For their first Slow Art Day, The Slow Art Club, a recently-formed-group of Italian slow-looking enthusiasts in Italy, organized a trip to the region of Emilia-Romagna at the Fondazione Magnani Rocca in Mamiano (Parma) and to the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia. These collections, which are privately owned, showcase both national and international artwork.
While the Club is based in Rovereto, Italy, members come from all over Italy and visit museums to apply the slow looking approach.
For the event, the Club had two people from the group select three works from each collection for everyone to spend time with. They posted the artworks in their WhatsApp group. Members then went to the museums for a series of slow looking sessions. They then made notes and uploaded those to WhatsApp for a club-wide discussion.
Below are three of the six selected artworks:
Nicola De Maria, Sera, 1981 (front), Collezione Maramotti
Nicola De Maria, Sera, 1981 (back), Collezione Maramotti
Eric Fischl, The Philosopher’s Chair, 1999, Collezione Maramotti
Slow Art Club members looking and taking notes.
Several days after their slow looking sessions, they convened on Zoom to share their notes with each other and discuss their experience. They used Zoom’s breakout group feature to create small groups of 3-4 to talk in depth.
At Slow Art Day HQ we would like to thank Piero Consolati and the Slow Art Club for organizing the first such club that we know of in the world. And we hope they are launching a movement in Italy and other countries where art lovers will come together in clubs to support the slow looking movement.
For their fourth Slow Art Day, the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, Ireland – a gallery dedicated to contemporary Irish and international art – invited visitors to slow down and connect with artwork from their collection as part of a focused tour and mindfulness event.
Mindfulness practitioner Dee Hennessy started the event by leading a guided meditation.
Then Jean Mann, Assistant Learning and Public Engagement Curator, facilitated a slow looking session in one of the smaller collection galleries, a wing dedicated to the self-taught Irish painter, Tony O’Malley (see photos below).
Following the concentrated slow looking, Mann then led participants in a discussion about their responses to O’Malley’s art.
Tony O’Malley, Bahamas Obeah Sign, 1985 Acrylic, grit & needles on canvas 48” x 72”,122 x 183cm
Tony O’Malley, Bahamas Obeah Sign, 1985 Acrylic, grit & needles on canvas 48” x 72”,122 x 183cm
We at Slow Art Day HQ love slow looking at O’Malley’s work and look forward to what the Butler Gallery comes up with for 2024.
— Johanna, Ashley, Jessica Jane, Phyl
P.S. Follow The Butler Gallery on their social media: Instagram | Facebook | X
Our favorite Basque museum, Ur Mara Museoa, held its eighth Slow Art Day in 2023 and, like they have done in the past, they arranged a full day of slow looking, cooking, eating, and dancing.
The art came from five artists inspired by the French ecological movement of the 1990s, which sought to oppose the consumerist and speculative art market, and to instead advocate for ecological aesthetic values such as recycling and craftsmanship.
The five artists represented included:
Uxue Lasa (sculpture) Anton Mendizabal (sculpture) Myrian Loidi Zulet (textile) Mari Jose Lacadena (therapeutic art) Eduardo Arreseigor (various art)
Further, a lecture by Juan Tomas Olazagirre – “La notación musical” – was held before the end-of-day special dinner (the dinner known as “community food”).
Click the above photo to watch a video excerpt.
Below is the promotional flyer they used to spread the word about their Slow Art Day.
Someday the Slow Art Day HQ team will finally make the trek to Ur Mara Museo so we can participate in their amazing daylong celebration of art, food, and community. We look forward to what they come up with for 2024.
For their Slow Art Day 2023, Sweden’s National Museum (referred to as “Nationalmuseum” in Sweden) offered a full day of all kinds of interesting and creative sessions. Museums around the world take heed – this is a great way to celebrate Slow Art Day.
