Artifacts | Spring 2023

SPRING 2023 MEMBER MAGAZINE

120th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

The DMFA’s blockbuster exhibition for the 1949 State Fair of Texas was Leonardo da Vinci and His Time, which featured paintings by the artist and his contemporaries, and wooden models of some of the artist’s inventions. Here, trustees Ruth Spence and Lula Gooch try out a model of Leonardo’s printing press. (More on p. 16)

[On the cover] DMFA staff pose in front of Rufino Tamayo's El Hombre mural before installation in 1953.

DIRECTOR’S LETTER

Dear Members,

After a successful 2022, we kicked off 2023 in a big way, celebrating An Artful 120th Birthday! During the weekend of January 20–22, we invited the community to join us as we celebrated who we are today and who we want to be in the future.

The weekend started strong with the opening of the revamped Indigenous American Art galleries. A longstanding priority for the Museum, this refresh presents a selection of nearly 400 objects from the Indigenous Americas collecting area. Informed by meetings with a diverse Community Working Group, the reinstallation reflects a dedicated effort to present the artworks in a space as vibrant as the communities from which they originate.

Our community joined us on Friday, January 20, for a special Late Night inspired by the Museum’s collection, recent acquisitions, and the refreshed Indigenous American Art galleries. Visitors took part in scavenger hunts, lectures, and studio art activities throughout this weekend of art-filled fun! Over 4,000 visitors took part in our 120th birthday celebrations throughout the weekend, making this our most well attended Late Night event since before the pandemic! We hope you were able to visit that weekend to help us celebrate over a century of serving our community and to usher in the DMA’s next chapter.

Toward the end of 2022, we were excited to showcase a multimedia installation by renowned multidisciplinary artist Rashid Johnson and premiere Matthew Wong: The Realm of Appearances, the exhibition that ARTnews called a “must-see museum show” for 2023. In February Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks opened to tremendous acclaim. From the sacred to the irreverent, this exhibition traces the history and development of art in Flanders through a presentation of passionate, macabre, and cheeky works of art. Don’t miss your chance to see this fascinating show, on view through June 25 and free for members, and find out who you are—a Saint, a Sinner, a Lover, or a Fool! This spring, we have had the opportunity to partner with the Dallas Art Fair and NorthPark Center to co-present Talk of the Town: A Dallas Museum of Art Pop-Up Exhibition, which celebrates and explores the diversity of womanhood through recent acquisitions from the Dallas Art Fair. Be sure to visit the pop-up on your next shopping trip to NorthPark through April 20!

There is still so much to look forward to in the 2023 exhibition season. This year, the DMA will premiere six never-beforeseen exhibitions— Concentrations 64: Ja’Tovia Gary, I KNOW IT WAS THE BLOOD, the homecoming of this premier Texas artist who has been exhibited at such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum, and received support from the Sundance Documentary Institute; Picasso’s Muses: Between Inspiration and Obsession; Tiffany Chung: Rise Into the Atmosphere; Abraham Ángel: Between Wonder and Seduction; Backs in Fashion: Mangbetu Women’s Egbe; and Encuentros: Latinx + Latin American Acquisitions. We will also have the honor of hosting Afro-Atlantic Histories, the exhibition the New York Times called “visionary,” as the final destination on its U.S. tour. We look forward to welcoming you to these sensational shows in 2023.

The archival and present-day images in this edition of Artifacts illustrate the immense change that our Museum has undergone in its lifetime. We continue to not only experience exponential growth in our collection but also expand our staff and programming to meet the needs of our diverse communities. As our current building comes to the end of its life, we are committed to creating a facility that will best serve these communities now and for years to come. In February we announced the launch of an architect selection process that will include an opportunity for community feedback. We know it will take our entire city coming together to ensure that the DMA’s next chapter is one we can all be proud of. We invite you to visit dma.org to learn more and help us create the DMA of the future.

Warmly,

Agustín Arteaga

The Eugene McDermott Director

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32 Architecture Competition

As plans were being made for a new public library for Dallas, artist Frank Reaugh suggested that an art room be included in the design. When the library opened in 1902, the Art Room was located on the second floor of the building. The Dallas Public Library’s fourmember Art Committee purchased two paintings in 1902 and transferred the operations of the Art Room to the Dallas Art Association when it was formed in 1903.

(More on p. 16)

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

MEMBER RECEPTIONS EXHIBITION OPENINGS LATE NIGHT ARTS & LETTERS LIVE MUSEUM MURDER MYSTERY ADULT PROGRAMMING MEMBER PREVIEWS  FAMILY FORUM

APRIL

Pop-Up Art Spot

Saturdays, 1:00–4:00 p.m.

Open Studio

First and third Saturdays and Sundays, noon–4:00 p.m.

Pop of Art

Estamos Bien

Friday, April 7, 5:00–9:00 p.m.

Family Workshop

Pursuit of Wonder

Saturday, April 8, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

Art Babies

Little Birds

Monday, April 10, 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and noon

For the most up-to-date calendar information, visit dma.org. 4

Arts & Letters Live V. E. Schwab

Tuesday, April 11, 7:30 p.m.

Art History Conversation for Teens

Friday, April 14, 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Art Ball

Saturday, April 15

For more information, contact artball@dma.org.

Arts & Letters Live

David Sedaris

Sunday, April 16, 7:00 p.m.

