Dallas Museum of Art
Collection Analysis
Because
of the snow days, one class meeting must be made up; in order to get
credit for attendance during the make-up session at the Dallas Museum
of Art, please complete the following assignment no later than class
time week 11.
View a course-related
exhibit at the Dallas
Museum of Art and write a short (three- to five-paragraph, 1 to
1.5 page) essay that relates specific objects to the topics we have
discussed in class (and which are listed on the Schedule).
The essay should place the objects within the context of the theoretical
framework of the course (translation and metaphor, and the visual,
performing, and intellectual arts) and indicate how they contribute
to the student's understanding of course materials--especially the
Humanities Toolkit.
Include the ticket stub from your visit with the essay if you do not
visit with the class. Points will be awarded based on the appropriateness
of connections made between museum exhibit and course material, and
the cogency with which the connections are expressed (i.e. spelling
and grammar do count). Essays must adhere to my Writing
Guidelines.
 Anasazi/Pueblo:
On the stairwell of the Museum of the Americas at the Dallas Museum
of Art, a small exhibit of Pueblo pottery can be found in glass cases,
in the center of the space and along the wall. Choose any three of these
objects, and write an essay about their relevance to the material we
have covered and discussed in class--including the film, Daughters
of the Anasazi. For additional information, see the McClung Museum's
online exhibit, Singing
the Clay: Pueblo Pottery of the Southwest Yesterday and Today and
Traditional
Acoma Pottery (about another Pueblo potter). Along with your essay,
include a list of the chosen objects and the descriptions that appear
next to them in the exhibit.
Maya: The DMA maintains a small exhibit of Maya objects within
a special room in the Museum of the Americas. Of particular interest
might be the eccentric flints, the Ballgame vase, and/or the hieroglyphic
stelae. List the objects you choose, and copy down the curatorial
information on them; attach these (the list and the accompanying descriptions)
to your essay. The essay itself should indicate how these objects
relate to material covered in the lecture, films, the PBS website
for Lost King of the Maya, and/or David Stuart's essay, "Hieroglyphs
and History at Copán."
Greek and
Roman Galleries:
Although the holdings of items from Greece and Rome are rather
small, they do contribute to how we perceive the arts as interpreted
by the founders of what we think of now as Western civilization. Choose
items that reflect the incorporation of the arts into everyday life
in pre-Classical or Classical Greece and/or Rome. List these, and compose
an essay that uses the Toolkit to explain what the items tell us about
life and art among the people who made them. Even though we didn't have
a chance to discuss Rome in class, the materials are linked (including
the context essay); if you're interested in discussing the Romans, please
read the context essay on
Rome and Etruria before you go to the museum.
Egypt and/or
Mesopotamia: The DMA's holdings on the Near East and Egypt
are limited, but several cases of artifacts (especially Egypt) are
included in the third-floor galleries (next to Africa and the Pacific
Islands).
Africa:
several objects related to the Luba people of Zaire/Democratic Republic
of the Congo are housed in the African gallery. Relate these to the
discussion of memory in the first two weeks of the class; you may have
to revisit the Luba material linked to the Schedule.
Several objects connected to the performing arts and their relationship
to cosmology (beliefs about the universe and our place in it) are also
displayed.
Another option is to choose three objects that relate directly to
myth (in any of the cultures we have studied) and/or
memory, and discuss their significance in your essay.
Further information
is available on the DMA
website.
If you do not
plan to attend with the class on Sunday, March 20 at 11 am, you will
be required to pay entrance fees ($5 for students with current ID;
$10 for adults). The Museum is free on Thursday evenings from 5-9
pm. It is not open on Mondays.
Operating
hours: Tuesday and Wednesday: 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Thursday: 11:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Friday*, Saturday, and Sunday: 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Closed Mondays,
July 4, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day
*Late Night Fridays
(third Friday of the month, excluding December), the Museum is open
until midnight
Directions to the DMA (includes a link to Google Maps)
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