ROBERT MILLER
The Dallas Museum of Art has received a 2008 Museum and Community Connections grant of $100,000 from the MetLife Foundation.
The money will be used to plan and install an innovative exhibition in the DMA's Center for Creative Connections, which engages visitors of all ages with works of art.
"Specifically, the grant funds will be applied to the installation of works of art, interpretive displays and educational programming in this innovative learning space to inspire and connect visitors to the museum," said Bonnie Pitman, the Eugene McDermott director of the museum.
"It is an honor to receive this grant from the MetLife Foundation to support the enhancement of our exhibition and programming.
"The Center for Creative Connections has been an overwhelming success with our visitors since its opening in May, and the award from the MetLife Foundation will be instrumental in sustaining the DMA's national reputation for museum education."
The exhibition is scheduled to open in spring 2010.
Exhibitions in the center will change every 18 to 24 months, and each theme will determine the content and visitor experience of the interactive gallery spaces, inspire educational programming and connect visitors to other works of art in the museum's galleries.
In the upcoming exhibition, the DMA will design interactive components that involve visitors in a variety of creative skills, such as recognizing patterns, analogizing, synthesizing, play, metaphors and imagining.
These skills will be integrated into drawing, writing, photography, listening stations, moving images, computer stations, question stations and making stations.
"The development of the next Center for Creative Connections exhibition is based on cutting-edge changes in attitudes within the field of art museum professionals," said Gail Davitt, the DMA's director of education.
"It involves collaboration between the education, curatorial and design staffs of the museum working in partnership with community colleagues, artists and consultants. The entire museum community will be involved in the process of outfitting the new theme and content."
The Dallas Museum of Art was picked from among 70 applicants for the 2008 Museum and Community Connections program. The grants, totaling $1 million, were awarded to 16 museums for exhibitions, artist residencies and other programs that extend their reach into diverse communities and make art a part of people's lives. The DMA was one of only four institutions that received the full $100,000 grant.
In acknowledging the DMA's award, Sibyl Jacobson, president and chief executive of MetLife Foundation, said, "MetLife Foundation has a long history of partnering with museums to support educational opportunities for people of all ages.
"MetLife Foundation is pleased to make investments in projects that reach out to people in imaginative ways."
SOURCE: Dallas News
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