Toddler Art

Superheroes

Tuesday, April 18, and Friday, April 21, 11:00 a.m.–noon

Arts & Letters Live Great (Women) Painters

Wednesday, April 19, 7:30 p.m.

Family Forum Date Night

Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks

Thursday, April 20

DMA Member Previews

Concentrations 64: Ja’Tovia Gary, I KNOW IT WAS THE BLOOD April 20–23

Make & Take Foil Tooling Triptychs

Friday, April 21, 5:30–8:30 p.m.

DMA Circle Exhibition Opening Celebration

Concentrations 64: Ja’Tovia Gary, I KNOW IT WAS THE BLOOD

Monday, April 24

Open to members at the Collector level and above

Richard R. Brettell Lecture Series

Featuring Danielle M. Johnson

Thursday, April 27, 7:00 p.m.

Travis Takeover at the DMA

Friday, April 28, 5:00–8:00 p.m.

Art History Conversation for Teens

Friday, April 28, 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Baby Day

Saturday, April 29, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

MAY

Pop-Up Art Spot

Saturdays, 1:00–4:00 p.m.

Open Studio

First and third Saturdays and Sundays, noon–4:00 p.m.

Toddler Tuesdays

Tuesday, May 2, 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Art Babies

Little Birds

Monday, May 8, 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., noon

Arts & Letters Live

Abraham Verghese

Tuesday, May 9, 7:30 p.m.

Arturo’s Art & Me

All About Japan

Thursday, May 11, and Saturday, May 13, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Toddler Art Space Cadets

Friday, May 12, and Tuesday, May 16, 11:00 a.m.–noon

Pop of Art

Knights Who Say “Ni”

Friday, May 12, 5:00–9:00 p.m.

Family Workshop

It’s Greek to Me!

Saturday, May 13, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

Arts & Letters Live

R. F. Kuang

Thursday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.

Make & Take

Friday, May 19, 5:30–8:30 p.m.

DMA Circle Private Collection Tour

Saturday, May 20

Open to members at the Associate level and above

Museum Murder Mystery

An Artful Game of Clue

Saturday, May 20, 8:00–9:30 p.m.

Boshell Family Lecture Series on Archaeology

Featuring Dr. Orlando Hernández Ying

Thursday, May 25, 7:00 p.m.

JUNE

Pop-Up Art Spot

Saturdays, 1:00–4:00 p.m.

Open Studio

First and third Saturdays and Sundays, noon–4:00 p.m.

DMA Circle Conservation Lab Tour

Monday, June 5

Open to members at the Contributor level and above

Pop of Art Free Your Mind

Friday, June 9, 5:00–9:00 p.m.

Arts & Letters Live

Peace Adzo Medie

Tuesday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.

Late Night

Pride Block Party

Friday, June 16, 5:00–11:30 p.m.

Arts & Letters Live

Geraldine Brooks

Tuesday, June 20, 7:30 p.m.

Make & Take

Friday, June 23, 5:30–8:30 p.m.

For the most up-to-date calendar information, visit dma.org.

CATCH THESE EXCITING EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW AT THE MUSEUM THIS SEASON

Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form

On view through May 14, 2023

Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form is the first-ever museum retrospective to explore this iconic Dallas artist’s nearly seven-decade career. Featuring approximately 80 works, the exhibition charts the evolution of Medellín’s artistic practice as he moved across various mediums, producing sculptures in wood, stone, clay, metal, and glass. The show also delves into his creation of public art across Texas and his legacy as a beloved art teacher in Dallas.

Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks

On view through June 25, 2023

As medieval Europe sat on the precipice of change, the small county of Flanders in the Southern Netherlands developed into a cultural and economic powerhouse. Featuring a dazzling array of masterworks from the 1400s through the 1600s, Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools highlights the innovative ways that Flemish artists depicted their rapidly changing world through style and storytelling.

Bamana Mud Cloth: From Mali to the World

On view through August 6, 2022

Mud cloth, or bogolanfini, originated among the Bamana peoples of Mali, who used the dye-decorated cloth to make tunics for male hunters and wrappers for females to mark the most important milestones in their lives. Its distinctive patterns will be familiar to most visitors. Bamana women painted the culturally significant designs onto handwoven cloth with fermented mud dye. This exhibition reveals how the cloths are made and how their unmistakable patterns have been used in Western products, from designer clothing to home furnishings.

IMAGES: Genoveva of Brabante, 1949. Octavio Medellín. Direct carving in Honduras mahogany. Guadalupe Centers, Kansas City, MO, Gift of Frank Paxton, Jr. © Estate of the artist; A Sailor and a Woman Embracing (detail), about 1615–1618. Peter Paul Rubens. Oil paint on panel, 39 3/8 × 31 1/4 in. © The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp; Bogolanfini wrapper, 1970–1989. Bamana peoples. Mali, Africa. Cotton and natural dyes. Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund, 2021.10.2.3.

Focus On: Rashid Johnson

On view through September 10, 2023

The New Black Yoga Installation by multidisciplinary artist Rashid Johnson features a film with five Black men performing an enigmatic dance of ballet, yoga, tai chi, and martial arts across a sun-soaked beach. Their choreographed movements reflect Johnson’s ongoing meditations on Black masculinity and mysticism, as well as his investigations of the body in space. Rugs branded with crosshairs are situated throughout the gallery, projecting the film’s combined sense of peace and foreboding into physical space.

