Sunday, May 20, 5-7pm, FREE
Experience the rich traditions of India through live music! The Museum and the Indian Cultural Society are pleased to present an evening of classical Indian music with renowned artists Pt. Subhen Chatterjee (Tabla), Pt. Snehasish Mozumder (Mandolin), and Pt. Rupak Kulkari (Flute).
FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012
Come enjoy these great perks and talks all day!
· 20% discount to all visitors on regular priced Museum Store purchases (Sale items excluded)
· FREE dessert with the purchase of a meal at Oscar’s
· Special discounts on memberships— Renew or bring a friend!
· Special tours meet in main lobby. Hear three different perspectives on the Museum's collection, history, and future!
11am: Samantha Kelly, Curator of Education
Noon: Jim Sokol, Board Member, Docent, and Collector
1pm: Gail Andrews, Museum Director
6pm
Hidden Treasures: An Evening with Leigh Keno and Betty Krulik
You’ve seen him weekly appraising treasures on PBS, on Find!, and the FOX reality show Buried Treasure. Now, hear what the engaging and accomplished Leigh Keno has to say about collecting and enjoying antiques in the 21st century. Joining Leigh during his presentation will be Keno Auctions paintings consultant Betty Krulik. Click here for more information!
Beginning in July, there will be African American art history classes offered by Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow Jeffreen Hayes. The classes will focus on the history, themes, and issues in African American art. This will be a great way to learn more about the art and the Birmingham Museum of Art’s African American art collection.
The classes are scheduled for Saturdays, July 7, 14, and 21 from 10 am to 12 pm. The pricing is as follows:
Sankofa Society Members -- Free
Museum Members -- $15 per class
Non-Members--$25 per class
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE!
The deadline for registration is June 15, 2012. For more information on all of the events, contact Jeffreen Hayes at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 205.254.2565 x4212
Art appreciation is helping UAB medical students get a better picture of patient health. In a weeklong course taught by UAB internist Stephen Russell, M.D., at the Birmingham Museum of Art, students learned to look for important visual cues—and clues—in paintings and other works. UAB Magazine recently featured an article highlighting the program and its impact on the next generation of doctors. Click here to read the full article.
The Museum's current exhibition, The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection continues to receive international acclaim with a feature in popular Polish publication, Wysokie Obcasy Ekstra. A journalist from the high-fashion publication (an affliate of Poland's largest newspaper) conducted a Skype interview with lover's eye collector Nan Skier in March. The interview not only provided content for the article, but resulted in an online video in which Mrs. Skier relates the history of her fascinating collection.
The May issue of Town & Country magazine offers a wonderful review of our current exhibition, The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection. For a permanent keepsake from this incredibly popular show, purchase the beautiful exhibition catalogue by the same name, which is currently on sale at the Museum store.
Charles Cort discusses the BMA's painting, A Race Meeting, Jacksonville, Alabama, at the site of the original racetrack, in his series Home is Where My Horse Is.
Cort lives in South Alabama near Spanish Fort. He is an expert on the history of horseracing in Alabama, having done extensive research on the racetrack depicted in W.S. Hedge's A Race Meeting, Jacksonville, Alabama, which was included in And They're Off, an exhibition on the history of horseracing in Alabama, curated by Cort, which open at the Museum of Mobile in 2008. Cort's interest in horseracing is in the blood: his great-great grandfather was from Kentucky and worked at the Oakland Race Track in Louisville. His great grandfather worked for the Louisville Courier-Journal where he wrote many of the early Kentucky Derby race reports.
From al.com: Several pieces of the new family gallery, Bart's ArtVenture were delivered to the Birmingham Museum of Art, April 2, 2012 by Softspace in Columbia, Tennessee. Bart's ArtVenture is a hands-on, interactive, art-making place for the whole family. It opens to the public May 19, 2012. Somerset Group in Huntsville designed the pieces in the gallery. (Birmingham News Photo Linda Stelter)
Please join us Thursday, April 5 at 10:30 am for an Art & Conservation featuring collectors Dr. Bill Mason and Bob Scharfenstein. They began collecting in 1972 at an Alabama estate sale. With regular visits to auction houses from New Orleans to Chicago, they have assembled a formidable collection comprising hundreds of paintings, sculptures, and pieces of art glass and crystal. In conversation with Curator Graham Boettcher, they share their passion for collecting and their favorite collecting stories. $10 Members, $15 Non-members.
On February 13, 114 docents and educators from eight arts and cultural institutions throughout Alabama attended a one-day workshop at the BMA. Talking Pictures was led by Michael Cassin, Director of the Center for Education in the Visual Arts at The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Through a series of discussions and in-gallery exercises, participants considered the role of education in today’s museums and how to create engaging tour experiences. The Museum is proud to offer excellent professional development opportunities to our volunteers and colleagues throughout the state.
