Author Archives: Phyl Terry

Run Your Own Personal Slow Art Day

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You can run a personal Slow Art Day any day of the year. All you need is our simple slow looking algorithm (we use that term with a bit of a wink), which we have honed over decades (see below).

To help you understand how this works, I’ll walk you through how I and the Slow Art Day core volunteer team did our own Slow Art Day at MoMA (and other museums) in 2022.

Ashley, Phyl and Jessica Jane on their way to MoMA. Photo taken by Johanna.

Here’s how it works

Pick a museum, gallery, church, sculpture park, street art scene, or other venue.

Then organize your group. We recommend groups of 4 (although you can do it with 2) and if you have more than 4, then break up into smaller groups. (Note: yes, you can do this by yourself.)

Once your groups are formed and you have arrived at your venue, then here are the steps.

  • Assign a “selector” for the first gallery/section/spot
    The ‘selector’ is the person temporarily assigned to select an artwork for everyone to look at slowly.
  • Then everyone looks around for a few minutes
    Ask everyone to look around the spot for a few minutes while the selector chooses a single piece to focus on.
  • Look slowly at the chosen piece
    Once the selector has made their choice, everyone spends 5 to 10 minutes looking together at the chosen artwork.
  • Talk to each other
    Once the slow looking has ended, then the selector begins the conversation about the experience. Simply ask: what did you see? You don’t need experts and you don’t need to moderate. Just listen to each other. People will have a lot to say. Let them say it. In fact, this is a wonderful moment. You will build intimacy and trust as you learn how each other sees and thinks.
  • Choose the next selector, move to the next gallery, and repeat

That’s it. Really simple. Nothing else required. 

If you want to get a sense of this in action, then below are my notes on one of our slow looking session at MoMA.

Thanks!

Phyl
Founder, Slow Art Day

On that day in 2022, the group of us went to MoMA and, as you can see in the photo above, we dressed up. Note: If you dress up like we were – then you’ll likely draw a crowd whenever you slow down to look at a piece of art intensively. That’s certainly what happened to us. No matter what we looked at, it became a temporary “Starry Night” or “Mona Lisa” with big crowds assembling to figure out why everyone is looking (note: this is a great way to get visitors to pay more attention to less well-known art).

Gallery 1: Johanna (selector)

At MoMA, Johanna was the selector for the first gallery we visited. She skipped “Starry Night” and chose Edvard Munch’s “The Storm” (1893). Everyone knows Munch’s “The Scream.” Fewer know “The Storm” and we were glad to bring more attention to this terrific painting.

Edvard Munch, The Storm, 1893
Slow looking at Munch’s “The Storm” at MoMA. Photo by Johanna.

In our discussion after the slow look, we of course learned more about this artwork and more about each other. Johanna and Jessica Jane were the best at noticing detail. Meanwhile, Phyl showed their sensitivity to color, while Ashley’s eye for design picked up composition and texture. 

We finished this first session feeling more connected to each other, and to the art. It was beautiful.

Gallery 2: Jessica Jane (selector)

We then moved to the next gallery, where Jessica Jane was the selector. And so it went as we slowly looked our way through MoMA, the Met, the Whitney, The Barnes Foundation (in Philadelphia), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens.  

From top left – Phyl, Jessica Jane, Ashley and Johanna at MoMA; all of us with Linnea West and Greg Stuart at The Philadelphia Museum of Art; all of us with Lisa Dombrow at the Whitney Museum; and all of us with Bill Perthes at The Barnes Foundation.

Special thanks to the educators who hosted us along the way, including:

  • Bill Perthes, Director of Adult Education at The Barnes Foundation
  • Linnea West, Manager of Adult Public Programs, Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • Greg Stuart, Coordinator of Adult Public Programs, Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • Lisa Dombrow, play activist, educator, and volunteer at MoMA and AMNH (and original ‘slow looker’)

If you do a slow looking session, then post about it and tag SlowArtDay!

– Phyl, Ashley, Jessica Jane, and Johanna

2023 Slow Art Day Annual Report – Get Inspired!

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We are proud to publish our 2023 Annual Report, representing hundreds of hours of work by volunteers to research, compile, and write-up the thousands of hours of creative work of educators and curators around the world.

More than 193 museums and galleries participated in 2023 (plus many more that ran Slow Art Day sessions but did not register with us).

And we researched, wrote, and published reports from 41 of these museums and galleries, which is what you will find in this report.

So, read this and get inspired by what a wide range of museums and galleries did last year including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Sweden’s Nationalmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Europe’s largest museum complex), The Frederiksberg Museum in Copenhagen, the 15-site citywide Slow Art Day in Bloomington, Illinois, to name just a few.

