Ann Isaacson and Jean Ann Durades teamed up for an in-gallery discussion on cultural appropriation, attended by the staff of LI.
We all pondered the questions, “What is cultural appropriation?, Why now?, and Who gets to decide?” We ended up having a lot more questions than answers, but it was a lively, interesting discussion that bears continuing at Mia.
From your colleague Kathleen Steiger:
From your colleague Jean London, two articles of interest. The first is an excerpt from the art historian Kenneth Clark’s essay on Velazquez’s Las Meninas:
Clark on Velazquez Las Meninas
The second is an article from the New Yorker on contemporary artist Ai Weiwei:
From your colleague Kathleen Steiger:
This video “is a wonderful 6 to 7 minute interview with Lutter and the folks from LACMA and includes some nice graphics on the pinhole camera/Camera Obscura that she builds and uses.
I would recommend that EVERY DOCENT watch it especially if they intend to use our Lutter object on any tours!”
Tour Objective: Learn how artistic production is influenced when two or more cultures meet and exchange ideas and aesthetic values. This tour can complement classroom studies in many different areas, such as geography, history, social studies, artistic expression, and art analysis and interpretation.
Attached are final checkout tour outlines for many members of the Docent class of 2015:
Here is a link to The Art Story site. This is a great research resource, with good visuals and information. Once on the site, you can search through various modern art movements (from 1860s to the 1970s) or look for information on specific modern artists.
From your colleague Kathleen Steiger, a link to a 60 Minutes interview with artist Ai Weiwei:
From your colleague Kathleen Steiger:
Tour Objective: See Christian saints, Jewish heroes, Muslim rulers, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, Daoist immortals, Greek and Roman deities, and African kings and deities. Explore the varied ways humans have used works of art to express their religious or spiritual beliefs in global cultures.
Concerning the Spiritual in Art
From your colleague Kathleen Steiger,
From docents Fran Megarry and Debbie Koller, a video of Loie Fuller, doing the Serpentine Dance that inspired our Mia table lamp, c. 1900, by Raoul-Francois Larche, 98.276.76
Serpentine Dance by the Lumière brothers
From docents Fran Megarry and Debbie Koller, here is a short video that shows the sand painting of a Tibetan mandala:
Tibetan Monks Create Sand Mandala at Clark College in Vancover, WA
(We also have that tool shown in the video in the prop box in the guide lounge.)
From your colleague, Mary McMahon, two ideas for gallery activities:
“The instructor asked that we compare and contrast art from Europe, North America, Asia and Africa (no small task!!). I developed the theme of Blue used in art from ancient times to present starting with Egyptian Blue and ending with International Klein Blue (IKB). For Europe, we discussed ultra marine blue and how it differed from cheaper blues that faded over time focusing on the triptych Lamentation with Saint John the Baptist in gallery 342. For our next “object” I sent them to gallery 343 with the direction to find a painting with blue in it that they really liked and stand in front of it. I gave them a minute or two to decide then with each student, I asked what they liked about their painting or why they chose it. Then I asked them to describe the areas of blue and whether they thought cheap blue or ultra marine blue was used and why. It was a really fun exercise and the students really focused on their particular painting.”
“I wanted to share another participatory exercise from my tour today. My theme was about story telling through art, from fables and myths to the unknown. After talking about Lady Tashat and her biography drawn on the sarcophagus we went to the Female Figure from the Cyclades. I told the students where this figure came from and a little about the Cyclades but explained that we didn’t know her story or what happened there. So I asked the students to create the story. We sat on the ground, I was the transcriber, and the students took turns creating a story about the woman. Even giving her a name – the first group chose Rosetta, the second, Alythia. They were very creative and loved this exercise! I then gave them the story to share with their teacher. I would definitely do this again and all you need is piece of paper and a pencil.”
“Current Conversation” is the title of our new monthly tour highlighting current issues through works in the galleries. Learning Innovation staff have been conducting these tours. As tours are given for each topic, they will be added to this post.
Juline Chevalier, Environment and Art tour:
Current Conversation Environment and Art JC
Debbie Hegstrom, Gender Equity tour:
Sheila McGuire, Immigration tour:
From your colleague Brenda Wyley, a great article on bringing some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s destroyed or paper projects back to digital life:
From docent Susan Arndt, a tour outline for school groups, focused on the importance of trade routes for exchange of goods and ideas. She also includes a great participatory activity for the kids, no props or extras needed for it!
Below is a weblink to a great informational essay on the work of contemporary Native American artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Her work Survival: Wisdom/Knowledge, 1996 is currently on view in the Americas Galleries.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Flathead Contemporary Artist
Tour Objective: This tour introduces visitors to the arts of China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and India. The tour examines what we can learn about culture and history from careful observation and discussion of Asian artworks and also introduces aesthetic principles that show what these cultures value in the production of art.
This self-guided activity sheet, developed by docent Ginny Wheeler, could also be used for a contemporary art tour for teens and adults by developing a theme and transitions that tie the works together. Here is a possible theme:
Contemporary Art: Finding Connections
This tour/activity is about connections…the viewer and the art, the artist and tradition, the artist and the past, the art and today’s world. How do we connect with art? How does the artist connect the past and present?