Do's, Dont's, How-to's, Why Not’s: a Zine For Teens About Museums and Art

DO’S, DON’T’S, HOW-TO’S, WHY NOT’S: A ZINE FOR TEENS ABOUT MUSEUMS AND ART

This is a ZINE.

Zine (n) \”zeen”\ : an abbreviation of the word fanzine, or magazine. So basically, it is a “mini magazine” that the Walters Art Museum Teen Arts Council (WAMTAC) created for you.

What is the WAMTAC? We are a group of dedicated, quirky teens in the Baltimore community who share a love of art and museums.

Welcome to our zine!

Use this guide in the Walters or anywhere to ponder and question the

big “so whats� of art.

Contents: How to survive in a museum.

Rainy Day tour.

Big Graphic.

21st Century tour.

Interview Advice from artists.

Resources.

Squinting your eyes and tilting in front of art is an easy way to let everyone know that you’re thinking about how meaningful art is to you.

HOw to SuR

in a Come to the museum with someone who likes to look

at the same things you do and has the

same museum habits as you—likes to read labels, likes to talk, looks at things fast or slowly.

Don’t take pictures unless it’s a “hobby of yours.”

Casually mention to others the different art exhibitions that you’ve been to in “authentic,” “avant garde,” or “bohemian” parts of town.

Don’t block the art!

When in doubt, wear all black.

Berets and crazy jewelry also help make you look like you are “with it”.

Rvive

an Art Museum Know the name of an obscure artist or art movement. You can even make your own up!

RAINY DAY TOUR This tour sets the mood for dark dreary days… for those drawn to mystery, these puzzling paintings reveal more than what meets the eye.

Judith Cutting Off the Head of Holofernes Trophime Bigot, 1640 17th Century Gallery, Level 3 • What crosses your mind when you see this painting? Is the use of color and lighting significant?

• Do you find yourself making assumptions about the people depicted? What assumptions did you make?

• Notice the facial expressions in this painting. What emotions are apparent? What do you think the artist was trying to convey?

Here’s what really happened: According to the Book of Judith in the Old Testament, the virtuous widow, Judith, saved her people when military commanders failed to lift a siege by the Assyrians. She beguiled the enemy General Holofernes into getting drunk and then cut off his head.

Trophime Bigot, known as Master of the Candlelight, introduced brutal, naturalistic, close-up scenes lit by a single light source. In this composition, the candlelight concentrates the drama around the clear diagonal movement back from Holofernes’ straining arm.

Responses from youth at the Academy for College and Career Exploration: “I believe the artist did this to show that women could be just as powerful as men” “The man looks shocked, which might mean he was asleep when it happened. To me, the lady looks like she doesn’t want to do it, in her eyes. The other lady... looks relieved.”

Portrait of Maria Salviati de’ Medici with Giulia de’Medici Jacopo da Pontormo, 1539 16th Century Gallery, Level 3 • What is your initial reaction to these paintings? Which one do you think came first?

• What do you think about the subjects’ relationship to one another? Is there an emotional connection?

Here’s the Info: Henry Walters purchased this painting in 1902 as it appears above, as a portrait of a famous poet. While cleaning in 1937, conservators noticed something odd and x-rayed the piece, discovering the child beneath a layer of paint.

It was determined that the woman was Maria Salviati de’Medici, granddaughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the head of a powerful family that ruled Tuscany. It is unknown why the child was painted over. She is thought to be Giulia de’ Medici, the illegitimate child of the first Duke of Florence, Alessandro de’ Medici, whose mother was probably a Moorish slave. Although her ancestry is not resolved, it remains likely that her portrait could be the first European portrait ever painted of a girl of African ancestry! When this was painted, it was stylish to make subjects’ necks and fingers unnaturally long.

CR

E T A E

21st CEntury TOUR Not everything you find at the Walters is older than you are. Check out these contemporary works for a change of time.

Map of the Ancient and Medieval World Rick Shelley, 2001 Ancient World galleries, Level 2 This big mosaic map is a contemporary piece you’ll find hard to miss. This 9’ by 12’ mosaic took almost a year to complete and is composed of 155,520 small glass pieces called tessarae. Commenting on the project, artist Rick Shelley says “my geography improved immensely.” A close look reveals some of the artist’s personal touches: “wind gods” in the upper corners, a sea serpent in the Atlantic, and a ship with the artist’s name in the sails. Take an even closer look, and the faces of the artist and his assistant can be seen peering from the ship’s portholes. There is one gold tile on this map, which rests on Venice. See if you can find it!

• Just from looking at the piece, what can tell about the artist as a person?

• This piece is modern,but do you think it was more heavily influenced by previous societies?

• Can a subject such as a map still convey emotion?

• Why do you think the artist chose to portray only part of the world? What is distinct about the ancient world on this map?

Armor Fish Karl Saar, 2001 Cafe Corridor, Level 1A You may remember seeing fish like this one around Baltimore not too long ago. Also created in 2001, this 6-foot-long fish took the artist over 300 hours to complete.

Located just around the corner from the museum café, this industrial piece was originally part of the city’s “Fish Out of Water” program.

• What do you think were the artist’s motivations?

• How does the artist’s aesthetic compare to other pieces in the museum?

• Why do you think it was placed where it is?

Think About It: Both of these pieces have been placed in an encyclopedic museum which does not collect contemporary work. Does this detract from or add to each piece? Are there examples of art elsewhere in the museum that look like these pieces?

