According to the visitor experience team at Tate Modern, Slow Art Day 2019 was “fantastic.”
Participants slowly looking at The Snail by Henri Matisse
They organized two one-hour slow looking sessions split between two artworks and, then, after the sessions, the team invited the visitors to come together for tea, coffee, biscuits, and a discussion about the whole experience.
Here’s what some of the participants said:
“A really interesting session. I’m more mindful of how to observe art in the future.”
“What a wonderful idea!
“I understand now how you can spend so much time in a gallery looking at art!”
“The combination of looking at art slowly and with other people is a real eye opener.”
“Really like the concept. As someone who can feel a bit intimidated by the art world this felt like a really nice way in and gives me more confidence to engage with art in the future.”
“A brilliant concept, lovely to think that this is going on all around the world.”
“I will definitely bring friends next time. Do it again!”
“I felt like a part of a group/community and was an hour well spent.”
“We can’t wait for next year to do it again,” said Adriana Oliveira, Visitor Experience Manager there at Tate Modern.
On April 10, 2021, the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hosted both in-person and virtual sessions for their 7th Slow Art Day.
For the in-person activity, visitors were first introduced to the concept of slow looking, and were then invited to practice what they learned as they walked through the museum. Participants were encouraged to share their experiences on social media and tag the museum with #PMASlowArtDay.
The virtual event consisted of four separate Zoom sessions focused on slow looking, writing, making, and mindfulness.
Slow Looking
For the slow looking session, participants were encouraged to use a naturalist’s attention to detail when looking at still life paintings. Using tools like the Google Art & Education app allowed them to zoom in and experience works of art in a different way compared to in-person.
Detail of Antoine Berjon, 1819. Still Life with Flowers, Shells, a Shark’s Head, and Petrifications. Oil on canvas, 42 1/2 × 34 9/16 inches (108 × 87.8 cm) [from the Slow Looking Zoom session hosted by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2021]
Slow Making
The Slow Making session took the form of a workshop inspired by the work of artist Judith Rothschild. For this session, participants cut and collaged materials to create their own mixed-media work of art, which resulted in the works you see below.
Participants engaging with art during the Slow Making workshop
Slow Writing
For this session, participants were guided in a communal writing exploration of portraits in the museum’s exhibition Painting Identity. Participants were asked to imagine and write about the subjects’ identity.
Portraits from the exhibition Painting Identity
‘Museum Mindfulness’
For this virtual session, the Yogi, martial artist, and body worker J Miles of Maha Vira Yoga encouraged participants to find their inner calm with a slow, guided look at a selection of works from the PMA’s collection. This section had a more internal approach compared to the other three sessions.
The events were well received, and the virtual participants responded positively to the PMA survey on Slow Art Day:
“The programs will make me more mindful when visiting the museum. I appreciated the opportunities to look more deeply at works of art that I might have otherwise skipped by.”
Participant’s quote
“A lovely creative and mindful way to start my day”
Participant’s quote after attending the Museum Mindful Session
“Taking time to smell the virtual flowers and using Google Art & Education app to zoom in on every area of a painting; seeing that each component had significance in the painting.”
Participant’s quote after having attended the Slow Looking session
“…slowing down & listening to/reading other participants comments, seeing their creations… is very rewarding and opens new vistas.”
Participant’s quote after having attended the Slow Making session
“Very creative and uplifting. I felt renewed and encouraged, and also came up with some ideas for my own teaching”
Participant’s quote after having attended the Slow Writing session
At Slow Art Day HQ, we want to thank the Philadelphia Museum of Art for hosting yet another wonderful event. The range of activities they designed inspire us and educators around the world to consider creating multiple workshops and experiences for Slow Art Day.
We look forward to whatever creative designs the Philadelphia Museum of Art comes up with in 2022.
