Tag: McNay Art Museum

Celebrate National Poetry Month at the Briscoe Western Art Museum

The Briscoe Western Art Museum presents The Poetry of Art: National Poetry Month Celebration and Reading. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.

Celebrate National Poetry Month by enjoying an afternoon of poetry inspired by art as the Briscoe Western Art Museum hosts “The Poetry of Art:  National Poetry Month Celebration and Reading” in honor of San Antonio’s 2022 Ekphrastic Poetry Contest on Sunday, April 10, 2p.m. – 4p.m. The free reading and celebration is part of National Poetry Month San Antonio and will be held in the Briscoe’s McNutt Sculpture Garden, 210 W. Market Street, San Antonio. Admission to the reading is free. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2022)

Showcasing poetry inspired by select artworks at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, the McNay Art Museum, Ruby City, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Witte Museum, “The Poetry of Art” will feature local poet laureates reading their work and Jim LaVilla-Havelina, San Antonio’s National Poetry Month Coordinator, as well as adult and youth winners of San Antonio’s 2022 Ekphrastic Poetry Contest. Former San Antonio poet laureate Carmen Tafolla will read a poem inspired by a piece of art from the Briscoe, while other San Antonio poet laureates will be on hand to read their poems based on works from other local institutions. The pairings featured in this year’s ekphrastic poetry effort include Jenny Browne, the McNay Art Museum; Jim LaVilla-Havelin, San Antonio Museum of Art; Octavio Quintanilla, the Witte Museum and current San Antonio Poet Laureate, Andrea Vocab Sanderson, Ruby City.

An ekphrastic poem is based on a piece of art, taking an existing piece of visual art and using written words to describe and expand on the theme of that work of art. Many of these poems explore hidden meanings or an underlying story. Each local art institution selected one work from their collection to feature in the 2022 Ekphrastic Poetry Contest for adult and youth poets.

The featured works include:

  • The Briscoe Western Art Museum, With No Roof but a Resistol, Bruce Greene.
  • The McNay Art Museum, The Sole Sitter, Willie Cole.
  • Ruby City, Hub, 3rd Floor, Union Wharf, 23 Wenlock Road, London N1 7ST UK, Do Ho Suh.
  • San Antonio Museum of Art: Landscape of Four Seasons, Unkoku Togan.
  • The Witte Museum, Carretta Wheel from a Tejano Freighter.

From its McNutt Sculpture Garden to the museum’s beautifully restored historic home inside the former San Antonio Public Library building, the Briscoe’s collection spans 14 galleries, with special exhibitions, events and a fantastic Museum Store, providing art, culture, history and entertainment. Museum hours, parking and admission details are available online.

Preserving and presenting the art, history and culture of the American West through engaging exhibitions, educational programs and public events reflective of the region’s rich traditions and shared heritage, the Briscoe Western Art Museum is located on the San Antonio River Walk at 210 W. Market Street in the beautifully restored 1930s former San Antonio Public Library building. Named in honor of the late Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. and his wife, Janey Slaughter Briscoe, the museum includes the three-story Jack Guenther Pavilion, used for event rentals and programs, and the outdoor McNutt Sculpture Garden.

San Antonio museums and zoo partner to launch Museo Institute

Museo Institute, a new and exciting professional development program for educators is now accepting applications. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

The DoSeum is proud to announce a new alliance with the San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Zoo, McNay Art Museum, and the Witte Museum in the creation of Museo Institute, an exciting new professional development opportunity for San Antonio educators. The newly launched initiative is a year-long professional development program that invites formal educators to explore informal learning and teaching approaches, discover opportunities for collaboration, and create lessons and activities that merge the best practices of informal and formal education to the benefit of students. Upon successful completion of the program, educators will receive up to 85 CPE credit hours, research-based curriculum resources from leading institutions, and new methods for teaching STEM and STEAM in each educator’s unique setting. The year-long program is currently accepting applications and is set to begin this July, ending in June 2022. (The DoSeum, 2021)

The program was established to bring the vast resources of these organizations together for the teachers of San Antonio. Participating Museo Institute organizations recognize the value cultural organizations bring to educators and how many institutions have offered CPE programs for educators over the years. However, this is the first time so many institutions have come together to design a year-long program in benefit of San Antonio educators. Educators infuse their STEM/STEAM teaching curricula by implementing approaches and methods learned from the informal educators at each cultural organization. A more detailed program description and timeline are available online. 