INTERVIEW with KAREN FRENCH, Painting Conservation Paintings Conservator Karen French gives us the scoop on what she does on a daily basis, and how she got to be a conservator of paintings at

the Walters.

Paintings Conservator?

Sounds interesting, what exactly is that?

KF: A conservator is a professional devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage for the future. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care.

What kinds of complex issues do you come across in restorative projects?

KF: A lot of what the Walters conservation staff does is un-doing a previous conservation treatment.The Walters always treats their pieces to be easily reversible. For example, an oil painting that needed re-touching would not be re-touched in oil (medium of original painting) because

if it ever needed to be conserved again, dissolving the oil retouched layer would also dissolve the oil of the original painting.

What ethical issues arise when treating such valuable works of art?

KF: People want to know what’s real and what’s not.

Some people want to know that what they are looking at is the “conserved” part of

the painting while others just want to be able to feel the original effect of the work

of art.

What are the skills and personal traits necessary to be successful as a conservator?

KF: You need to be interested

in history, have good hand skills, have some facility for science, and be willing to go through a lot of training.

Say you are a conservator, and you just got a painting in despair, what do you do?

KF: 1. Look at it with the naked eye.

2. Look at it with a microscope, under UV light, under infared and X-ray.

3. Stabilize its condition without touching the actual paint.

4. Evaluate surface losses, determine areas that need retouching. You have to first have a thorough knowledge of the artist and time period.

5. Evaluate structural problems.

6. Begin to examine the paint. How strong the pigment is, the materials, time period and amount layers/ previous treatments all affect treatment plans.

For more information on conservation projects at the

Walters, visit: www.thewalters.org/ conservation/

photos courtesy of Dawoud Bey

ADVICE from Artists We asked some artists and museum professionals to give words of advice for young artists in 150 words or less.

Here’s what they said: “Every young artist should take a college course in marketing or business in addition to their studio art classes.”

“If whatever you want to express as art comes from your mind and/or heart, and doesn’t harm anyone else, then it is art.”

“Don’t let anyone tell you that studying art or a career in art is worthless or impractical.”

“Support your fellow artists and open yourself up to their critiques; they will become your strongest allies and the network that will sustain you.”

“Don’t make your art for other people; rather, pretend you’re making work ONLY for an audience of one (yourself.)”

“Do not underestimate inspiration because it is everywhere.”

“Practice, practice and perfect your technique to be the best it can be, and then network to get into a gallery, both locally and in a larger city.”

“This is the same advice that my watercolor teacher gave me in college—The first 3000 are the hardest.”

“The more you look, the more you see.”

“Trust your instincts. If you think something is interesting and important and needs to be said, say it, and if you think something needs to be made, make it.”

“Failure only happens when you refuse to get up.”

“Get a good education.”

“Use your eraser.”

“Put in 10,000 hours.”

“Hang around people who are better than you think you currently are.”

“Show your work to as many people as possible.”

“Be informed.”

“Develop good communication skills.”

“Be prepared to make work for the long haul.”

RESOURCES Here are some websites, publications, and museums we think are cool and think you will too!

Blogs and websites by artists and arts communities: we make money not art www.we-make-money-not-art.com A group of artists who blog about everything art related from all over the world. Here’s their description of their blog: “We visit art galleries, listen to conferences, cover art and design events, take a lot of pictures, interview creative people, and we document these findings in order to share them with you.”

BmoreArt bmoreart.blogspot.com A blog about the art scene in Baltimore!

Dawoud Bey’s blog whatsgoingon-dawoudbeysblog.blogspot.com Dawoud Bey is a photographer who came to the Walters Art Museum in 2008 to curate an exhibition with a group of Baltimore teens. His musings about art, artists, society, and museums are thought-provoking and insightful!

Art publications: ArtForum artforum.com The online version of ArtForum, a magazine devoted to contemporary art all over the world.

Interesting features include “ArtGuide,” an interactive world map that you can click on to find art openings, exhibitions, and other art events anywhere in the world; “500 words,” short blog posts by art experts, artists, educators, and writers; critics’ picks; videos, and more.

New York Times: Art and Design http://www.nytimes.com/pages/arts/design/ Check out the art and design section of the New York Times.

Cabinet Magazine http://www.cabinetmagazine.org Cabinet is a magazine about art and culture. The website includes columns, essays, interviews, and special artist projects with artists of all disciplines.

Teens doing stuff in museums and galleries:

Walters Art Museum, Baltimore MD thewalters.org/teens/

Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York www.bronxmuseum.org/education.html

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN teens.walkerart.org

Museum of Modern Art, New York redstudio.moma.org

We are WAMTAC (L to R): Rui, Garland, Jacob, Danielle, Dominic, Juliana, Tyler, Thomas, Kenna, Larkin, Kiki, Cymone, Christen This zine was made by the Walters Art Museum Teen Arts Council in 2009. We received a grant from Youth as Resources to print this zine. We visited different high school to zone in on teenagers’ opinions about art and art museums, which helped us come up with the content of this zine. We all contributed to making this zine, but Kenna O’ Rourke and Christen Chiosi deserve a special thanks for creating the layout and graphics.

The Walters Art Museum 600 North Charles Street Baltimore MD 21201 www.thewalters.org 410-547-9000 Museum Hours Wednesday—Sunday 10:00 am-5:00 pm General Admission is FREE at all times.

For more information about teen programs at the Walters, be sure to check out our teen website at: www.thewalters.org/teens or email teenprograms@thewalters.org