Johanna, Jessica, Ashley, and Phyl
PS. For further information on the museum’s events you can follow their social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
The Art Gallery of St. Albert, Canada, pivoted their 2021 event at the last minute from planned in-person sessions to their social media pages and the Gallery’s virtual exhibitions. They did this because four days before Slow Art Day 2021, the Canadian provincial government announced further lockdowns.
Visitor engaging with art (used to promote Slow Art Day 2021 by the Art Gallery of St. Albert.)
The situation the Gallery faced is, of course, similar to what many other museums have had to contend with since this pandemic began in 2020. However, time after time, we have seen museum educators, directors, and curators rise to the challenge and connect people to each other and to art in new and creative ways.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we love that the Art Gallery of St. Albert decided to commemorate and promote slow looking despite not being able to host their event as planned. Leah Louden, Interim Director, said that they are already planning their Slow Art Day 2022.
To the staff at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, and all other museums and galleries that had planned events which did not go through — thank you for supporting Slow Art Day and your communities through these trying times.
– Johanna, Jessica, Ashley and Phyl
PS. You can find out more about the Art Gallery of St. Albert here, on their IG, or Facebook Page.
We also recommend checking out one of their beautifully designed annual reports
For their first Slow Art Day, the MO Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania, organized a free multi-lingual international event on Zoom as part of their MO Conversations program. On 10 April 2021, the museum hosted five conversation groups throughout the day to discuss ‘Interior XI,’ an artwork by Romanas Vilkauskas, in English, Russian, or Lithuanian.
Participants were invited to join a session in their preferred language and look slowly at the artwork before joining a discussion with one of the facilitators: Karen Vanhercke for English; Simona Košinskaitė and Justina Kaminskaitė for Lithuanian; and Irina Leto for Russian.
ROMANAS VILKAUSKAS, Interior XI, 1997 – 1998, oil on canvas, 105,5 x 125 cm. Copyright MOMuseum, Vilnius
The aim was to encourage participants to connect with a single artwork for an entire hour, and no prior knowledge of art was required. The facilitators were well versed in the “visual thinking strategy” (VTS) discussion technique, which they used for the sessions.
Staged picture with art on view and facilitator Karen Vanhercke, Educational Curator at MOMuseum
Participants loved the event and left positive feedback:
Looking at, instead of reading about, the art: the practice of ‘slow art’ transformed my experience and gave me a deeper connection.
Participant’s quote
Actually, the major takeaway from today’s Zoom call, was my change of perception! In one hour the artpiece changed in front of my eyes. In the beginning it was just an artwork, but in the end it was a story.
Participant’s quote
The discussion made me appreciate it on different levels: peeling away at the layers of expression… It is truly a great piece, and great to see how timeless and flexible art can be.
Participant’s quote
At Slow Art Day HQ, we are excited that the MO Museum designed such an inclusive slow art event in three different languages. We encourage museum educators to consider multi-lingual options for future Slow Art Day events, and we look forward to whatever they come up with in 2022.
Johanna, Jessica, Ashley, and Phyl
P.S. You can follow updates from the MO Museum on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
For their first Slow Art Day, Vänersborg Art Gallery, in Vänersborg, Sweden, organized an in-person event featuring three artworks by artist Bo Ljung from the exhibition Lysande Utsikter (“Brilliant Views” or “Great Expectations”).
On April 10, 2021, participants joined this Gallery in southern Sweden after hours to participate in the slow looking event. They looked at each of the three artworks for 10 minutes, and then had an open and stimulating discussion about their experience. Food and water were provided. You can view the artworks from Bo Ljung’s exhibition here.
Slow looking at one of the artworks
More slow looking
Reflecting on the event, Kajsa Frostensson, Gallery Manager, said they learned a lot from their pilot Slow Art Day and look forward to running more slow looking events in the future.
The openness in mind and thought that is required [during slow looking] is something I think we need training in, and we as an organizer also need training in administrating the talking afterwards. Nevertheless, it was a good experience and I liked it very much. So did our participants.
