Prepared for the Dallas Edition of The Examiner
The Dallas Museum of Art was established in 1903 and features a diversity within its art exhibits, including pieces of the ancient through those of the contemporary. The DMA began through the origin of the Dallas Art Association which displayed works of art in the Dallas Public Library. In 1909 the DAA found an independent site within Fair Park and became the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts from 1936 to 1984. In 1963, the museum and the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art cooperated their collection and in 1979 the people of Dallas voted to grant $23.8 million dollars for the establishment of its current downtown location at 1717 North Harwood Street. The exhibition space opened in 1984, was designed by Chicago born Edward Larrabee Barnes, and today contains 111,000 square footage of presentation accommodation.
The works of art presented by the Dallas Museum of Art include a massive collection donated in 1985 by Wendy Reves in dedication to her husband, Emery. This 1,400 piece collection is displayed as a reconstruction of their home in France and mixes decorative arts with paintings, etchings, drawings, and sculptures from iconic artists. Such artists include: Cezanne, Degas, Gauuin, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Vincent VanGogh.
Included in the 23,000 world wide collection of paintings and artifacts are those of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, the North and South Americas, and the Pacific Islands. Perhaps the museum's most enchanting feature is its attention to contemporary art. The museum considers the art of today and the recent past as important to study as that of ancient days.
In 2008, the Dallas Museum of Art showed that the experience of art is inseparable from that of viewing art . Through the Center for Creative Connections, the DMA includes the responses of the individual to those of the originals. This space includes studios, a tech lab, theatre, and a child friendly environment known as Arturo's Nest, where the DMA offers a range of classes to inspire children.
The DMA promotes lectures by art celebrities through their Arts & Letters Live series. Jazz Under the Stars is a popular and free concert series that takes place on the Museum's outdoor lawn. Thursday Night Live is a weekly event held between 5pm and 9pm at the museum where art creation occurs and music fills the air. And on the third Friday of each month the Museum is open until midnight and these evening events range from performances to film screenings to concerts.
Currently, the museum is exhibiting an exploration of tourism through impressionist paintings and early photographs by artists along the coast of Normandy. Approximately ninety works created between the years 1850 and 1874 are on display and images include those by Gustave Le Gray and Claude Monet. The Dallas Museum of Art holds true to what it stands for and certainly is an epicenter to see differently, see unexpectedly, and see art in a new way.