The cohort learns through virtual and on-site training. Fall training will cover topics including:

  • Maker-Centered Learning, Constructivism, and Digital Literacy – The DoSeum
  • STEAM & Art Conservation – The McNay
  • Using Art & Thinking Routines for Interdisciplinary Content Learning – San Antonio Museum of Art
  • Unlocking Classroom Exploration Through Citizen Science & Service Learning – San Antonio Zoo
  • Integrating STEAM Learning into Other Content Areas – the Witte

The spring practicum will be a hands-on/minds-on project during which each educator receives more training along with coaching from educators at the cultural organization with which they are placed.

By engaging with each organization’s education staff and a cohort of peers from across the San Antonio area, participants will design and implement projects to pilot new pedagogy and lesson/activity plans. By the end of the experience, these select teachers will implement the new curriculum and pedagogy to students in their local learning environments. Each cultural organization will provide a separate syllabus covering the details of their practicum.

Deadlines and How to Apply

  • Applications are available now on The DoSeum’s website and will close on April 16, 2021
  • 40 educators will be selected and notified on May 24
  • Program begins in July
  • One-day training sessions, one per museum scheduled on Saturdays: August – October
  • Spring practicum: December – May
  • Open house events, open-office hours: January – May 2021
  • Showcase celebration: May/June 2021

“After an unprecedented and challenging year in the field of education, we passionately believe it is of utmost importance to partner with educators and share educational tools and resources that can enhance and update their curricula.” – Richard Kissel, Vice President of Education at The DoSeum

‘Behind the Screen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas’ at the McNay

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‘Behind the Screen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas’ opens at the McNay Art Museum on Thursday September 28 and will be on display through Sunday December 31, 2017. Photo: McNay Art Museum, used with permission.

This week the McNay Art Museum is unveiling an exhibit that is both scary and heartwarming. Behind the Screen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas returns to the McNay for the first time since 2013 and features puppets and set pieces filmed for the 1993 cult classic stop-animation movie that has delighted generations of Halloween and Christmas fans around the world. It will be on display in the main Theatre Arts gallery and the puppets and pieces will be staged more theatrically to help take visitors on a journey. The exhibit opens on Thursday September 28 and will be on display through Sunday December 31. (McNay Art Museum, 2017)

San Antonio native Robert LB Tobin acquired the pieces from a Southeby’s auction in New York City two months after the movie opened in theaters. The movie tells the story of Jack Skellington, King of Halloween Town and his heartfelt yet misguided attempt to take the place of Santa Claus in Christmas Town. It became a surprise hit and has evolved into a holiday movie-watching tradition from Halloween through New Year’s Day. The exhibit will give visitors a rare opportunity to discover how camera crews shot 24 stills for each second of film. The trick-or-treating Lock, Shock, and Barrel have removable heads for different expressions. Holes in the Clubhouse floor indicate the positions of the bathtub that carries the three on a mission to kidnap “Sandy Claws.” Puppets of Jack Skellington, his faithful ghost dog Zero, and his Halloween Town rival Oogie Boogie also are among the collection.

Two other McNay exhibitions with similar themes complement this exhibit. One is Stage Frights, Madness, Monsters, Mayhem which will be on display from Thursday September 28 through Sunday December 31 and features scene and costume designs for plays, operas, and ballets by writers and composers from Shakespeare to Lorca to Anne Rice’s adaptations and from Wagner to Stravinsky to Scott Joplin. Drawing on diverse folklore traditions and popular-culture forms, scene and costume designs entice both adults and children to explore the dark side of their imaginations and the world. The other consists of two large murals by renowned muralist and Blue Star Contemporary’s Artist-in-Residence Alex Rubio with a Dia de los Muertos theme.

McNay Art Museum
6000 N New Braunfels Ave
San Antonio, TX 78209
(210) 824-5368

Art to the Power of Ten at McNay Art Museum

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Art to the Power of Ten is taking place this Friday September 22 at the McNay Art Museum. Photo: McNay Art Museum, used with permission.