BMA docent Nadine L’Eplattenier-Gibson, who attended The Clark’s docent summer school in Williamstown, Mass., last summer, was excited that Cassin brought his unique teaching approach to Birmingham. “He was excellent in engaging us in the various gallery talks and small group discussions. It was a wonderful day for exploration and engagement!”
“We want visitors to have ‘aha!’ moments on our tours, but Cassin taught us that an ‘aha!’ state of mind helps them to see wonder in the world around them,” said Cathye McDonald, BMA docent chair. “Every object has the capacity to excite wonder if we view it right. We should always have second thoughts, be flexible, keep thinking, and not fall into a routine or set script.”
The Museum’s Education Department, in partnership with the Jefferson County School System, was selected as one of 12 teams nationwide to attend the Kennedy Center Partners in Education Institute in April. The Institute will provide an opportunity to create new professional development programs to develop teachers’ knowledge of the arts and empower them to use the arts in their classroom.
The Museum will serve as a critical partner in the effort to help students develop the important 21st century skills of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, confidence, and conversation that will be crucial to students achieving success in school and beyond.
The Museum was approached by Google about an exciting opportunity to support the Doodle 4 Google program. Doodle 4 Google (or D4G) is one of several efforts by Google to encourage and celebrate the creativity of young people by asking students to create their own Google doodle. The theme this year is “If I could travel in time, I’d visit...” D4G gives students a blank canvas to harness their curiosity and imagine the past, present, and/or future anywhere in the world.
After all doodles have been submitted to Google by March 23, a team of Googlers and then guest judges—such as Katy Perry, Phineas and Ferb creator and executive producer Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, and recording artist Jordin Sparks—will help choose the top doodles.
During the week of Spring Break, students participated in a Doodling Event at the Museum. The doodles created at the BMA were submitted to Google for the national competition. As part of the judging, Google selects the top ten doodles for each state. We will display the top ten doodles submitted by Alabama students during the summer of 2012.
In February, the Museum began hosting the monthly meetings of the Children’s Policy Council of Jefferson County. The Council works to identify the needs of Jefferson County’s children, to identify resources to meet those needs and to build coalitions and collaborations to fill those gaps. The Council works with more than 200 agencies and organizations and nearly 1,500 individuals. The Council’s work has led to the development of the Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence, the Central Alabama Mentor Coalition, and to numerous informational and educational programs that increase the efficiency of our community to help children. Their monthly meetings provide the Museum with the opportunity to engage with community leaders whose interest in children coincides with our own strategic initiative to provide services to children and families.
Join Bart the Art Bat for one of his favorite spring holidays, HOLI!
SATURDAY // MARCH 31 // 11AM -3PM
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11 AM–3 PM //
• Art activities • Scavenger Hunts • Traditional Indian food (Until 2 pm) • Henna Tattoos
12:30 PM //
•Storytelling
LIVE Music And Dance Performances
11 AM–noon //
•Traditional Indian dance performances by local youth groups
1 PM–2 PM //
• Professional Indian Dance and Music
2 PM //
• Celebrate Holi as it should be celebrated — with colors!
The Auburn Indian Music Ensemble is comprised of students from Auburn University enrolled in a semester long class. The Spring class includes undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff. The group uses authentic instruments of Indian classical music—tanpura (drone), harmonium (keyboard), tabla (drums), swarmandal (harp) and incorporates western instruments (flute, guitar) as appropriate. The group is directed by Dr. S. Raj Chaudhury, Auburn University.
Notinee Indian Dance Group was founded in 2006 by Pia Sen, and is the only group in Alabama that specializes in the unique style of Indian classical-fusion dance that was first envisioned by India's nobel Laureate poet, rabindranath Tagore. This dance form blends together
two contrasting Indian classical dance styles (Manipuri and odissi), with elements of folk dance from various parts of India. notinee's goal is to take this dance-form to dancers from all backgrounds; their participants today hail from 4 different countries—India, china, el Salvador, and of course, USA.
Sudha Raghuram is a committed bharatnatyam instructor based in Montgomery, Alabama. She is a dancer known for her command of the traditional technique of bharatnatyam, while at the same time effortlessly embracing kathak, contemporary dance and folk dances of India. Sudha raghuram and her students Julia Armstrong, vishwadha gunda and kathryn Marangoly will present kathak, bharatnatyam and a rajasthani folk dance.