Kajsa Frostensson
While Kajsa and her team may be new at this, they have already contributed one good idea to the global Slow Art Day movement: host slow looking sessions after regular hours. Other galleries and smaller museums might want to borrow this idea. We imagine that an after hours session helps to support slow looking in this fast-paced world of ours.
We look forward to whatever other innovations Vänersborg Art Gallery comes up with for their second Slow Art Day in 2022.
Johanna, Ashley, Jessica, and Phyl
P.S. You can also follow the Gallery’s Facebook page for more updates.
For their second Slow Art Day, The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., organized a virtual slow looking workshop specifically for art educators focused on the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). The aim of the session was to share slow looking ideas and skills that can be applied as teaching methods.
Detail of Katsushika Hokusai. Thunder God. Edo period, 1847. Ink and color on paper. 126.9 x 53.8 cm (49 15/16 x 21 3/16 in). Courtesy of Freer Gallery of Art.
Katsushika Hokusai. Thunder God. Edo period, 1847. Ink and color on paper. 126.9 x 53.8 cm (49 15/16 x 21 3/16 in). Courtesy of Freer Gallery of Art.
After a brief introduction by Education Specialist Jennifer Reifsteck, Faylinda Kodis, high-school Visual Educator, led the slow looking activity. BoBeen Chung, Program Assistant for the Department of Engagement and Visitor Experience, supported by sharing links for participants in the chat. The structure of the session is outlined below.
1. Start with a relaxation and meditation “eye palming” activity
2. Observe Hokusai’s “Thunder God” for 10 minutes – without prior knowledge of the work (and without distractions, including mobile phones).
3. Write observations on Hokusai’s artwork using the following prompts:
Describe: What did you see?
Analyze: Why do you think the artist made certain decisions in this artwork?
Interpret: What is the message, story, or theme of this artwork?
Inquire: What would you like to know about this artwork?
4. Discussion of the artwork and observations
Jennifer Reifsteck closed the day’s program by sharing a brief history of the Freer and Sackler’s Galleries, information on Hokusai’s collection, and where to find lesson plans and useful material for educators on the Gallery’s website.
Screenshot from the beginning of the Zoom session.
The event was attended by 53 participants from all over the world, including Romania, France, India, Austria, and several states across the United States: Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Florida, California, Rhode Island, and New York.
Participants loved the event, and left positive feedback:
“Congratulations and THANK YOU for today’s work and the follow-on resources. What lovely teamwork and expertise to share with us educators. Thanks to all participants, too!”
Participant’s quote from Zoom’s chat
“These resources/sharings are some of the BEST things that have come out of the pandemic, RIGHT? Bless your good work!”
Participant’s quote from Zoom’s chat
“Amazing! Thank you, I am very inspired by this educational slow looking technique.”
Participant’s quote from Zoom’s chat
“Thank you for this wonderful approach to perception.”
Participant’s quote from Zoom’s chat
“Excellent, very informative & inspirational lessons on slow looking with Hokusai at Freer with you. Thank you so much.”
Participant’s quote from Zoom’s chat
“Thank you for all of this. It was very informative and of great benefit for me and my teaching going forward.”
Participant’s quote from Zoom’s chat
“Therapeutic to slow look. I appreciate this platform to collaboratively slow look and appreciate out loud. So I’m curious if the Freer or other art museums are offering more mornings like this to bring folks together for the shared experience. Now that the nation is ZOOMING as never before, it unleashes some more possibilities.”
Participant’s quote from Zoom’s chat
At Slow Art Day HQ, we are excited that the Smithsonian designed a slow art event specifically for educators, which advances our mission of equipping educators with the skills to implement slow looking in their teaching.
We look forward to seeing what they come up with in 2022!
For their 9th Slow Art Day, the Patricia & Philip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, in Miami, Florida, invited participants to join them for a virtual guided meditation, a yoga session, and a close-looking art exercise.