Guadalupe Rosales: Drifting on a Memory

On view through June 18, 2023

Guadalupe Rosales works to document Latinx experiences in the United States, and especially in her native Los Angeles, through her ever-growing repository of communally sourced archival materials, including photographs, memorabilia, and artifacts. She develops installations combining photography, ephemera, and sound that intersect with her archival practice. For Drifting on a Memory, Rosales collaborated with Dallas-based lowrider artist Lokey Calderon to create an immersive work that nods to lowrider culture and uses sound to replicate the aural experience of cruising in East LA.

Movement: The Legacy of Kineticism

On view through July 16, 2023

Movement showcases the work of artists from three historical eras who explored the power of kineticism in art, using optical effects or mechanical or manipulable parts to engage the viewer physically or perceptually. This exhibition, drawn from the DMA’s collection, demonstrates how artists working today have been influenced by the long legacy of dynamic abstraction to create work that engulfs visitors in their surroundings and empowers them to participate in its co-creation.

IMAGES: Still from The New Black Yoga Installation , 2014. Rashid Johnson. Digitized 16mm film with sound and branded Persian rugs. Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the artist, 2022.16.A–G. © Rashid Johnson. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth; Guadalupe Rosales: Drifting on a Memory at the Dallas Museum of Art; Sounding the Air, 2017. Tomás Saraceno. Spider silk, carbon rods, fishing line, laptop, webcam, subwoofer, receiver, tripods, and Dedolights. Dallas Museum of Art, TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art Fund, 2019.7.

EXHIBITION SPOTLIGHT

We hope you’ve all had an opportunity to see the DMA’s presentation of Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks , which opened in February. Organized by the Denver Art Museum in collaboration with The Phoebus Foundation, Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools illustrates the remarkable developments in art production that took place in Flanders from the 1400s through the 1600s. This traveling exhibition explores a rich repertoire of themes that reflect the societal changes of the time, while also adeptly mirroring contemporary circumstances surrounding the human condition. Below is an interview with curator of the exhibition Dr. Katharina Van Cauteren, Chief of Staff of The Phoebus Foundation, conducted by the DMA’s Chief Curatorial and Research Officer Dr. Nicole R. Myers, the coordinating curator at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Nicole Myers: The Phoebus Foundation collects several different kinds of art, from historic lace to 20th-century modernism. Where did the focus on building an extraordinary collection of Flemish old masters come from?

Katharina Van Cauteren: If you live in Belgium, it's hard to ignore its rich cultural past. In the late Middle Ages, cities like Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, and Ghent were like today’s New York City or Silicon Valley. There was a particularly robust mercantile spirit, and money wants to roll. The tiny region became a breeding ground for top art, producing such world-famous names as Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, and Anthony Van Dyck.

Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks is co-organized by the Denver Art M useum and The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp (Belgium).

Ever since then, collecting has been pretty much in the Belgians' blood. So when Antwerp entrepreneur Ferdinand Huts earned his first pennies with his port company, Katoen Natie, he also bought his first works of art. After a while, the collection was so large and so important that it was decided to transfer it entirely to a professionally run art foundation. That’s how The Phoebus Foundation came into being.

NM: Visitors to the exhibition will notice that it’s not a typical old master show. What inspired your fresh approach to this traditional material?

KVC: The Flemish old masters were not typical either! During the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, they were like the visionaries of their time, exploring new themes, inventing new genres, new artistic styles even! Therefore, it seemed only natural that we would try to live up to that. We decided to deal with the scenography the same way it was dealt with back then, with considerable attention to spectacle and drama,

by celebrating the glamour of the Baroque, of Rubens and his contemporaries. The minute you walk into the exhibition, you are transported back in time, into the spellbinding realm of the old masters.

NM: If there is one thing that you hope our audience learns about Flemish art, what would that be?

KVC: As a curator, I don't look at these Flemish old masters from the standpoint of whether I think they are beautiful. I do, however, always start from the question of why these paintings look the way they do. Why did an artist paint this subject? Why did he use this particular style? When you do that, a work of art very quickly becomes a window into the past. It's about religion, politics, economics. It's about people with fears and dreams, desires and ambitions, about fear of death or love for a child. These paintings may have been made a long time ago, but nothing has actually changed. And that fascinates me every time. Flemish art is about you and me, and about what it means to be human.

NM: Alongside its exhibitions, The Phoebus Foundation has a robust conservation research program. What is the most exciting treatment or discovery you’ve made within the Flemish collection?

KVC: Our conservation team and their atelier form an indispensable part of The Phoebus Foundation. The team of experts consistently ensure the immaculate restoration of each work of art that enters or exits our warehouse. But sometimes they face surprises. In the last room of the exhibition, you see a painting showing a proud couple amid their collection of paintings. Or so it seems anyway! Because it actually turns out that this couple has hijacked an already existing painting. X-rays showed that beneath this man and woman are actually several other gentlemen. These men were painted over during the 17th century so that Mr. and Mrs. could pretend to be the proud owners of this fine collection. And we believed it for 300 years, until research finally betrayed them.

NM: And finally, the question that strikes fear in every curator’s heart: what is your favorite artwork in the exhibition and why?

KVC: Having to choose a favorite painting is like asking who your favorite child is—you can't choose! But I would like to make an exception for The Garden of Eden with the Four Elements by my good friend Hendrick de Clerck. I can call him that since I devoted six years of doctoral research to him. De Clerck painted for the highest nobility of Europe. Even more, this work is actually pure political propaganda for the Habsburg archdukes Albrecht and Isabella. The painting shows Eve tempting Adam, but not to worry, the archdukes will bring the four elements back into perfect balance and restore paradise in Flanders. Of course, they didn't really do that, but it did lead to a masterpiece by Hendrick de Clerck!