And please join me in thanking the volunteer team who worked tirelessly all year long to produce this report: Ashley, Jessica Jane, and Johanna. This global team deserve much thanks (please comment or write to me so I can share with them your appreciation ;-).

Thanks!

Phyl

P.S. Read earlier annual reports including: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 (we only started producing these in 2019, nine years after the official launch of Slow Art Day).

Slow Art Day 2023 Is Over – Now Our Work Begins

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It’s a wrap!

Slow Art Day 2023 is now officially over.

Congratulations.

Our community came together and produced another continent-spanning event – China, India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, England, Ireland, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, U.S., Canada, and *many* other countries.

In fact, Slow Art Day 2023 featured about 200 total events (actually, more than that when you count those that didn’t register with us).

With the work of the museums and galleries done for this year, the work begins for the volunteer Slow Art Day HQ Team. We will spend the rest of 2023 compiling, editing, and publishing reports about each of these individual events.

We have two goals with these reports: 1) help all of you learn from each other; 2) build the bonds of this global community of educators, curators, gallerists.

Our first step is reaching out to each host and asking them to provide us with details, photos, and artifacts from their 2023 Slow Art Day events.

Then when we get their information, we take these five steps:

1. Write-up individual reports
Our volunteer team will spend about five hours working on each individual museum/gallery report – editing and crafting a good write-up of what every individual museum and gallery did and calling out what others might learn from their design.

2. Email your report out to our global community
When each individual report is done, we email it out to the thousands of educators, curators, artists and others on our email list.

3. SlowArtDay.com
We then post it to our website for the world to see.

4. Facebook, Instagram
And we also post each report to our social media channels.

5. Annual Report
Finally, we add each individual report to our Annual Report, which has become the Bible of the slow looking movement (note: the full Annual Report for 2023 will be published in February of 2024).

Thank you for another great Slow Art Day – and here’s to spending the rest of 2023 learning what each other did.

Best,

Ashley, Jessica Jane, Johanna, Maggie, Robin, and Phyl

P.S. Find all our previous Annual Reports in the Host Tools section of the website.

Slow Art Day 2023 – Checklist and Podcast

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We are excited that the 14th Slow Art Day is mere hours away.

*187* museums and galleries all over the world on every continent (except Antarctica) are officially participating this year. And many *more* are running events that we don’t know about.

— And this just in: lovely podcast interview by Claire Bown with Slow Art Day founder Phyl Terry —

A big heartfelt thanks to all the educators, curators, gallerists, and others who are making Slow Art Day happen.

You know the impact it can have on world to help more people learn to slow down and immerse themselves in art.

You are leading an important movement – one that brings many benefits including spreading the ancient simple joy of connecting deeply with art.

We applaud you.

And here’s a quick checklist for tomorrow.

Checklist (for Hosts)

1. Fun
Of course – have fun. Enjoy the day and all the hard work you’ve put into your unique Slow Art Day event. We can’t wait to learn about the design of your day and write it up in our Annual Report so others can take inspiration from you.

2. Photos
Take photos and tag #SlowArtDay2023 on Insta and Facebook (and send them to us separately for your report).

3. Artifacts
Save any fliers, prompts, instructions, brochures (and send them to us so we can include them in our write-up of your event – so others can benefit from your designs)

Have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023.

Best,

Ashley, Jessica Jane, Johanna, Maggie, Phyl, and Robin

P.S. If you want to *attend* a Slow Art Day, then:

1. Check the 2023 Venue list
187 museums and galleries have officially registered with us. See if one is near you. And go slow down and look. It will change your life.

2. Or, go to *any* museum, gallery, sculpture park
Run your own slow looking session, using our – playfully named – “slow looking algorithm.”

Philadephia’s Citywide Slow Art Day 2023

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Slow Art Day is but *2* days away and more than 185 museums have registered their events, including five in Philadelphia, making that city part of a growing number of cities hosting 5, 10 or more events.

[Remember to register your Slow Art Day with us so we can write-up a report about your work and feature you in our next Annual Report, which has become the Bible of the slow looking movement.]

Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Michelle Myers wrote a wonderful article about the citywide Slow Art Day – Everything You Need to Know About Slow Art Day in Philadelphia.

For the educators and curators reading our blog, here’s a quick summary of the design of the five events.

1. The Barnes Foundation
With a lot of support from Bill Perthes, the foundation’s Bernard C. Watson director of adult education, The Barnes Foundation has participated in Slow Art Day since 2017. This year visitors will have an hour to observe four works of art, including pieces by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Honoré Daumier, and Pablo Picasso. Participants will then gather for a 30-minute conversation with Michael Williamson, a member of the Barnes faculty and former Germantown Friends School art history teacher.

2. Corridor Contemporary
Corridor Contemporary will showcase their exhibition, “Printed Perspectives,” which features printmaking techniques such as silk screening and lithography. Visitors can visit the gallery for free between 6 and 9 pm and observe each piece.