The event was organized in memory of Helena Venero, a dedicated docent, volunteer and art lover who enthusiastically helped the Frost Art Museum host their first Slow Art Day. We never knew Helena, but we feel her spirit strongly, and are really touched that the Museum organized the event in her memory.
Slow Art Day Zoom Session: Screenshot of Krysten Medina’s yoga session from the gallery on Zoom. In the background: Chris Friday, “20 Feet Tall.” (Chalk on Arches paper, 2021)
On April 10, Victoria R. Gonzalez, a Health Educator, opened the event by encouraging participants to turn off their cellphones and join her in a guided meditation.
This prepped participants for the virtual yoga class that followed, which was led by Krysten Medina, a Prana Yoga instructor. With artwork in the background, she encouraged participants to give love and care to their bodies during the session as a grounding practice.
After yoga, participants were invited to complete a close-looking exercise using one of the below five works from the Gallery’s permanent collection.
Pepe Mar, ‘Mothership,’ Mixed media on wood, 2020, Courtesy of the Artist and David Castillo Gallery
René Portocarrero, ‘Mujer,’ 1954, painting, 15.25 x 11.5 in, Darlene M. and Jorge M. Perez Art Collection at FIU
Xaviera Simmons, ‘Beyond the Canon of Landscape,’ color photograph. 2008 Courtesy of the Artist and David Castillo Gallery
Unknown, ‘Mexico Mask,’ wood paint. 20th Century 6 5/8 x 6 3/8 x 4 ½ inches Gift of Lawrence and Linda Twill, FIU
Edouard Duval Carrie, ‘Regional Study,’ mixed media on paper. 2002 80 x 60 x 2 ½ inches Purchase made possible with funds donated by Dr. Sanford L. and Dolores Ziff. FIU
Participants chose one of the artworks, and spent 15 minutes looking slowly. They were then asked to ponder the following questions:
1. Describe the object.
2. What emotions, moods, ideas, or thoughts does the object convey or generate?
3. How has the maker/artist manipulated the materials and/or elements to convey or generate these emotions, moods, ideas, or thoughts?
4. What social, cultural, and historical factors might have influenced the maker/artist’s choices, and the object’s meaning?
5. What personal meaning or significance do you find in this object?
6. How would you compare this work to other artworks that you have seen? How is it similar and how is it different?
7. What other observations do you have?
Emily Afre, Education Specialist at the Gallery, thanked the Slow Art Day HQ team for “the opportunity to participate in another year of taking it slow.”
In turn, we would like to thank Emily and The Frost Art Museum for their long-term commitment to celebrating Slow Art Day, and for holding this year’s event in memory of someone who started their journey in Slow Art. We love being part of a global movement that helps people learn to look at and love art, all while slowing down in this fast-paced, multi-tasking world.
We can’t wait to see what the Patricia & Philip Frost Museum comes up with for their 10th Anniversary Slow Art Day in 2022.
Johanna, Jessica, Ashley, and Phyl
P.S. If you are interested in following the Frost Art Museum’s updates, here you can find their Facebook page.
For their 7th Slow Art Day on April 10th, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, one of Canada’s largest art museums, shared a video and five artworks from their collection to their social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
A couple of days before the event, AGO uploaded a slow looking video featuring Clarence Alphonse Gagnon’s ‘Study of a Hare in Winter’ (1922), with a slow looking and mindfulness exercise guided by Melissa Smith, Assistant Curator of Community Programs.
Slow Looking video produced by the Art Gallery of Ontario for Slow Art Day 2021, featuring Clarence Alphonse Gagnon’s ‘Study of a Hare in Winter’ (1922), with a slow looking exercise guided by Melissa Smith, Assistant Curator of Community Programs.
On the actual day of the event, participants were then invited to focus on each of these five artworks for 10 minutes:
Kazuo Nakamura, Blue Reflections, 1962
Abraham Anghik Ruben, Sedna, c.1990
Vilhelm Hammershøi, Interior with Four Etchings, 1904
Julie Mehretu, Algorithms, Apparitions and Translations, 2013
Christi Belcourt, Wisdom of the Universe. 2014
They were also encouraged to leave comments under each image.
