors.

Next time you are in the Center for Creative Connections add your contribution to the wall and maybe you will see it on Uncrated!

Hillary Bober is the Digital Archivist at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Kimberly Daniell is the Public Relations Specialist at the Dallas Museum of Art.

July 14–19 (3 months and 3 ½ weeks until opening)

This exhibition was the first fashion installation most of us had ever worked on, and its many technical requirements added extra complexities. A trip to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ installation was vital for me and several of my colleagues. We take hundreds of pictures, ask pages of questions, and document mannequin mounting, lighting, and mechanical specifications.

October 17 (3 weeks and 2 days until opening)

Two 18-wheelers deliver the majority of the exhibition, with mannequins, mounts, and furniture in a regular truck, and costumes and works on paper in a climate-controlled one.

October 18 (3 weeks and 1 day until opening)

As soon as possible, we locate and unpack the Galleon headband so its dimensions can be verified for our preparators, who will make a mount for it, and our carpenters, who will build the proper-size “porthole” display case.

Preparators John Lendvay and Mary Nicolett assemble mannequins and take height measurements so they will know where to place them on the platforms in relation to the projectors, which will eventually bring their faces to life.

October 20 (3 weeks until opening)

Once the Odyssey gallery mannequins have been placed, the preparators hang the projectors a precise eighty-eight inches away from their noses so that the faces will align properly and not look like Picasso paintings.

LED strips are affixed inside the Urban Jungle gallery platforms before their frosted Plexiglas tops are installed.

October 21 (2 weeks, 6 days until opening)

Naked assembled mannequins await dressing in what was deemed the “morgue” but later transformed into the Exhibition Store.

October 24 (2 weeks and 2 days until opening)

Several tightly fitted leggings and stockings were packed directly on their legs to save wear and tear from dressing and undressing them at each venue.  Thankfully, the mannequin body parts were labeled so we could easily match them to the proper legless torsos.

October 28 (1 week and 5 days until opening)

Tanel Bedrossiantz from Gaultier’s Paris atelier and local mannequin dresser Greg Goolsby join us on our first day of costume installation.

October 29 (1 week and 4 days until opening)

By the end of our second day, sixty mannequins throughout the exhibition have been dressed, including the catwalk models and their surrounding “punks.” We made it a priority to focus first on those with projections to allow as much time as possible for alignment and editing.

As hectic as the installation is, we find time to appreciate the humor – here Montreal’s organizing curator (and former model) Thierry Loriot demonstrates how to properly wear a Mohawk before attaching it to a mannequin head with double-stick tape.

Preparators and carpenter Dennis Bishop install the screen scrim and fine-tune the chain mechanism of the catwalk.

October 31 (1 week, 2 days until opening)

The porthole into the Urban Jungle gallery is finished, allowing visitors a sneak peek into the installation, and at the DMA’s Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design Kevin Tucker, who is working with preparator Mike Hill on mannequin placement.

Mannequins patiently await their turn to be mounted on their catwalk platforms.

Tanel detaches a mannequin’s hands in order to install its many bracelets.

The “Hussar coat”-look silk faille skirt is unpacked. This piece has its own crate and is packed suspended over a cone support.

November 1 (1 week and 1 day until opening)

Gaultier atelier staff member Thoaï Nirodeth laces up the Chantilly lace body stocking. The Skin Deep gallery is the last to be dressed and installed because the back wall was built over a doorway we needed in order to move the large mannequin cases in and out of the space.

November 3 (6 days until opening)

We discover that a new mannequin has been sent for Madonna’s dancer’s costume in the Skin Deep gallery, and this one does not want to support himself (or Madonna) on all fours. After consultation with our conservator John Dennis and the Gaultier atelier, we build a mount to support him at the collar bone (surreptitously hidden by his black scarf).

A shipment of new outfits arrives from Paris, including the cowboy and cowgirl looks at the entry of the exhibition (created specifically for the Dallas installation), the 3-D “horn of plenty satin ribbon corset-style gown (which was just on the runway over the summer), and the costume from the film Kika. Upon unpacking the helmet, we notice the absence of a key accessory—an early model video camera. We locate similar ones on Ebay, but are fortunately able to obtain one overnight from a friend of a coworker who (thankfully) never throws anything away.

November 6 (3 days before opening)

The final shipment arrives from Montreal, including mannequins for the new outfits just arrived from Paris and clothing items with animal-related components that had been delayed due to customs problems.

Although it is standard practice to allow artwork twenty-four hours to acclimatize after arrival, time is of the essence and we unpack the final shipment immediately, which includes the doll with the ostrich-feather dress in the Boudoir gallery. In order to import items made from endangered animals or migratory birds, it is necessary to apply for government permits, which can take months to process.

Preparator Doug Velek installs the final two works on paper amid hair clippings in the exit gallery—the space that had been used as the “salon” of wig stylist Hugo Raiah.

November 7 (2 days before opening)

Preparator Lance Lander was instrumental in “lassoing” the numerous and complicated AV components in the exhibition, and also came to the rescue by lending the final accessories to complete the cowboy and cowgirl “looks.” (The lasso and Black Stetson were requested by the atelier at the last minute.)