IMAGES: Festival of Monkeys (detail), 1633. David Teniers II. Oil paint on copper, 19 3/4 × 23 3/8 in. © The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp; The Garden of Eden with the Four Elements (detail), 1613. Hendrick de Clerck and Denijs van Alsloot. Oil paint on copper, 32 1/4 × 38 1/2 in. © The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp.

EXHIBITION SPOTLIGHT

From July to December 2022, staff from many departments worked steadily and with enthusiasm to give the Indigenous American Art galleries—formerly called the Arts of the Americas—a “makeover.” The artworks extend from Alaska to the Andes, with highlights from North America, Mesoamerica, the Isthmo-Colombian Area, and Peru. The much-anticipated project included a fresh coat of white paint throughout, with each of the four major geographic regions marked by its own distinctive splash

of color. Introductory text at both entrances, clear signage, revised and bilingual labels, and newly developed interactives give the galleries an energetic and inviting feel. This project was enhanced by consultation with DFW community members in two listening sessions, which were followed by smaller, targeted working group meetings. Along with the reinvigorated interior galleries, the Atrium Overlook now boasts works from across the Americas, including the oldest artwork juxtaposed with the most recently created piece in the collection: a small sculpture from Ecuador dating to 2450 BCE and a ceramic gourd effigy vase made in 2019. Together they represent a time span of 4,469 years. The Hoblitzelle Gallery has also been reimagined, and now features artworks from the Indigenous and Latin American collections that speak to several themes, including "Mothers Across Millennia" and "Feathers and Fins." We hope to see you in the galleries soon!

EXCITING NEW EXHIBITION OPENINGS!

Concentrations 64: Ja’Tovia Gary, I KNOW IT WAS THE BLOOD

April 23 to November 5, 2023

Concentrations 64 spotlights the work of filmmaker, visual artist, and Dallas native Ja’Tovia Gary. Three works that relate to Gary’s forthcoming memoir film, featuring family archival footage, will make their debut in the show. This includes the largest object made by the artist to date: a monumental armillary sphere made in homage to the matriarchs in Gary’s family. These works join a neon sculpture and a multimedia installation that are representative of the artist’s critical investigation of the archive and her reclamation of historical symbols of violence and white supremacy with a gesture toward care and healing.

Backs in Fashion: Mangbetu Women’s Egbe

September 24, 2023 to August 3, 2025

Bold-patterned egbe (sing. negbe) are back aprons made of plantain leaves worn by aristocratic Mangbetu women on special occasions from the turn of the 20th century until around 1980. Thus attired, the women welcomed visitors to the magnificent Mangbetu kingdom in presentday Democratic Republic of the Congo. Backs in Fashion presents 16 back aprons, in different styles and patterns, along with period photographs. The exhibition also explains what motivated fashionable Mangbetu women to create the new fashion in the first place.

Concentrations 64: Ja'Tovia Gary, I KNOW IT WAS THE BLOOD is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

EXHIBITION SUPPORT LOCAL SUPPORT

Backs in Fashion: Mangbetu Women’s Egbe is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

LOCAL SUPPORT

Images: Installation view of Citational Ethics. Ja'Tovia Gary. Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, 2020. Photo by Steven Probert. Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; Back apron (negbe), 1930s. Mangbetu peoples. Democratic Republic of the Congo. Banana or plantain leaves, plant fiber, and natural dye. Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund, 2021.10.1.3.

Tiffany Chung: Rise Into the Atmosphere

August 6, 2023 to August 3, 2025

The sixth iteration of the Museum’s Concourse mural series will feature an installation by artist Tiffany Chung, who is recognized for her diverse conceptual work and research-driven process dealing with sociopolitical issues. Rise Into the Atmosphere is a multimedia collaboration between Tiffany Chung and 30 international musicians, including Syrians in exile, who drew from memories of home and the experience of being forcefully uprooted. This multisensory installation reminds us of the power of music and the visual arts to bring back beauty, humanity, and hope, expanding beyond today’s media-saturated images of “conflict zones.”

Abraham Ángel: Between Wonder and Seduction

September 10, 2023 to January 28, 2024

Praised as the leading artist of his generation, Abraham Ángel (1905–1924) produced just 24 paintings before his death at the age of 19. A queer artist who came of age during a time of seismic social change in Mexico, he found belonging in the capital’s rich avant-garde artistic scene, befriending the leading cultural figures of his time. Abraham Ángel: Between Wonder and Seduction will be the first survey of Ángel’s work in 25 years and the first to assemble all of his surviving works. Bringing Ángel’s vibrant paintings into focus, the exhibition reassesses the life, work, and legacy of this legendary artist.

Abraham Ángel: Between Wonder and Seduction is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. LOCAL SUPPORT

Tiffany Chung: Rise Into the Atmosphere is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

Images: Tiffany Chung. Photo by Stuardo Mejia; Self-portrait, 1923. Abraham Ángel. Oil on cardboard. Museo Nacional de Arte, INBAL, Mexico City, 31.2022.01.

