Tag: Witte 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

Texas Monthly LIVE at the Witte Museum

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Texas Monthly LIVE will take place this Wednesday December 4 at the Witte Museum. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Texas Monthly LIVE, presented by the 80|20 Foundation, is bringing the unique experience of a live issue of the magazine reimagined for a theatre audience to the Witte Museum on Wednesday, December 4 from 7p.m. to 8:45p.m. The first Texas Monthly LIVE performance premiered in Austin in the Spring of 2018 and has been performed in Austin, Houston, Brownsville and Dallas. San Antonio will be the fifth and final stop of the 2019 tour. This marks the first year that the magazine will bring the event to San Antonio audiences. (Texas Monthly, 2019)

Mixing music, video, narration, and live performances, this special 90-minute editorial production will take audience members on an unforgettable storytelling journey. Texas Monthly LIVE will feature stories and performances curated and performed by Texas Monthly editors, showcasing the breadth and depth of Texas. Hosted by Texas Monthly columnist David Courtney, this unique event will explore the sights, sounds and feelings of Texas and will have the audience laughing, reminiscing and dancing.

Ticket holders will have access to the exclusive after-party following the show where guests will have the opportunity to explore the first-floor exhibits of the Witte Museum after dark. After-party experiences will be custom-produced by the Witte’s curatorial staff and will bring the exhibits to life with special activations curated based on the stories from the Texas Monthly LIVE performance. Museum activations include: Chili Queens at the Alamo, Better Living through Botánicas, Water Runs Through It: San Antonio River as Lifeblood and How Beef Became BBQ. Light bites and beverages will be available for purchase. The after-party will take place until 11p.m. VIP tickets to the show are sold out but General Admission tickets are still available online until the day of the event for $20.

Performance highlights (subject to change)

  • Confessions of a Skinny Bitch / Executive editor Patricia Sharpe fondly reflects on her upbringing as a picky eater and how it led her on her journey to becoming Texas Monthly’s food editor.
  • Patient Observation / Executive Editor Skip Hollandsworth recounts his younger years in Wichita Falls, Texas when he stepped inside the gates of the local state hospital and realized that every town has another side.
  • Star Hunter / The Rio Grande Valley is steeped in lore. Senior Editor Carlos Sanchez tells the tale of one Brownsville resident that began 1.3 billion years ago.
  • Life, In Dog Years / Following the death of her father and the inheritance of his beloved corgi, Executive Editor Mimi Swartz explores the way her family expresses love through their pets.
  • The Biggest Wild Plant Catalog in the World / Executive Editor Katy Vine tells the story of one man in Austin who has been cataloguing all of the plants in Texas since 1971.
  • G-L-O-R-I-A / Executive Editor Michael Hall tells the story of the Gloriathon, when, in the summer of 1999, he and dozens of Austin’s finest musicians, performed Van Morrison’s song “Gloria” for 24 hours as a way to say goodbye to a beloved club — and a beloved era.

The Witte Museum
3801 Broadway St.
San Antonio, TX 78209

Boiler House and Witte Museum host ‘Dinner in the Wild’

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Boiler House and the Witte Museum are hosting ‘Dinner in the Wild’ on Wednesday March 21.  Photo: Boiler House, used with permission.

Boiler House Texas Grill & Wine Garden has partnered with the Witte Museum for ‘Dinner in the Wild,’ a specialty charity event featuring renowned local chefs. This multi-coursed ticketed dinner will take place on Wednesday March 21 from 6:30p.m. to 9:30p.m. There are a limited number of tickets available online for $250 per person. Guests will be able to experience an exclusive evening of fine dining centered around the “Texas Wildlife” theme, combining ingredients from the state’s land, water and sky. (Boiler House Texas Grill & Wine Garden, 2018)

The evening will begin with cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres in the newly transformed Witte galleries, followed by a multi-course twilight dinner created by top local chefs with al fresco style seating options in the Texas Wild Garden space. Participating chefs led by Boiler House Chef Jarrad Gwaltney include Jeff Balfour from Southerleigh, Jason Dady from Tre Trattoria, Tim McDiarmid from Tim the Girl Catering and Anne Ng and Jeremy Mandrell from Bakery Lorraine. Witte Museum curators Helen Holdsworth, Curator of Texas Wild and Dr. Bryan Bayles, Curator of Anthropology and Health, will work with the chefs and their courses to explore the significance of the South Texas region in the past, present and future of the state and how each person can have a profound impact on the stewardship of Texas’ land, water and sky. The event is co-chaired by Emily and Bo Conrad, as well as Carol and Fred Reyes.  Texas’ own singer-songwriter Luis Rey will be providing the evening’s entertainment.

All proceeds from the event go directly towards ensuring all K-12 students on field-trips to the Witte Museum get to experience San Antonio’s official Tricentennial exhibition, ‘Confluence and Culture: 300 Years of San Antonio History.’ This fundraiser covers all aspects of the field-trip costs including buses, gas, general admission and Tricentennial programming for students.

Witte Museum
3801 Broadway St
San Antonio, TX 78209
(210) 357-1900