Carpenter Dennis Bishop puts the finishing touches on the projector covers in the Odyssey gallery.

November 7, 8:30 p.m. (1 day and 9 ½ hours until opening)

Jean Paul Gaultier comes straight from the airport for his first walk-through of our installation. Several of us were on hand to welcome him and are privileged to watch the design genius at work as he adjusts the drapery of fabric and modifies accessories. To add more of his characteristic je ne sais quoi to the Chalk-striped mink pantsuit, he borrows a gold lamé turban from one of the female punks (now stylishly bald) and adds the Plastic bolero with gold thread embroidery.

November 8, 6:00 p.m. (17 hours before opening)

Registrars, preparators, and even our chair of collections and exhibitions scramble to clean, arrange, and affix the mirrored tiles to the platforms in the Metropolis gallery.

November 9, 10:00 a.m. (1 hour until opening)

After final consultation with Jean Paul Gaultier, his atelier staff hang the train of the Satin cage-look corset dress on the wall according to his specific direction.

Reagan Duplisea is the Assistant Registrar for Exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art.

I’m on Day Three at the DMA and feeling very much at home. Directors are always at home, because the job follows us there. In the case of the Dallas Museum of Art, it’s great fun to get to know so many new people in such a short time, and to absorb the rhythms of a venerable institution that is forever in the moment.

Unpacking a few hundred books and displaying a few souvenirs and personal photographs has already made my new office feel familiar—as does knowing that dear friends have worked in this office for many years before I showed up. The choices of how time is spent in the first few weeks are clear up to a point—lots of events and opportunities to connect with everyone from staff to visitors to donors and trustees to others throughout the Metroplex. The script not written is how to blend my experiences with the needs of the DMA, which will be a fresh and exciting challenge. My inner circle of staff is already learning about my foibles and tone, which I try to keep informal, fast-paced, laced with humor, and open to experiments that fail.

While I will return to this space from time to time, it’s probably easier to find me on Twitter (@MaxAndersonUSA), which demands haiku-like precision but slightly less time. Excited to see what happens on Day Four!

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

Adam Gingrich is Marketing Administrative Assistant at the Dallas Museum of Art.

What has led to my mobile euphoria? Two words . . . i. Pad.

My job requires me to work in a variety of locations including art storage spaces and exhibition galleries. Not to mention at museums across the country and throughout Europe when I travel as a courier. And normally, I would carry a bagful of supplies. But no more.

With an iPad handy, registrars can enter framed artwork dimensions directly into the database from art storage.

Now with an iPad in my hand, I can leave the clipboard, paperwork, digital camera, and pencil behind when I trek to the galleries or to art storage. Thin and lightweight, the iPad is the near-perfect substitute for the traditional methods of doing several registrarial tasks.

In the Registrar’s Department, we’ve developed iPad workflows for tasks including condition reports, incident reports, and art movement location changes. We can also access our database remotely in order to enter data directly without the need for taking notes and returning to our desktop computer. To the layman, these are neither the sexiest nor the most fun things to do with an iPad. But to a museum registrar, they seem heaven-sent.

It’s a great feeling to walk out of an art storage space or exhibition gallery knowing that when I return to my desk, I don’t have a step 2 of the process to complete. For several tasks, the iPad allows me to complete all phases of the process remotely.

By converting condition report forms to PDF documents, we can now markup these essential documents using the PDF Expert app on the iPad. This app not only has a variety of useful tools, but the marks are editable which makes for cleaner documents.

Need to mark up a condition report to show an area of concern on a painting surface? Done.

Need to sign, e-mail, and print a shipping receipt from the art dock? Done.

Need to edit an exhibition floor plan illustrating art placement changes and e-mail it to the exhibition designer? Done.

Need to take a photo of installed casework and record the measurements between objects for future reference? Done.

Thank you, iPad.

A registrar compares submitted text for an upcoming publication to the text on the object labels in the galleries. Her edits on the iPad can then be saved and emailed to the Publications Department before she ever leaves the galleries.

While working on recent exhibitions, both at the DMA and outside the museum, I used an iPad to access crate lists, object checklists, and gallery floor plans, and to send e-mails and photos directly from the galleries. It is so refreshing not to have to sort through piles of paperwork, stapled lists, and hand-jotted notes trying to find what I need. Just a few simple taps of the screen, and I’m jumping between apps and documents with little effort or confusion.

We’ve been using the iPads since the summer, and we’ve only begun to unlock the potential. It’s a bit time-consuming to research the apps to find the best ones suited to our needs and then to develop the necessary workflows, but, in all honesty, it’s actually a lot of fun.

The iPad will be a game-changer for museum registrars, and at the DMA we’re embracing that change one app at a time.