SPECIAL FEATURE

It was a cold, cloudy day when 50 Dallasites gathered in the Art Room of the new Carnegie Public Library to form an organization with the intent of founding an art gallery for the people of the city. Thus on January 19, 1903, the Dallas Art Association was born. The DAA’s 120-year journey to become the DMA we know today has been filled with stunning exhibitions, beautiful acquisitions, amazing programs and events, and the wonderful people who made it all possible. It is impossible to condense 120 years into a few words, so as pictures are worth a thousand of them, here are 14 Museum history highlights as told through just a few of the thousands of photographs in the DMA Archives.

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This promotional photograph for Artfest ’76 positioned local personalities and performers around the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts' sculpture Ave by Mark di Suvero. The 500 Inc. presented this carnival-like weekend event, held around the Fair Park lagoon, to raise money to benefit Dallas cultural organizations, including the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (DMFA). Artfest included Learning Tents, performing arts, and 150 artist and craftspeople vendors.

Grace Leake Dexter was elected as the first president of the newly formed Dallas Art Association. She presided over a board of 21 trustees made up of civic-minded and artappreciating women and artists.

The DMA has been located in six sites over its 120-year history. The Dallas Museum of Fine Arts building in Fair Park is the longest-serving location, for a few more years anyway. This was the first purpose-built structure to house the DMFA, and it had its grand opening in 1936 in conjunction with the Texas Centennial Exposition. Despite an addition and a renovation, collection acquisitions and the desire to present larger exhibitions, like Pompeii A.D. 79, demonstrated the need for larger quarters, and the DMA moved out of Fair Park in 1983.

During World War II, the DMFA focused its wartime efforts on cultural programming to support the servicemen and -women stationed in the area and boost morale among the civilian residents of Dallas. The Museum League sponsored a weekly Sunday afternoon canteen in the Museum’s Lounge for members of the Armed Services. The canteen is noted as one of the most appreciated activities for those far from home.

From 1950 to 1952, Emanuel Leutze’s famous, and enormous, painting Washington Crossing the Delaware was on loan to the DMFA from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here, the DMFA staff welcome the painting on its arrival. In addition to staff, artist Thomas Hart Benton, who was in Dallas for a lecture at the Museum, observed the grand unrolling. Benton is in the center in the dark overcoat.

Organized by the Museum League, the first Beaux Arts Ball was held on April 27, 1962. Promising to be “the cultural twist of the season,” the masked ball featured not only the customary dancing, entertainment, food, and freely flowing beverages, but also amateur art and tableaux vivants of great paintings come to life. Above, Pat and Tom Barr create Grant Wood’s American Gothic, and Ball Chairs Larry and Sally Hart are caricatured as Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait. The annual fundraising ball continues today as the Art Ball.

The 1976 exhibition Rugs Designed by American Artists featured 30 rugs designed by American artists and translated into handwoven rugs by the Zapotec weavers of Teotitlan del Valle in Mexico. The artists featured include singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell—pictured below with Boyd Elder (right)—Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, and Robert Wade.

Children consider one of the sculptures in the landmark exhibition Two Centuries of Black American Art, on view at the DMFA in 1977. The exhibition documented the visual heritage and cultural contributions of Black American artists to the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and crafts in the United States through 200 objects.

The DMA prioritized outreach beginning with Director Harry S. Parker III. One of the programs conceived during his tenure, and continuing to this day, is Go van Gogh. Established in 1978, Go van Gogh brings the Museum to schools so students can engage with art and make personal and academic connections. The first Go van Gogh vehicle was a bus in which activities would take place. The second vehicle was a standard van with activities held in the classroom.

Here, students from Roquemore Elementary School are shown with the second Go van Gogh vehicle.

In January 1979, the DMFA opened one of its largest exhibitions. Pompeii A.D. 79 marked the anniversary of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction in and around Pompeii with over 300 objects excavated from the ruins. Installing this exhibition required the deinstallation of the collection galleries, and related exhibitions were held at other museums and organizations. Visitors to the exhibition purchased their tickets at the Fair Park Coliseum and took shuttle buses to the Museum. By the end of the three-month run of the show, over 371,000 people had seen Pompeii. This remained the highest-attended exhibition until it was surpassed by Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs in 2009.

A Pompeii A.D. 79 docent points visitors to the Museum’s planned location in the Dallas Arts District. The exhibition’s success and the promotion of the need for a new building to the crowds of visitors were the first steps in securing funds for the new museum in the November 1979 bond election.

The DMA acquired the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection in 1985. The paintings, furniture, rugs, sculpture, porcelain, glass, and iron work were packed at Villa La Pausa in the French Riviera and installed in the re-created rooms in the DMA’s new Decorative Arts Wing. But before the works were installed here, the collection was inspected in Paris and then transported by air to the Dallas–Fort Worth Airport. On arrival, the collection crates were removed from shipping pallets under the watchful eyes of U.S. Customs officials.

The Barrel Vault is the most iconic part of Edward Larrabee Barnes’s design for the new Dallas Museum of Art in the Arts District. In this construction view, we see the structural steel for the Barrel Vault set against the downtown skyline of the early 1980s.

Cookie Monster, who was in town for a Sesame Street Live performance, visited the DMA and tried his hand— paw?—at weaving. Cookie Monster’s visit on February 28, 1995, included a lesson in weaving from experts who were demonstrating the use of looms that were on display in the Gateway Gallery, now the DMA’s Center for Creative Connections, for the exhibition The Art of the Loom.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Access Programs: Sensory Days

As part of the Dallas Sensory Consortium, the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas Museum of Art are proud to host the Sensory-Friendly Family Fun Day on Thursday, April 13, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Activities include scavenger hunts, sensory tents, art-making stations, music therapy and performances, storytelling, and sensory spaces facilitated by occupational therapy students from Texas Woman’s University.