Below are images of the artworks, which we encourage you to experience slowly using the AGO’s prompts that follow.
For this Kazuo Nakamura piece don’t just look slowly, look closely. See how subtly the colours change. Pay attention to how the gradual shifts in brushstrokes give a sense of movement to the landscape. What do you notice about how the brushstrokes are applied? Each and every brushstroke is calculated and purposefully applied. Nakamura is best known for this analytical approach in his paintings, and in his later works, he was influenced by mathematics and scientific theories. He sought to discover a universal pattern in art and nature. What do you think this universal pattern would look like? Do you prefer an analytical approach or a more gestural one?
Abraham Anghik Ruben is a storyteller and tells his stories through the medium of sculpture. His sculptures often tell the legends, myths, and spiritual traditions of the Inuit people and the Arctic land. A recurring figure in Ruben’s works is the Inuit Sea Goddess, Sedna. Look at how her hair dramatically but gracefully arches up behind her like it is flowing with the movement of water. Notice how her eyes stand out from the rest of the sculpture, and how she clutches her hands close to her torso. What do her expression and her posture suggest? What is the message Ruben is trying to share?
Looking for a little calm and quiet? Come and join us in Vilhelm Hammershøi’s “Interior with Four Etchings”. A muted scene in both colour and sound, we invite you to hush the world around you as you spend some time with this piece. The female figure is the artist’s wife, Ida. Since she has her back to us, we cannot read her expression. But because she is turned away, we can enter and explore this private space freely. Take a look around. Notice how the light softly enters from the left, creating reflections on surfaces and depth in the space. Where do your eyes go? To the items on the table? To the etchings on the wall? What are the etchings of? Look closely because there are details here that could have easily escaped you before.
There’s no piece quite like this Julie Mehretu that demonstrates the importance of an unhurried and patient approach to art. Mehretu is inspired by landscapes, cities, and human activity within nature. Particularly interested in layered imagery, Mehretu’s printmaking technique requires her to slow down as she layers line upon line to create this surreal landscape. Take a look, what do you see? Now, look closer. Even closer. The closer you look the more details you’ll see. The larger narrative will begin to fall apart, revealing various smaller narratives beneath. Just as the piece evolves with each of Mehretu’s lines, your experience of this work will also evolve over time. So, go on. Look again.
Ten minutes is hardly enough time to contemplate the wisdom of the universe, both the concept and this piece by Metis artist Christi Belcourt. Take your time to really explore this piece. What type of birds do you see? What type of flowers and vegetation can you recognize? Imagine yourself in this space. Move through the branches and notice the balance and harmony. Can you hear the sounds of the animals? Can you smell the flowers around you? See how everything is connected. This great network of life. Belcourt’s piece asks us to reflect upon the well-being of all living species on this earth, as the current climate crisis affects us all. Take a deep breath, and surround yourself with the wisdom of the universe.
xxxx
The event was well received, with 10,000+ likes and views on the AGO’s social media platforms.
Below are some great quotes form participants:
This is my favourite painting at the AGO! I always spend a long time in front of it and always pick up something new each visit.
Participant’s comment under Nakamura’s painting – Instagram
Love this idea!!
Participant’s comment on Instagram
We appreciate the Art Gallery of Ontario’s thoughtful design for this multi-day virtual event, and look forward to what they come up with for Slow Art Day in 2022.
For their second Slow Art Day, The Eaton Gallery in Bloomington, Illinois, organized a “drive-by” exhibit in the Gallery’s window display, inviting the local community to slow down and enjoy floral still-life paintings by local artist Herb Eaton.
Herb Eaton, Still Life with Grace. 3ft x 4 ft, oil on canvas.
Herb Eaton, Single Petal of a Rose. 24×18 oil on canvas board.
