Developed with Input from Local Community Groups, whose Contributions Inform its Display in the Center for Creative Connection Galleries
Dallas, TX—January 9, 2020—The Dallas Museum of Art presents My│gration, a new exhibition inspired by input from the Dallas community that explores the migration of people, objects, and ideas in art from the DMA’s collection. The DMA’s education department, known as the Center for Creative Connections (C3), organized the inventive installation using feedback gathered from Museum visitors, local artists, and community organizations over the course of eight months. The dramatic new exhibition is part of a larger institutional effort to strengthen the Museum’s educational offerings, reach diverse groups, and provide visitors the opportunity to engage with the collection in new ways. My│gration will be on view in the Center for Creative Connections facility beginning February 1, 2020 through January 3, 2021.
“Over 24 percent of Dallas residents were born in a different country. As the city’s art museum, we recognize the ability of works from our global collection to show how sharing between different cultures has always been vital to the creation of art,” said Dr. Agustín Arteaga, the DMA’s Eugene McDermott Director. “We are also proud to have collaborated with some of our community partners for this presentation, which is inspired by the diversity of Dallas.”
The education department is led by Claire Moore, the Allen and Kelli Questrom Center for Creative Connections Education Director. In her first two years at the DMA, Moore has overseen a restructured department that aims to increase community engagement through innovative programming related to the Museum’s collection. My│gration was developed by Moore and Emily Schiller, Ph.D., the DMA’s Head of Interpretation, through a collaborative process that engaged a range of internal and external stakeholders.
Input from visitors via a public response wall in C3, coupled with offsite listening sessions in local libraries, indicated immigration and migration as topics of interest to our community. Visitor participation, changes to immigration policy, and the recognition that nearly a quarter of all Dallas residents were born in a different country inspired My│gration. The concept for the exhibition was then refined through listening sessions with local artists and organizations such as Artstillery; Break Bread, Break Borders; Cry Havoc Theater Company; GAIA Empowered Women; and Heart House, who suggested ideas for the exhibition’s title, ways to share stories of people’s immigration, and activities for enhancing the visitor experience via the exhibition and related programming.
“We are thrilled to unite exemplary works of art and community interests in a dynamic exhibition—and a lineup of programs—that affirm the powerful role art can play as a catalyst for understanding, creativity, and civil discourse,” said Moore. “I continue to be inspired by the passion and generosity of the Dallas community; none of this would be possible without the important contributions of local residents and organizations and DMA staff from a range of departments.”
My│gration features more than 50 works of art from the DMA’s permanent collection, across many periods and mediums. They are organized in three sections occupying the Center for Creative Connections’ 5,000-square-foot facility that includes dedicated spaces for visitor learning and interactive activities.
- “Departures” examines how the movement of people is expressed through art, including a Hopi ceramic jar decorated with symbols for footprints and a print by Kara Walker that references the Middle Passage.
- “Arrivals” highlights the contributions of artists who immigrated to the United States, with a section focused on those who moved to Texas. Featured artists include Hans Hofmann, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Octavio Medellín, among others.
- “In Transit” pairs works from different countries and centuries to demonstrate the artistic exchange of motifs, materials, and techniques. For example, stylized cloud designs that originated in 18th-century China, shown on a silk coat, reappear in an Indonesian textile dated about 1910.
The 2020 C3 Visiting Artists, selected by DMA staff, will present two participatory installations related to the exhibition. Moving Reflections, a collaborative sound and performance project by Marie-Claire Valdez and Shoshana McIntosh, is on view from February 1 to May 31. A second project by Nida Bangash will be on view from September to December.
C3 will host an opening-day celebration on February 1, 2020, in the exhibition space with free activities for all ages, including storytelling with Toni Simmons, art-making with GAIA Artisans, and performances by Cry Havoc and the Jamal Mohamed Trio. In the afternoon, C3 Visiting Artists Marie-Claire Valdez and Shoshana McIntosh will be in the gallery to interact with visitors who wish to contribute to their installation.
My│gration is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and can be seen for free as part of the Museum’s general admission policy. The exhibition is made possible by The Bonnie Pitman Education Endowment to Do Something New, which was established in 2015 after the Dallas Museum of Art was awarded $1.5 million from longtime patrons Beverly and Donald S. Freeman to benefit the DMA’s education programs, in honor of its former Director, Bonnie Pitman.
About the Center for Creative Connections and the Dallas Museum of Art
The Center for Creative Connections (C3) is both an actual physical space and the driving force for disseminating education throughout the Museum and the community. C3 incorporates all the spaces and collections of the Museum to facilitate exploration of personal creativity and desire for learning, providing opportunities to visitors of all ages, genders, and education levels. The central C3 location, from which education emanates throughout the Museum, is 5,000 square feet and opened in 2008.
Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is among the 10 largest art museums in the country and is distinguished by its commitment to research, innovation, and public engagement. At the heart of the Museum and its programs is its global collection, which encompasses 25,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Located in the nation’s largest arts district, the Museum acts as a catalyst for community creativity, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse spectrum of programming, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary events, and dramatic and dance presentations. With a free general admission policy, the DMA welcomed more than 875,000 visitors in 2019. The DMA is an Open Access institution, allowing all works believed to be in the public domain to be freely available for downloading, sharing, repurposing, and remixing without restriction. For more information, visit DMA.org.
The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
###
For more information, please contact:
Jill Bernstein, Director of Communications and Public Affairs
214-922-1802
JBernstein@DMA.org