Coming up at the McNay Art Museum this Friday September 22 from 6:30p.m. to 9:30p.m. is the seventh annual Art to the Power of Ten (Plus One) event that features eleven art dealers and venues. It is hosted by the McNay Contemporary Collectors Forum and there will be paintings, sculptures, photographs and prints available for purchase. As a bonus, this year’s event will also highlight a roster of celebrity “guest curators” who will select their favorite works from among the gallery offerings. Guests will be able to enjoy live music, appetizers and specialty cocktails from Bohanan’s Prime Steak and Seafood, Peggy’s on the Green and the San Antonio Cocktail Conference. Tickets are $50 in advance online and $65 at the door. All proceeds to benefit the McNay’s acquisition fund for contemporary art. (McNay Art Museum, 2017)

Participating galleries and celebrity guest curators:

  • ANARTE GALLERY – selections by Dr. Vivian Bucay
  • BLUE STAR’s MOSAIC Student Artist Program – selections by Ted Flato
  • CINNABAR- selections by Dr. William Chiego
  • FREIGHT GALLERY & STUDIOS – selections by Bill Sibley
  • THE GRELLER GALLERY – selections by Mayor Ron Nirenberg
  • ICOSA – selections by Emily Ramshaw, guests from Austin
  • PARCHMAN STREMMEL GALLERIES – selections by Brent Barry
  • PRESA HOUSE GALLERY – selections by Dr. Danny Anderson
  • REVENANT GALLERY – selections by Jesse Borrego
  • RUIZ-HEALY ART – selections by Rick Casey and Elizabeth Chambers
  • SAY SÍ –  selections by Dr. Coleen Grissom

McNay Art Museum
6000 N New Braunfels Ave
San Antonio, TX 78209
(210) 824-5368

Chuck Ramirez: All This and Heaven Too at McNay Art Museum

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Chuck Ramirez: All This and Heaven Too opens at the McNay Art Museum on Thursday September 14 and will be on display through January 14, 2018.  Photo: McNay Art Museum, used with permission.

Chuck Ramirez was a San Antonio artist and graphic designer whose work includes prints and sculptural installations. His pieces revolve around everyday life and allude to ethnicity, gender, sexuality and religion. This month, the McNay Art Museum presents Chuck Ramirez: All This and Heaven Too to honor the life and career of the iconic San Antonio artist. His large-scale photographs of everyday objects offer a perspective on cultural consumption and waste and the reality of fleeting life and mortality. The exhibition opens on Thursday September 14 and will run until Sunday January 14, 2018. Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10a.m. to 4p.m., Thursday from 10a.m. to 9p.m., Saturday from 10a.m. to 5p.m. and Sunday from 12p.m. to 5p.m. Admission prices are available online.  (McNay Art Museum, 2017)

Ramirez was inspired by opposing themes like life and death and humor and despair. His art explores a personal narrative including his San Antonio upbringing, Mexican-American heritage and HIV status. The exhibition consists of works like Santos, Trash Bag, Quarantine and Seven Days and all explore the human experience. It is co-organized by René Paul Barilleaux, the McNay’s Head of Curatorial Affairs and Hilary Schroeder, 2016-17 Semmes Foundation Intern in Museum Studies. The presentation includes photographs from approximately 20 of Ramirez’ series, Bean & Cheese, a recreation of one of the artist’s early exhibitions at Artpace San Antonio, examples of video and installation work, nine decorated Christmas trees the artist made for friend and patron Linda Pace and other unique artworks.

Visitors will have several chances to interact with the exhibition with Christmas Tree trimming, alternative selfies and sharing about first jobs and dream jobs. Interactive stations include Tree Trimming – decorate a tree with Chuck Ramirez-inspired objects; Check Your Baggage – take an alternate self-portrait, or picture of something personal, at this overhead photography station using the hashtag #checkyourbaggage and Dream Job – visitors can identify their first job, current job and dream job as a way of drawing a line between artist and visitor using the hashtag #mcnaydreaming.

During the Día de los Muertos season, visitors are invited to celebrate and remember loved ones by adding paper marigolds, the traditional Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) flower, to a site-specific altar in the Museum lobby. The McNay’s Día de los Muertos altar, created by artist Carmen Oliver, honors Chuck Ramirez (1964–2010) and will be on display from October 26 through November 5, 2017.

McNay Art Museum
6000 N New Braunfels Ave
San Antonio, TX 78209
(210) 824-5368