Piyalee (Das) Sharma is specialized in classical, Semi-classical, fusion, and folk dance forms of India. She has been the founder and key choreographer of her dance troupe “nritanjali” in Memphis, Tn. She is trained primarily in bharat natyam and kathak and fundamentals of other classical dances along with essence of orchestra ballet, and rabindra nritya to amalgamate and choreograph contemporary dance styles, which is a beautiful chemical synthesis of various Indian art forms. She has been the key performer and choreographer in a lot of cultural events in Detroit, MI; Memphis, Tn and Television shows in India.
Nanda Sane Dance Group specializes in performing folkloric dance numbers from Maharashtra and gujarat. The members of the group are
comprised from all parts of the country and quite often their dance items are based on the daily activities of villagers and the wives of fishermenProfessional Dance and Music Performances 1–2 PM · Steiner Auditorium
Lecture by Mark Tucker, Vice Chair of Conservation and Senior Conservator of Paintings, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Thursday // March 29 // 12:30pm
In late 1875, Thomas Eakins, just 31 years old, completed his monumental painting, Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic). An object of both awestruck admiration and revulsion among critics of the time, the painting has long since been celebrated as an absolute masterpiece, acclaimed by Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times in 2002 as, “hands down, the finest 19th-century American painting.”
Acquired in 2007 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the painting was examined in detail in 2008-09, and in 2010, cleaned and restored for the first time in almost fifty years. The conservation treatment restored important aspects of original appearance altered by aggressive cleanings of the 1920’s and 1940’s. Eakins’s imposing masterpiece now looks more as it did in his day than it has at any time since the early 1920s. Tucker, who led the conservation project, will speak on the historical and technical research upon which it was based, and the aims, challenges, and results of this landmark restoration.
Presented jointly with the UAB Department of Art and Art History.
On Monday, January 16, a group of BMA staff joined the crowd of over 2,300 people attending the 26th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast. Keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Clarence Williams of Detroit reflected on the Birmingham of 1963, as well as the upcoming 50th anniversary of that pivotal year, and urged community members to claim the legacy of Birmingham as the city that changed the world. In attendacnce and pictured at left are Dr. Jeffreen Hayes, Ms. Betty Selvidge, Ms. Jessie Gordon, Dr. Emily Hanna, and Mr. James Hill.
Dr. Anne Forschler-Tarrasch, The Marguerite Jones Harbert and John M. Harbert III Curator of Decorative Arts, gave a lecture in January at Bayou Bend, part of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Anne wowed the crowd with images of and stories about the BMA’s extensive Wedgwood collection, one of the largest and finest in the world. In April, Anne will speak at the annual Wedgwood International Seminar (WIS), to be held in San Antonio, Texas. Anne is a member of the WIS board and is editor of the Proceedings of the Wedgwood International Seminar. The Museum will host the WIS again in spring 2014. In June, Anne will travel to Connecticut to speak about The Beeson and Buten Wedgwood collections at a meeting of the Connecticut Ceramics Circle.
Dr. Graham C. Boettcher, The William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art, authored an article on Georgian and Victorian eye miniatures entitled "The Eyes Have It." The article—which coincides with the BMA exhibition The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection—appeared in the 12th Anniversary (2012) issue of Antiques & Fine Art magazine.
Education Coordinator Lauren Williams visited Florida State University’s Department of Art Education the week of November 7. She gave a presentation to graduate students in the Managing the Art Organization class and Museum Education class. Lauren presented on the Museum’s involvement with schools.
Curator of Education Samantha Kelly was recently elected to serve on the board of the Alabama Art Education Association. Beginning in January 2012, she serves as Museum Representative Elect for two years and in 2014, she will step up to Museum Representative. AAEA is a professional organization dedicated to advocating art education byfollowing national standards, providing membership services, professional growth, and leadership opportunities. AAEA members are concerned about quality art education in our schools and include art teachers, art educators, administrators, and museum educators. The Alabama Art Education Association is an active affiliate of the National Art Education Association.
In March, Museum educators Samantha Kelly, Suzy Harris, and Lauren Williams attended the 2012 National Art Education Association National Convention in New York. The theme, Emerging Perspectives: Connecting Teaching, Learning, and Research, focused on collaboration and innovative ideas for making stronger connections between our practices and the theories that ground them.
Graphic Designer James Williams and Associate Communications Director Cate McCusker developed an inspiring ad campaign for last year’s blockbuster Who Shot Rock & Roll. In February, the experts in the Birmingham advertising community spoke. The Birmingham Chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) awarded them the Silver Addy Award in the category of poster campaign, advertising for the arts or sciences. The Silver Addy is awarded to entries that are outstanding and worthy of recognition. The campaign will soon compete at the regional level.