Registration is free; please email access@dma.org for more information. Registration is requested. Siblings are welcome.

Pop-Up Art Spot

Looking for a hands-on experience in the DMA galleries? The Pop-Up Art Spot offers fun and unique ways for visitors of all ages to interact with works of art together, from bite-sized art-making activities to sensory explorations, games, and more—all inspired by artwork from nearby galleries. Each month highlights a different area of the Museum's collection, with this year featuring new activities and more things to see!

Community Partnerships

The DMA continues its commitment to cultivating strategic partnerships with local organizations to provide impactful and relevant programming for communities of need across the city. Bonton Museum of Art, an exhibition in collaboration with Bridge Builders, featured self-portraits from 28 students in grades K–5 celebrating the diversity, energy, and vibrancy of the Bonton neighborhood.

The DMA is also excited to continue its work with other existing partners, such as the Stewpot, the Dallas Public Library, and WellMed Senior Centers, and to explore new relationships with Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation, Genesis Women’s Shelter, and more. Through these partnerships, the Museum hopes to foster a sense of welcoming and belonging at our institution for these audiences, and to help empower them to create their own impact in their communities through art.

Summer Art Camps

Ready, set, MAKE! Summer Art Camps at the Dallas Museum of Art have something for every creative kid. Whether you like to build, sketch, sew, write, paint, or tinker, there’s a camp for you. Campers spend a week exploring the Museum’s galleries, making new friends, working in the studio, and creating amazing art.

Teen Ambassadors

The Teen Ambassador program is a summer volunteer opportunity for high school students to lead gallery conversations, story times, and art-making experiences for children ages 5–12 and their families. Volunteer hours are available June–August, and indepth training and a volunteer T-shirt are provided to all Teen Ambassadors. Make friends, see art, and do some good! You must be 14–19 years old to participate, and applications are due by April 30, 2023.

FAMILY AND YOUTH PROGRAMMING ADULT PROGRAMMING

NEW PROGRAM: Art in Thirty

Tuesday, April 18, May 16, and June 13, 2:00 p.m. In a hurry? Art in Thirty. Pop into the Museum for a 30-minute journey through the DMA’s galleries. Art in Thirty provides free monthly gallery talks led by DMA staff, local scholars, and artists highlighting unique aspects of the DMA’s collection and exhibitions.

ARTS & LETTERS LIVE

Tuesday, May 9, 7:30 p.m.

Arts & Letters Live will present celebrated author Abraham Verghese to talk about his latest book, The Covenant of Water . Set in Kerala, South India, on the Malabar Coast, the novel follows three generations of a family from 1900 to the 1970s. Verghese, the recipient of a National Humanities Medal, is a renowned Stanford physician. His novel Cutting for Stone remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.

To purchase tickets, visit dma.org/ALL.

ON THE SCENE MOVEMENT: THE LEGACY OF KINETICISM

MATTHEW WONG: THE REALM OF APPEARANCES MEMBER OPENING

ON THE SCENE

SAINTS, SINNERS,

LOVERS, AND FOOLS: 300 YEARS OF FLEMISH MASTERWORKS MEMBER OPENING

BEHIND THE SCENES SPOTLIGHT

CELEBRATING OUR HISTORY AND OUR AMAZING STAFF

MY FORMER ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: As Chair of Learning Initiatives and Director of Education, I was responsible for the development of programming and materials focused on enabling visitors to connect meaningfully with works of art and for increasing awareness of the DMA as a Dallas institution for diverse audiences.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: I am obsessed with connections both in my own artwork and in other aspects of my daily experience.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: I love recalling a time when Booker T. Washington high school dance students responded through their dance to works of art in a DMA gallery while visual art students drew their responses to both the dancers and the art. Visitors stopped and watched. The gallery was alive with interactions.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Since retiring from the DMA, I have been reading with grandsons via FaceTime, cooking, watching college basketball, drawing, and writing, and talking with family and friends, some of whom are former and present DMA employees. One of the best decisions I ever made was to apply for an internship at the DMA.

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: I’m the Head Photographer and I shoot the collection and catalogues. My 23rd anniversary was on March 2.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: Snow skiing. I went for a week this month and I am going to go again next month. I enjoy the feeling of gravity giving you a motor. I like being on the top of a mountain and anywhere you want to look you can look that way and it's beautiful. Going speeds as fast as 40 mph, it’s a way to ride a motorcycle without a motor being involved. I like going to Sunlight Mountain in Colorado.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: Getting to know the deceased artist through the vision of their collectors. When I shoot the catalogue and I go to the homes of the collectors that collect this art, their excitement gives it immortality. They don’t just have the greatest artist; they have the greatest of that artist.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Gardening. I grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, blueberries, and more. My garden is 25x20 feet and I harvest so many tomatoes.

38 YEARS

23 YEARS

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: As Payroll Manager, I make sure everyone here gets a paycheck every two weeks! Very important—I’m everyone’s best friend . . . on that day.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: My grandbaby! I have one and his name is Isaiah, and I’m Gigi to him. I’m obsessed with him. He’s young and he keeps me active!

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: It's making sure everyone gets paid. It's important to me to be available, be welcoming, and let anyone come in and ask any questions or concerns that they have.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: I do a lot of volunteering and feeding the homeless through my church. It’s humbling. I love helping my community. And then back again to spending time with my grandbaby!