3. Glen Foerd
Glen Foerd, primarily known as a historic site and arboretum, will provide participants with a chance to observe four works of art: a portrait by Sir Peter Lely, Poppies in Vase by Hobson Pittman, The Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist by Girolamo da Santacroce, and An Archive of Desire by Jennifer Johnson. Participants will then gather for a conversation with executive director Ross Mitchell, discussing aesthetics and themes of each artwork.

4. Philadelphia Magic Gardens
This year, the Magic Gardens will observe four pre-selected, untitled terracotta sculptures by the Garcia family of Oaxaca. The gardens anticipate 15 to 20 participants, and the conversation will be guided by educator Samantha Eusebio, focusing on folk art and the importance of passing down family traditions.

5. Philadelphia Museum of Art
The museum’s Slow Art Day event is a guided walk around the Anne d’Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden, led by mindfulness instructor Grady Bates. Visitors will observe Bronze Bowl with Lace by Ursula von Rydingsvard and other works of art.

Wherever you are in the world – Philadephia, Prague (Czech Republic), Pamplona (Spain), Pecs (Hungary), Parkes (Australia), or Provo, UT (U.S.), we hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023. 

Best,

Phyl and the volunteer Slow Art Day team

P.S. If you need the Slow Art Day logo for use in your print or digital efforts, or any of the tools and tips from our Annual Reports, then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.

Slow Art Day at Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid and MACBA in Barcelona

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Slow Art Day is but 5 days away and more than 175 museums have registered their events, including the SaludArte Collective’s slow looking session at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, and the Fundación La Casa Ambar’s event at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona (MACBA) – both museums are considered to be leading centers of modern and contemporary art in Spain.

SaludArte – a group of therapists, artists, curators, and pedagogues who understand “art as the key to building social change” – is planning a “leisurely, reflective, and heartfelt visit” focused on five works by Calder, Picasso, Gargallo, and others at the Museo Reina Sofía.

Art history professor, Pedro Grande, who organizes Slow Art visits with his students throughout the year, is hoping to use this Slow Art Day event to inspire more art teachers to run slow looking sessions with their students.

Meanwhile, the Fundación La Casa Ambar will be slowing down at MACBA and looking at five artists: Ignasi Aballí, Antoni Tàpies, Elena del Rivero, Mona Hatoum from the exhibition “Prelude” Poetic Intention, and “Dialogues of Light” by the Catalan artist, Josep Grau-Garriga.

Inspired by the Talmud – “We do not see things as they are, but as we are” – they will be leading an attentive look at “feeling around art works”, curated, and guided by gestalt therapists.

Wherever you are in the world – from Madrid, Melbourne, and Miami, to Barcelona, Beijing, or Berlin – we hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023. 

Best,

Phyl and the Slow Art Day team

P.S. Remember to register your Slow Art Day with us so our volunteer team can write-up a report and feature you in our Annual Report, which has become the Bible of the slow looking movement.

P.P.S. If you need any of the host tools – logo for use in your print or digital efforts, and all of the past reports with their many tools, tips, and inspiring approaches – then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.

Be Curious with Shanghai Slow Art Day

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Slow Art Day is but 5 days away and more than 175 museums have registered their events, including a recent addition in Shanghai.

[Remember to register your Slow Art Day with us so we can write-up a report about your work and feature you in our next Annual Report, which has become the Bible of the slow looking movement.]

This Shanghai Slow Art Day is being organized by Curious Together at the UCCA Edge gallery – the Shanghai section of a leading contemporary art museum in China.

The event will be based on the exhibit called “Painting Unsettled,” which features the work of eight Chinese-born artists who are reinvigorating painting in the face of global uncertainty and technological change. At the event, participants will look at 5 pre-selected works from the exhibition and then will meet to discuss their impressions.

Based in Shanghai, Curious Together is dedicated to fostering a sense of community and curiosity through the exploration of art. During the city-wide lockdown in Shanghai, when people were forced to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Curious Together hosted an International Slow Art Day on Zoom based on artwork from longtime Slow Art Day leader National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C.

According to Curious Together organizer, Tamara Afanasyeva, this slow art event “brought participants a sense of joy and connection.” That led to Curious Together hosting more slow art events online during the remainder of the two-month lockdown, which “provided a much-needed outlet for people to come together and experience art,” said Afanasyeva.

Amazing.

Find more about Curious Together on Instagram.

Wherever you are in the world – Shanghai, San Salvador, Stockholm, or Singapore, St. Petersburg, San Jose, we hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023. 

Best,

Phyl and the volunteer Slow Art Day team

P.S. If you need the Slow Art Day logo for use in your print or digital efforts, or any of the tools and tips from our Annual Reports, then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.