Brent Mitchell is Registrar for Loans and Exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me….Yucca and the Prickly Pear

William Lester, "Yucca and the Prickly Pear", 1941, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of A. H. Belo Corporation and The Dallas Morning News

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Love Birds

Ruth L. Guinzburg, "Love Birds", n.d., Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mrs. Robert A. Beyers

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me a….Hen

Elwyn Lamar Watson, "Hen", c. 1930, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Emma Downs Green

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a…Bird-form finial

Zenu culture, "Bird-form finial", c. A.D. 500-1500, Dallas Museum of Art, The Nora and John Wise Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jake L. Hamon, the Eugene McDermott Family, Mr. and Mrs. Algur H. Meadows and the Meadows Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. John D. Murchison

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…”The Golden Fleece” ring

Giovanni Corvaja, "'The Golden Fleece' ring", 2008, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Deedie Rose

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Geese

Reveau Bassett, "Geese", 1915-1933, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Olin H. Travis

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me a…Bridge at Pont-Aven, 1891

Emile Bernard, "Bridge at Pont-Aven, 1891", 1891, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Estate of Ina MacNaughton

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…The Maids

Paula Rego, "The Maids", 1987, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. I. C. Deal

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Ballet Dancers on the Stage

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

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a…Portrait of Lord Lovat

William Hogarth, "Portrait of Lord Lovat", 1746, Dallas Museum of Art, Junior League Print Fund

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me a…Young Man with a Flute

George Romney, "Young Man with a Flute", late 1760s, Dallas Museum of Art, bequest of Mrs. Sheridan Thompson

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…Drum Solos

Brad Tucker, Drum Solos, 2001, Dallas Museum of Art, Texas Artists Fund

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

For one work of art specifically, Lee Bontecou’s Untitled, we ask visitors to respond to one of three prompts:

• To me, sharing space with this work of art feels like…
• The words or pictures that come to mind when I look at this work of art are…
• If this work of art was part of something larger, describe what it would be.

Untitled (35), Lee Bontecou, 1961, Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection, gift of an anonymous foundation

We have gotten a lot of great responses from visitors and want to share a few with you. Once a month we will have an “Off the Wall” post featuring three responses left by visitors.

Next time you are in the Center for Creative Connections add your contribution to the wall and maybe you will see it on Uncrated!

Left to right: Jessica Kennedy, Vivian Barclay, Hannah Burney, Wendy Earle, Lexie Ettinger, Melissa Barry, Andrew Sears and Mary Jordan

Each year, the Dallas Museum of Art welcomes a new class of McDermott interns into the family.  Throughout the history of the program our interns have been outstanding, intelligent students with interests spanning the full range of art-related interests. This year’s group is no exception. Of the eight interns, five hold master’s degrees while the other three have earned their BA and plan to pursue advanced degrees. Their interests range from Medieval and Contemporary Art to Art Education and Museum Programming. As you will learn, their talents and interests extend beyond Art and Art History!

Vivian Barclay is the Graduate Curatorial Intern for Decorative Arts and Design. She holds a B.A. in Art and Performance for University of Texas at Dallas and a M.A in Art History from Texas Christian University. Vivian was born and raised in Valencia,Venezuela.

Melissa Barry is the Graduate Curatorial Intern for Contemporary Art. She received her B.A. in Art History and Business Administration from Baylor University and her M.A in Art History from Texas Christian University. She can also sign to R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly.

Wendy Earle is the Graduate Curatorial Intern for the Arts of the Americas and the Pacific. She earned her B.A in Art History from the University of Michigan and her M.A. in Art History from the University of Texas. She has piloted a plane.

Andrew Sears is the Curatorial Intern for European and American Art. He graduated from Emory University with a B.A in Art History. He has never been to a zoo–a fact his fellow interns plan to help him remedy this year.

Hannah Burney is a Teaching Programs intern. She will work primarily with Go van Gogh and other outreach programs. She spent part of her childhood in South  Korea.

Lexie Ettinger is the Education Intern for Adult Programming. She majored in Art History, and minored in Political Science at the University  of Arizona. Currently she is pursuing her M.A at the University of North Texas. Her family dogs’ names are Cinnamon and Sugar, and Sugar has her own Face book page.

Mary Jordan is the Education Intern for Family Experiences. She holds a B.A from Indiana University and a M.A from Johns Hopkins in Medical and Biological Illustration and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Art Museum Education at the University of North Texas. In her “first” career as a medial illustrator, she often sketched in the operating room, directly from surgery. One of the most interesting was a cardiac bypass surgery.

Jessica Kennedy interns in the DMA’s Teaching Programs assisting with docents and gallery programs. She holds a M.A in History with a concentration in Museum Studies and a B.A. in Art History form the University of Missouri in St. Louis. The first name of each member of her immediate family starts with the letter J. Therefore she will answer to any “J” name.

The next time you are in the museum don’t be surprised if you find one of them leading a gallery talk, helping with Late Nights or instructing your child in the Center for Creative Connections. Also, in the coming months, check Uncrated to read their contributions to this blog.

The Dallas Museum of Art offers nine-month paid internship positions in the Education and Curatorial Divisions. These internships are intended for those individuals who wish to explore a career in museum work. For more information, or to apply for the 2012-2013 McDermott Internship program, visit our website. Applications will be available in January 2012.

Martha MacLeod is Curatorial Administrative Assistant for European and American Art and manages the McDermott Interns