Davitt

Former Chair of Learning Initiatives and Director of Education

Linda Kelley Payroll Manager

Flowers

Head Photographer

43 YEARS

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: Being disruptive. No, my official title is Chief Mount Maker and Senior Preparator. A mount maker is someone who makes 3D metal armatures to support artwork that can’t support itself.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: New Mexico. I find it a healing place. I’ve been there more times than I can count, and I have family in New Mexico. Despite that, I still go, haha! When we take friends, they’re always stunned by how beautiful it is. It’s a wonderful place. I’d love to retire there.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: Being a problem solver, and doing that within the confines of an object. We have an old saying in mount making, “We help objects sing at full voice.”

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: I’m working on some art right now, drawings and collage. I work from magazines and other materials. I didn't always do collage; it terrified me until the late 80s. I thought I could never do this and then it called out to me, so I finally decided to try it, and I did it. Lastly, you would find me being a caregiver to Ivy, my beautiful wife. I do my best to care for her and help her flourish.

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: I'm the Senior Editor. I edit and proofread any written material the public will see, including special exhibition labels, collection gallery labels, brochures, program schedules, ads, invitations, emails, press releases, the website, Artifacts (yes, I had to edit my own interview for this issue of the magazine!), the annual report, and more.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: Reading poetry and making soup. (Not necessarily at the same time.)

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: I get to read all day about interesting subjects, and because the DMA is an encyclopedic museum, the subject matter is always changing: one day it's Picasso's works on paper, the next day it's African mudcloths. I never get bored—unlike at my first job out of college, editing Lasers & Optronics magazine.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Reading a book with a cat in my lap. Or going to the library or bookstore. But, honestly, mostly grocery shopping—it seems like I'm always at the grocery store.

32 YEARS

MY FORMER ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: Head of Marketing and Public Relations

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: A rt, investing in Broadway shows, and the work of the Trinity Park Conservancy and building an incredible urban park.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: The thank you party at the Rose "Pump House" during the Centennial Campaign. Robert and I were so very excited about the community support and so happy to have been a part of making the campaign a success.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Working away at my desk trying to make money to buy art!

Hoffman Former Head of Marketing and Public Relations

Sublette Chief Mount Maker and Senior Preparator

Watson Senior Editor

BEHIND THE SCENES SPOTLIGHT

20 YEARS

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: I do the scheduling for all Gallery Attendants, Supervisors, and Parking Booth Attendants. I also do the payroll for Gallery Attendants, Supervisors, and Contract Staff. I approve invoices that need to be sent to Accounting, and I keep a daily tracker of all the Bond work happening in and around the Museum. I attend all meetings that deal with staffing galleries, which has me in constant contact with curators and registrars. I believe this about sums up my duties as a Scheduling Manager here at the DMA, but I’m pretty sure I left off something!

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: My morning walks through the galleries every morning to see if anything has changed or new works of art have been put up, and going to the gym in the evenings. I also binge watch a lot of TV series.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: Being surrounded by art and having such a close-knit group of coworkers who I have known for over 10 years, and also getting to meet people from all over the world that visit.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: At the gym working out, spending time with my grandkids, and at home binge watching my favorite shows (let’s not forget shoe shopping as well!).

MY ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: I applied for a job as a Gallery Attendant at the DMA in 2002, but as luck would have it, a position involving publications had just opened up under Tamara Wootton Forsyth. I became her assistant. In 2004 my job changed to become just Publications Assistant, since my background was in publishing, and my heart has always been in editing and working on books. I then became Publications Coordinator and was promoted to Publications Manager in 2010. I’ve continued in that role ever since.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: I write stories, novellas, and poetry and also make art. Having studied Russian language and literature, I really love the poetry of Osip Mandelstam, Anna Akhmatova, and Aleksandr Blok, and prose writers like Isaac Babel and Boris Pilnyak.

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: Constantly learning new things!  Getting to read essays by knowledgeable curators and academics is a joy for me. I sometimes can’t believe that I’m getting paid to work with language and words.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: Scribbling away in my diary, reading, working on my writing, looking after my cat, and spending time with my significant other, Allison.

20 YEARS

Eric Zeidler Publications Manager

MY FORMER ROLE AT THE MUSEUM, AT A GLANCE: I began as The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art and eventually added additional responsibilities as Head of the Department of Painting and Sculpture. My focus was primarily major exhibitions, including Painting the Universe: František Kupka, Pioneer in Abstraction, The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso, Henry Moore, Henri Matisse: Sculptor, Van Gogh's Sheaves of Wheat, Dialogues: Duchamp, Cornell, Johns, Rauschenberg, as well as the mammoth 100th anniversary exhibition and publication.

CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH: This big transition after 15 years of service at the helm at the Phillips Collection to become Director Emerita.

Dorothy Kosinski

Head

MY FAVORITE ASPECT OF MY JOB: So many wonderful times with Margaret McDermott, from meetings, lunches, and dinners to celebrations at the farm. Those are precious memories.

