The annual event celebrating art.
Slow Art Day is Saturday, April 10, 2021 Join Us!
Photo by Greg Neville
End of Year Greetings from Slow Art Day
December 24th, 2020
As we approach the end of this year, the Slow Art Day HQ team extends a big thank you to all Slow Art Day 2020 hosts and participants around the world.
2020 obviously hasn’t been what anyone expected or wanted.
But feedback from the museums and galleries that ran virtual Slow Art Day events in April repeatedly demonstrates how important art is, particularly during this pandemic (our annual report detailing the best practices from these virtual events will be coming out in January 2021).
We are grateful to all the curators of education and their teams who made Slow Art Day happen during this pandemic. The world owes you a debt of gratitude.
We hope that it will be possible for you to host in-person events for Slow Art Day next year on April 10, 2021 – though we recognize that virtual events may still be what’s possible in many places around the world.
As a reminder of how art – and the art of slow looking – bring us together, above we share a photo from the Slow Art Day event held at the *packed* Sint-Pauluskerk in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2019.
Look at the people in the pews, the orchestra, the choir – not an open seat in the house.
With heartfelt wishes, season’s greetings, and the hope that we get back as soon as possible to packed museums, galleries, concert halls, churches, synagogues, mosques, and theaters.
– Phil, Maggie, Ashley, and Johanna
A Slow Look at Landscapes with the MSV
December 17th, 2020For their first Slow Art Day, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) in Winchester, Virginia, shared slow-panning videos of two artworks to Facebook.
Click on the paintings below to watch the videos.
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. Click on the painting to watch the video.
Shown at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley as part of the 2019 Exhibition: ‘Ghosts of a Forgotten Landscape: Paintings by Sally Veach‘. Click on the painting to watch the video.
The videos were accompanied by prompts, and viewers were invited to respond in the comments.
We have included the prompts below. Why not watch the videos and try some slow looking?
Prompt to the Vance Barry video:
Think about the landscape features you see. What colors and shapes do you notice? How would this landscape sound if you were there? What, if anything, is missing from the landscape?
Prompt to the Sally Veach video:
Think about the colors you see and the shapes you notice. Take a deep breath and look again. Do you notice a different shape or color this time?What time of year do you think the artist is trying to convey? Does this painting remind you of anything you’ve seen out in the world? How does it make you feel?
In total the videos reached 800+ people. Several participants left comments on Facebook, describing Sally Veach’s paintings as “breathtaking”. One viewer also noted that ‘Autumn Ascension’ made him think of the chill of fall before an incoming storm.
Thank you to Mary Ladrick, Director of Education, and her team for hosting a great first Slow Art Day event. The 2020 pandemic meant that museums and galleries had to host virtual events this year, but the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley really rose to the challenge.
We look forward to what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2021.
– Johanna and Ashley
Rubens for Lent at Sint-Pauluskerk
December 14th, 2020For their third Slow Art Day, the Sint-Pauluskerk in Antwerp, Belgium, produced a slow-panning video of Peter Paul Rubens’ painting ‘The Flagellation of Christ’.
Narrated by Wilfried Van den Brande, with text by Rudi Mannaerts, the video features the stunning inside of the church and a commentary on Rubens’ artwork (click on the photo below to watch).
Previously on loan to the Doge’s palace in Venice, the painting returned to Antwerp in time for the Slow Art Day event. Since Easter fell on the week following Slow Art Day this year, the painting’s theme of Christ’s suffering fit in well with the pre-Easter church calendar.
Many thanked the church for sharing the video, and several explicitly talked about how much they missed visiting the actual church. The Facebook video was viewed 2,535 times.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we are delighted that the thoughtful connection between the event hosted by Sint-Pauluskerk and the Easter holiday was so well received.
We hope that Sint-Pauluskerk will be able to open its doors for Slow Art Day 2021.
– Johanna and Ashley
What’s your Baggage?
December 11th, 2020For their second Slow Art Day, Railway Street Studios in Auckland, New Zealand, hosted a virtual event focused on Toni Mosley’s ‘CASE: Allegory’ series of art, which was inspired by the simple question: ‘what’s your baggage?’
As a result of thinking about that question, Mosley decided to explore suitcases as metaphorical symbols for emotional baggage, notions of mobility and journeys, and as containers of secrets, knowledge and memories. Not surprisingly, this theme ended up having significant resonance for home-bound viewers during the pandemic.
On April 4th, 2020, participants were invited to look slowly for 5-10 minutes at a selection of Mosley’s art:
Participants were given four prompts to guide their slow looking:
- What do you notice? The obvious and the subtle.
- Does this remind you of anything? A story — personal, historical. A single meaning or multiple?
- Color and mood? Do you have an initial emotional response?
- Does this piece bring up any questions? This could be metaphorical or technical.
The challenge that Railway Street Studios had to confront in the design of its virtual event was how to encourage attendees to really slow down and look. They came up with a simple, but effective, strategy: ask people to write down and send in their answers to the four prompts above for the chance to win an original artwork by Toni Mosley.
Fiona Cable, founder of Railway Street Studios, said it worked. Participants enjoyed the process and took time to think carefully about answers to the prompts, which they then submitted via a link on the Railway Street Studios’ website.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we thoroughly enjoyed the depth of symbolism in Toni Mosley’s artworks — especially given the shut-down of travel during the pandemic — and were also impressed by Railway Street Studios’ initiative to host a prize competition as a way to incentivize virtual slow looking.
We hope to see another creative event from Railway Street Studios for Slow Art Day on April 10th in 2021.
– Johanna and Ashley