Pamela Eaton, Gallery owner, aims to make art more accessible in a relaxed setting, and provide a space to support local artists.
From the 10th to the 30th of April, the Gallery created a drive-by window exhibit for viewers to pause and look slowly at a selection of artworks. They were then invited to share their thoughts and reflections in a variety of ways: write a note and drop it in the Gallery’s mail slot, send an email, or leave a post on the Gallery’s Facebook page.
The exhibit got great press coverage from local news outlets, both last year and this year. An article by week.com includes a video interview with Pamela Eaton, where she explains that Slow Art Day is an opportunity for people to simultaneously develop an appreciation for art and local artists.
“We are so busy hurrying around. When you slow down and pay attention to your space and place you start to see more value in them. That’s probably one of the values of COVID, it’s slowed us all down.”
Pamela Eaton
Eaton Gallery’s press release
The Eaton Gallery received a lot of great feedback from participants:
Kind of makes you think of the beauty of life and the changes through the years. The petals are beautiful but life happens and the years change us, but the beauty still remains in our memories.
Viewer’s quote
I drove by today, slowly passing by in my car to admire A Single Petal of a Rose which I love more and more each time I see it.
Viewer’s quote
Walked by Saturday to enjoy the paintings in your window… peaceful and full of color.
Viewer’s quote
Looking forward to coming inside and seeing more of the art and the space.
Viewer’s quote
Beautiful work.
Viewer’s quote
Brightened up my walk downtown.
Viewer’s quote
The Eaton Gallery’s creative drive-by solution to sharing art with the local community during Covid19 has helped viewers and participants slow down and feel connected. At Slow Art Day HQ, we agree with Pamala Eaton: “When you slow down and pay attention to your space and place you start to see more value in them.”
We look forward to Eaton Gallery’s Slow Art Day in 2022.
For their 8th annual (and 2nd virtual) Slow Art event, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington DC, invited visitors to take part in a Slow Art Week, which opened on April 2 and culminated in a virtual gathering on April 10, facilitated by a museum educator.
The NMWA created a virtual collection, “(Anything But) Black and White”, for the week of activities. The Museum’s aim with this collection was to remind that life is rarely clearcut, and that we should seek to discover and embrace nuance, variety, and difference. The selected artworks were available to view online throughout the week, and were on display in the museum for those who could visit in person.
The final event of Slow Art Week, held on Saturday the 10th, featured lively conversation about the experience of slow looking. To facilitate more intimate dialogue with the group the museum used breakout rooms, which is a great tool during virtual sessions.
The NMWA provided participants a detailed PDF with instructions to review before joining the session on Saturday 10th.
We encourage museum educators and curators to review the PDF above to get a sense of the design of the whole event. We will highlight just a few things here.
We particularly liked the four guiding questions the NMWA asked participants to consider ahead of the Saturday session. Those questions were the following:
How might art help you appreciate perspectives other than your own?
What are your first impressions or assumptions based on? What do you need for your opinions to evolve or change?
Have you experienced a shift from binary to spectrum thinking about a topic in the last year? What influenced that change in thinking?
How can we seek to “find the gray” in the world around us?
Also in preparation for the Saturday session, the close looking PDF provided various entry points for participants, including prompts for kinesthetic and visual learners. The aim was to give participants the opportunity to approach the process of slow looking in way(s) most comfortable for them. Some of the provocations are listed below.
Consider the artwork’s details. Roll up a sheet of paper to create a viewfinder. Look at the artwork through it to isolate and consider the artwork’s parts.
Arrange things you find around your home to make a temporary found-object sculpture that is inspired by your favorite choice. Take a picture of your sculpture. Post it to social media and tag @womeninthearts and @slowartday.
Create a bank of words and phrases that come to mind as you look at an artwork.