WHEN I AM NOT WORKING AT THE DMA, YOU WILL FIND ME DOING: I wish I could visit the DMA more often! Right now I am lecturing and writing and working with a number of foundations and serving on the National Council of the NEH . . . AND trying to make the time to take long walks around beautiful Washington, DC

Former

of the Department of Painting and Sculpture

Denise Augusta

Scheduling Manager

Wootton Forsyth

Denise Gonzalez

Patricia Hamra

Loui Hernandez

CRAFTING THE JOURNEY THE DMA STAFF

Nellie Frayre

Marta Gonzalez

Leah Hanson

Julie Herrick

Karen Fulton

Greg Gourley

Brandon Harden

Anthony Hill

Jasmine Howard • Rachael Huszar • Ndukwe Ijomah

Linda Kelley • Alemayehu Kenno

Ren Lee • Bora Leiby

Alesia Harrison

David Hill

Carol Griffin

Janet Hitt

Caroline Irvin

Jennifer Krogsdale

Merertu Lelissa

Sabrina Lovett • Nancy Lujan

Mary Leonard

David Geary

Elvis Guaman

Carolyn Hartley

Emily Hogrefe-Ribeiro

Shalamar Jackson

Jessica Kyle

Detra Lewis

Lance Lander

Vivian Li

Marc Lyman • Brian MacElhose • Martha MacLeod

Adriana Martinez-Mendoza • Luis Matehuala • Elia Maturino • Joyce McCloud

The DMFA staff say bon voyage to Jerry Jane Henderson with a farewell party at the home of Jerry and Mary Bywaters in 1952. The Museum’s staff in the earlier years was small and would often gather for lunches during the workday. (more on p. 16)

Robin Glanville

Beza Haile

Laura Hartman

Luis Gomez

Xavier Hamilton

Zoe Heinsohn

Sylvio Hooper • Crystal Houston

Natasha Johnson

Erika Larsen

Stacey Lizotte

Maggie Kamb

Vynsie Law

Martha Lopez

Sydney Kasok

Jake Ledbetter

James Lovett

Genet Mamuye • Elisette Marin • Inocente Martinez

Jenny McCoy • Laurie McGill • Susan McIntyre

Ellee McMeans • Kimberly McNiece • Tina McQueen • Estefany Mendoza • Alfreda Mitchell • Renata Mitchell • Norma Molina

Paul Molinari • Alex Montenegro • Kenna Montgomery • Benjamin Morales • Maria Moreno

Veronica Myers • Marissa Negrete

Belem Perez De La Fuente

Gloria Ramirez

Michelle Rich

Angela Rogers

• Sandi Newmon

• Brian Peterman

• Mari Ramirez

• Luz Rico Cortes

• Jaime Rojas

Claudia Sanchez

JD Shipman

• Kelly Randall

• Jesus Rivera

• Jesse Romero

• Raquel Sandoval

• Asheber Shoamanal

Isabel Stauffer

• Jenny Stone

• Mary Nicolett

• Luke Peterson

• Isabel Randolph

• Sebastian Robles

• Sergio Romo

• Narvas Scates

• Alison Silliman

• Russell Sublette

Samantha Velarde • Doug Velek

Amelia Whitehead

Edward Zambrano

• Robert Opel

• Heather Phillips

• Ron Ray

• Andi Orkin

• Brad Pritchett

• Dan Reaka

• Jeremiah Roblez

• Meg Roppolo

• Emily Schiller

• Fikirte Sima

• Amir Tabei

• Feliza Vidaurri

• Fred Wikelski

• Eric Zeidler

Aschelle Morgan • Nicole Myers

• Justin Penov

• Katie Province

• Jacklyn Rechy

• Anna Rockey

• Cyndee Rowe

• Sarah Schleuning

• Clint Skinner

• Emma Thomson

• Genet Wako

• Shiree Williams

• Cathy Zisk

• Adam Walker

• Lisa Winkley

• Stephanie Perez

• Efren Ramirez

• Chad Redmon

• Megan Rodriguez

• Jean Rowe

• Tiara Scott

• Peter Skow

• Michelle Reyes

• Monica Rodriguez

• Veronica Treviño Salinas

• Mulualem Selassie

• Bryony Smith

• Brenda Trevizo

• Roslyn Walker

• Emily Wiskera

• Tyson Shepherd

• Linda Smith

• Vicki Turner

• Laura Spooner

• Ingrid Van Haastrecht

• Queta Moore Watson

• Michelle Witcher

• Lena Wright

• Cynthia Weaver

• Tomas Ybarra

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

REIMAGINING THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION

The Dallas Museum of Art architecture competition is part of the DMA's plans to reimagine the Museum. The transformation of our facilities to better serve our audiences and accommodate our growing collection is a priority of the Museum’s strategic plan. The architecture competition is open to all local, regional, national, and international firms, and will culminate in summer 2023 with a public exhibition of concepts created by the short-listed firms. Learn more at the link.

EXHIBITION SUPPORT

Bamana Mud Cloth: From Mali to the World is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

LOCAL SUPPORT

Focus On: Rashid Johnson is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

Guadalupe Rosales: Drifting on a Memory is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

Movement: The Legacy of Kineticism is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. Support for this exhibition comes from The Jorge Baldor Curatorial Fund for Latin American Art. Exhibition catalogue support is provided by the Texas Art Collectors Organization (TACO). The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

SCOTT CHASE AND DEBRA WITTER THE POLLOCK FOUNDATION

Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks is co-organized by the Denver Art Museum and The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp (Belgium). The exhibition is co–presented by Texas Instruments and PNC Bank and is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.

SUPPORT

CO-PRESENTED BY MAJOR SUPPORT

FREEMAN FAMILY EXHIBITION FUND

MARGUERITE HOFFMAN AND THOMAS WOODWARD LENTZ