Sweden’s Nationalmuseum Inspires With a Full Day of Programs

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Slow Art Day 2023 is but 11 days away!

Meanwhile, more museums continue to register their plans with us including the Swedish Nationalmuseum with its inspiring (and first) full day of slow activities.

Under the direction of Johannes Mayer who coordinates the public events/programming for Nationalmuseum, the museum will start Slow Art Day with a slow yoga class amongst sculptures in the sculpture yard, in the morning at 8:30 am before the museum opens. Participants will be led by yoga teacher Victoria Winderud. The session ends with a fresh smoothie served in the café beneath.

Wow.

Then, once the museum opens young visitors (5-11 years old) will be invited to go on a slow looking tour of a handful of paintings in the collection, led by museum staff, between 10:30 and 11:15 pm. At 2pm, adults will be invited to go on their own slow looking tour.

But that’s not all.

There will also be an art-chill session at the beautiful Strömsalen (a large room with both paintings and sculptures), led by Sara Borgegård, Intendent Pedagogik for the museum (roughly – the “Superintendent of Pedagogy”) who will tell a saga based on one of the sculptures in the room.

Wait. There’s more.

All day long, the Nationalmuseum will offer what they are calling “drop-in art-chill” at the sculpture-hall/yard, where visitors can sit or lay down on a yoga-mat and listen to a pre-recorded art-chill session, slowly observing the beautiful room.

Finally, all visitors can borrow a slow-looking guide to explore and discover our works of art at their own slow pace.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

What a great design.

I hope this inspires other Slow Art Day museums and galleries.

And wherever you are, we hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023.

Best,

Phyl and the Slow Art Day team

P.S. Remember to register your Slow Art Day with us so our volunteer team can write-up a report and feature you in our Annual Report, which has become the Bible of the slow looking movement.

P.P.S. If you need any of the host tools – logo for use in your print or digital efforts, and all of the past reports with their many tools, tips, and inspiring approaches – then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.

Frost Celebrates Its 10th Slow Art Day

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It’s going to be another great Slow Art Day this April 15, 2023. More museums continue to register including our first in South Korea.

And I’m proud to share that the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate and one of the largest academic art museums in South Florida, is celebrating its 10th Slow Art Day this year, which, in addition to being great for the slow looking movement, holds a special resonance for the museum and its staff.

The Frost’s first Slow Art Day was planned by then-docent and longtime museum supporter, Helena Venero. She was dedicated to art education and provided great support to Miriam Machado, who was (and remains) the Director of Education. In fact, Venero helped Machado launch their first docent program.

In 2013, Venero led the planning of their inaugural Slow Art Day. Venero did a great job and everything was set, and then in the early morning of April 27, 2013 (i.e., the morning of that year’s Slow Art Day) Machado received a terrible phone call. Venero had just suffered a massive heart attack and passed away.

As you can imagine, the whole museum was in shock and deeply saddened.

In commemoration of Helena Venero’s commitment to the museum, her family created an endowment to fund Slow Art Day (and other educational programs) in perpetuity. The Venero Endowment has allowed the museum to host interesting Slow Art Day events for ten straight years (and for many more years to come), as well as to amplify their ability to reach underserved students with a variety of programs.

Machado remains connected to the Venero family, and keeps them updated on the projects and programs their endowment supports. “I will be eternally grateful to Helena, to her family, and to their passion for education and the arts,” Machado said.

Let’s all thank Helena Venero – and the Venero family – and the many other volunteers around the world who have helped turn Slow Art Day into a global phenomenon.

Hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day 2023.

Best,

Phyl

P.S. If you need any of the host tools – logo for use in your print or digital efforts, and all of the past reports with their many tools, tips, and inspiring approaches – then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.

Slow Art Day 2023 – About 150 Museums and Counting

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It’s going to be another great Slow Art Day – the 14th global event since we officially launched in 2010 – and I’m happy to report that we are nearing about 150 museums, galleries, and venues registered.

If you are participating but have *not* yet registered as a host, then please do.

When you register your plans with us, then we can include you on our site and, importantly, our volunteer team can follow-up after the event to write-up what you did, post it to our site, and add it to our 2023 Annual Report (see all of our past Annual Reports).

The Annual Report is a compendium of slow looking tools, designs, and approaches by talented educators and curators all over the world. Because we’ve seen how much our global community uses these reports, our volunteer team spends hundreds of hours each year compiling, editing, and publishing these write-ups.

But it all begins with you registering as a host.

Hope you have a GOOD and Slow Art Day.

Best,

Phyl

P.S. If you need any of the host tools – logo for use in your print or digital efforts, and all of the past reports with their many tools, tips, and inspiring approaches – then go to the host tools section of our Slow Art Day website.