As museum educators, many of Slow Art Day’s hosts are looking to create a space where visitors can engage with artworks in new ways.
During this webinar led by Sara Birkofer from the Cincinnati Museum of Art on Feb 26, 2019, we explored multisensory experiences.
Birkofer discussed engaging visitors using scents, music, touchable objects and food in the galleries.
Watch the video of the webinar above, or view Birkofer’s powerpoint.
We had a wonderful webinar with the leaders of the Belgian Slow Art Day movement, Katrijn D’ hammers and Tinne Langens.
During the webinar, they also showed this very good 4 minute video that they just produced about their mindfulness and Slow Art program.
Background on Slow Art Day in Belgium
Turns out that Belgium has a wonderful central group – FARO (the Flemish Interface Center for Cultural Heritage) – that facilitates the work of museums, archives, and heritage libraries. FARO offers training, study trips, publications and was launched in 2008. Katrijn has worked at FARO since the beginning and has coordinated the support for Slow Art Day across Belgium from FARO since 2014.
She and her colleague, Tinne Langens, who is the head of Education and Policy Programs at Antwerp’s FOTO Museum, have developed (and are continuing to develop) a set of mindfulness programs that integrate with Slow Art Day but go much further in terms of the creation of new kinds of tools, approaches, and methods.
Enjoy the recording.
-Phil
Join us for our first webinar of the 2018-2019 season when the leaders of Slow Art Day Belgium takes us through their innovative mindfulness program.
Wed, Sept 12
– 11:00am NYC time
– 08:00am California time
– 16:00 London time
– 17:00 Paris time
Register here to join us:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/980687799284256001
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More details
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Belgium has long had a very active Slow Art Day community – one of the most active in the world.
In this webinar, we’ll hear from FARO – the Flemish Interface for Cultural Heritage – and their partner, the Photo Museum in Antwerp.
They have prepared a short 3 minute film and a set of slides to walk us through what they have learned about producing effective Slow Art Day events.
Should be a great presentation and conversation.
– Phil Terry
Founder, Slow Art Day
Four different museums and one church will host Slow Art Day across Belgium this Saturday, April 14, 2018.
Katrijn D ‘Hammers, writing in Dutch on the Blog for Faro, a nonprofit cultural center in Brussells that supports museums throughout the country, outlines what’s happening and directs Belgians to go look at art slowly this Saturday.
Here are the five venues with descriptions of their events quoting from Katrijn’s blog post:
Sounds like a great Slow Art Day across Belgium. If you are in Antwerp, Brussels, or Bruges, I hope you go slow down at one of these events.
To read Katrijn’s post in full, click here.
New Orleans is currently sponsoring *7* – cross that out – now *9* – Slow Art Day 2018 events this Saturday (two more signed up after this post went live including the Ogden Art Museum).
As a result, New Orleans beats New York (incl Brooklyn) (4), Toronto (4), Washington, DC (4), and a city about the same population as New Orleans – Turkuu, Finland (4) – as well as London (3), Antwerp (3), and Hong Kong (3).
So, the ‘big easy’ has gone big.
This is in part due to the wonderful efforts of Matthew Weldon Showman who runs the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans and also is President of the Arts District New Orleans. Matthew signed up both his gallery and encouraged other galleries who are part of the Arts District.
As a result, Slow Art Day in New Orleans will happen in five different galleries, one historic house, and three different museums.
To see all the venues in New Orleans and around the world, click here.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas is participating again this year in Slow Art Day. The museum, opened in 2011, celebrates the American spirit in a setting that “unites the power of art with the beauty of nature.”
Consistent with their mission, they have designed a special combination event for this year’s Slow Art Day: Slow and Savory Tea.
Here’s how it works is:
This Slow Art Day event is free for Crystal Bridges members (although registration is required). Members can register here or by calling 479.418.5728.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is a longtime leader in the Slow Art Day movement, and they are hosting again this year. Based in Washington, DC, this wonderful institution takes seriously how to help its audience learn how to slow down and really see art by women.
On their Slow Art Day page, they begin by quoting the wonderful Georgia O’Keeffe:
“…to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time”
—Georgia O’Keeffe
We couldn’t agree more. Good friendships require time and so does the art of looking at art.
The museum also suggests several other reasons people should participate in Slow Art Day:
For Slow Art Day, their staff will make artwork suggestions and provide questions to consider as you slow down and look.
So, if you are based in DC, or traveling there on Slow Art Day 2018, we hope you will consider going to the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
You can register here for their event, which is free with museum admission.
The Rubin Museum in New York has been a longtime leader in the Slow Art Day movement.
In 2016, they published a terrific article with tips on slow looking. You can read the article here:
SLOW ART DAY: MAKE YOUR NEXT MUSEUM VISIT MORE MINDFUL
The Rubin understands how hard it is for most people to slow down. “It’s not easy for most people to sit with one piece of art for more than a few moments.”
They emphasize that this activity, if practiced continuously, will bring great joy for decades. “…the deep looking encouraged during Slow Art Day is a lifelong skill that will continue to provide rewarding experiences in museums and galleries for years to come.”
We couldn’t agree more.
We think this simple concept is important – especially in this age of multi-tasking where the emphasis is placed on speed. We started Slow Art Day in 2009 to provoke a new way of seeing in the midst of the blindness that this screen-based world is creating.
The Rubin Museum is hosting Slow Art Day again this year – if you’re in the New York area, we hope you’ll join them!
We are happy to welcome the Waikato Museum in Hamilton, New Zealand to Slow Art Day 2018.
One of the things we love the most about Slow Art Day is that it brings together hundreds of museums and thousands of people from institutions like the Tate Modern (they are a longtime participant) in London to museums like the Waikato in New Zealand.
On the banks of the Waikato River in the heart of Hamilton’s south-end cultural precinct, the Waikato features 13 galleries and more than 25 new exhibitions and 100 public events annually.
On April 14, people all over the world – now including Hamilton, New Zealand – will be coming together to learn how to slow down and discover how to really see art.
We think this simple concept is important – especially in this age of multi-tasking where the emphasis is placed on speed.
We started Slow Art Day in 2009 to challenge the blindness that this screen-based world is creating.
We hope you’ll participate in Slow Art Day this year either as a visitor (see all Slow Art Day 2018 venues here), or, if you work for a museum or gallery, by signing up to host a Slow Art Day event.