The Dallas Museum of Art presents Encountering Space the second exhibition to be featured in the Museum’s groundbreaking Center for Creative Connections (C3) galleries, Encountering Space presents works of art from the Museum collections and asks visitors to consider how space is used to invite engagement, raise questions, and create meaning. As viewers begin to encounter works of art this way, they are no longer passive observers but active participants. Encountering Space is open through August 31, 2012.
In approximately twelve works of art from the Museum’s collections—including the paintings Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay and High-Speed Gardening by Michael Bevilaqua, the sculptures Mercury’s Gift to the Mirror by Michelangelo Pistoletto and Three Men Walking by Alberto Giacometti, and a 16th-century Benin wooden plaque from Nigeria and an ancient clay vessel from Peru’s Moche civilization—Encountering Space explores the different ways space affects us, both physically and emotionally, and the impact of these reactions on our total experience with a work of art. A painting can show us real spaces from a particular point of view in a way that makes us feel as if we could actually enter those spaces. Sculptures can push into our space or draw into their spaces. We can physically enter the space of some works of art, like the DMA’s Fleischner Courtyard, also included in the exhibition, to literally become a part of the work.
New design elements will be installed throughout the C3 galleries, including an immersive entrance to the exhibition. Video labels accompanying works of art will provide contextual information related to space as a theme. Encountering Space will also include a community-based response installation and several areas for visitor participation.
Encountering Space is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. DMA educators and curators collaborated with the Museum’s collections and exhibitions department to conceive and develop the exhibition.
Image: Robert Delaunay, Eiffel Tower, 1924, oil on canvas, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1981.105, © L&M Services, Amsterdam
About the Center for Creative Connections
The Center for Creative Connections (C3) is an innovative learning gallery designed to encourage visitors of all ages to have creative, educational experiences with works of art from the Museum’s collections. Centrally located on the Museum’s first floor, C3’s expansive 12,000-square-foot space includes an exhibition gallery and several distinct learning areas, including an Art Studio, an interactive learning space for children under the age of four called Arturo’s Nest, a Young Learners Gallery for children 5–8 and their families, a theater and a Tech Lab. In its inaugural year, C3 hosted more than 150,000 visitors and engaged approximately 30% of all Museum visitors in direct and hands-on learning experiences.
About the Dallas Museum of Art
Located in the vibrant Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) ranks among the leading art institutions in the country and is distinguished by its innovative exhibitions and groundbreaking educational programs. At the heart of the Museum and its programs are its encyclopedic collections, which encompass more than 24,000 works and span 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Established in 1903, the Museum today welcomes more than 600,000 visitors annually and acts as a catalyst for community creativity, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse spectrum of programming, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary readings, and dramatic and dance presentations.
Dallas Museum of Art
1717 North Harwood
Dallas TX 75201
www.dallasmuseumofart.org