Slow Art Week was well received:
“For the NMWA session I did the independent slow looking first, then attended the Zoom meeting. All of it was rewarding. I enjoyed the chance for interaction in the small groups. Hearing other people talk about their observations, questions, ideas, etc. is a reminder to me that I miss things even when looking closely and/or I interpret what I see differently than other people. Above all what was most meaningful to me was the opportunity to “commune” with other, like-minded (art-minded) people. For a short time I felt less alone. What I enjoyed about the day overall (attended Slow Art Day at both NMWA and Philadelphia Museum of Art) is that I allowed myself to have a whole day for art things, which was like medicine.”
Participant’s quote
“If you want to learn about and get to know a person, you spend time with them. The same is true with works of art. Time to look, time to pause, time to breathe. Time to process and to just be. NMWA’s works of art deserve this, and so do we. These works can become our life-long friends.”
Participant’s quote
“I participated in the independent slow looking and in the Zoom meeting. For me, both were important, I guess one needs time to look in your own times and places, and you also arrive prepared to the meeting. The meeting is also important because it is the opportunity to share and to listen to other experiences and views. For me both are learning opportunities and experiences.”
Participant’s quote in response to the moderator’s questions: What element(s) of Slow Art Day did you take part in—independent slow looking, Zoom meeting, both? Which element(s) did you find most rewarding. Why?
“I did not do the independent slow looking exercise since I only decided to participate a short while ahead of enrolling in the session. During the Zoom meeting, I found the conversation that you facilitated thoughtful and respectful, with time given in between words for collective observation. When you added information about the works, it was artfully done, with just the right amount so as to further the looking dialogue that was happening between us.”
Participant’s quote
We at Slow Art Day HQ would like to thank the NMWA for their long-lasting commitment to Slow Art Day, and love how creative and inclusive their Slow Art Week was. The pandemic has proven quite isolating for many, and we agree, as one participant mentioned, that enjoying art slowly is “like medicine” for the soul.
We look forward to seeing what the NMWA comes up with for Slow Art Day 2022 (and, again, encourage museum educators to review their detailed PDF for ideas and inspiration).
Johanna, Jessica, Ashley, and Phyl
P.S. If you would like to be updated with the NMWA’s events you can follow the on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
For their sixth Slow Art Day, the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, GA, hosted an in-person slow looking and drawing session.
The session was originally planned as an outdoor sculpture viewing, but the rain had other plans and the event was hosted inside the museum. The program was created by Sage Kincaid, Associate Curator of Education, who has a strong passion for all things Slow Art.
On April 10, participants were invited to look slowly at three works of art at the museum:
Steinunn Thorarinsdottir, ‘Tide’, 2012. Cast iron and glass. 70 7/8 × 27 9/16 × 13 3/4 in. (180 × 70 × 35 cm) Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Museum purchase with funds provided by Judith Ellis
Participants doing line-drawings of Nick Cave’s Soundsuit Sculpture for Slow Art Day 2021. Photo courtsey of the Georgia Museum of Art.
Visitors in front of Joan Mitchell’s painting “Close” (1972) during a previous Slow Art Day event. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Museum of Art.
After looking at the art pieces, Katie Landers, an Education Department Intern at the museum, led separate slow looking and drawing activities.
Participants were first encouraged to think about their physical relationship to the sculpture by Steinunn Thorarinsdottir. Next, they investigated color and color palettes by looking at Joan Mitchell’s painting. Finally, they made a blind contour and continuous line drawing of Nick Cave’s sculpture. To end the day, all participants made abstract color collages together. The event was well received by a dedicated group of 10, who spent several hours together for an immersive experience on Slow Art Day.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we love the integrated multi-sensory approach that the Georgia Museum of Art took to designing this year’s event. While looking at something closely lets us see in new ways, slow drawing takes that process even further and allows attendees to connect looking, talking and making. And that creates the possibility to be present — with art, with ourselves, and with others.
We look forwad to what the Georgia Museum of Art comes up with for their 7th Slow Art Day in 2022.