Under the direction of Johannes Mayer who coordinates the public events/programming, Sweden’s Nationalmuseum started Slow Art Day with a slow yoga class amongst sculptures in the sculpture yard, in the morning at 8:30 am before the museum opened. Participants were led by yoga teacher Victoria Winderud and the session ended with a fresh smoothie served in the café beneath.
Wow. We wish we could have been there.
Then, once the museum opened, young visitors (5-11 years old) were 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 am. At 2 pm, adults were invited to do the same.
But that was not all.
There was also a storytelling session at the beautiful Strömsalen (a large room with both paintings and sculptures), led by Sara Borgegård, Intendent Pedagog for the museum (roughly – the “Superintendent of Pedagogy”), who told a saga based on one of the sculptures in the room.
Wait. There was more.
All day long, the Nationalmuseum offered “drop-in art-chill” sessions at the sculpture-hall/yard, where visitors could sit or lay down on a yoga mat and listen to a pre-recorded session, slowly observing the beautiful room.
And even that is not all.
Finally, all visitors could borrow a slow-looking guide to explore and discover works of art at their own slow pace.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
What a great design.
See some fabulous photos below.
Slow Art Day yoga with sculptures at Sweden’s National Museum, 2023.Children slow looking at paintings at the National Museum for Slow Art Day,2023 Children slow looking at paintings at the National Museum for Slow Art Day, 2023. Slow looking at an artwork for Slow Art Day 2023 at the National Museum
Slow Yoga (a person in a resting pose behind a half-reclining statue) at the National Museum’s Slow Art Day event.
Slow Art Day yoga with sculptures at Sweden’s National Museum, 2023
The Nationalmuseum team of Sara Borgegård Älgå, Johannes Mayer and Helena Sjödin Landonthere tell us they are looking forward to Slow Art Day 2024, especially as they continue to receive such great feedback from visitors (note: 2023 was their fourth Slow Art Day). Further, since Slow Art Day usually happens around Easter and many tourists are in town, they plan to offer some of the programs in English as well as Swedish, to make it accessible to even more people.
Wow. We can’t wait to see what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2024.
– Phyl, Johanna, Ashley, and Jessica Jane
P.S. The Slow Art Day team has decided to ask the Accademia Gallery of Florence if they would host a yoga session around the statue of David. Right? Let’s all go!
Payal Thiffault and Michelle May, founders of Juniper Rag magazine and Slow Art Day pioneers going back to the founding, held their 2023 Slow Art Day at The White Room Gallery in Worcester, MA. They invited both the public and the following New England-based artists whose work was on exhibition at the gallery:
Curtis Speer, Newport, RI
Scott Boilard, Worcester, MA
Howard Johnson, Jr., Worcester, MA
John Pagano, Paxton, MA
Sue Swinand, Worcester, MA
Tara Sellios, Boston, MA
Slow Art Day 2023 Poster by The White Room, Presented by Juniper Rag
Participants arrived for the event and began slowly looking at the artwork, with questions and discussions organically began as everyone looked at the artwork. Having the artists present created a lot of additional excitement.
John Pagano’s artwork featured at The White Room Slow Art Day 2023
Viewing began with a look at Scott Boilard’s surrealist painting, ‘Nightmares of Time’, which incorporates figurative imagery and appears to illustrate tension, passion and an emotional journey that the viewer can piece together in many different ways. Attendees were intrigued by the subject matter, the techniques used and the feeling of motion in the piece. Uniquely, the artist had the opportunity to talk about his concept in painting the work and how it related to self-expression and the feelings that come from societal pressure. Discussing his art so intimately was a great kick-off to the day.
Visitors also viewed work by Howard B. Johnson, Jr. who creates landscapes of symbolic references and double entendres that keep the viewer’s eye moving all over the art. Humor, visual taunts and esoterica left many viewers with endless questions.
They then moved on to fine art photographs by Tara Sellios and Curtis Speer and ended the viewing with paintings by Susan Swinand and John Pagano.
Viewers reported leaving with in-depth insights and reflections on all of the work. The hosts said that they found it rewarding to see the different perspectives, from art educators, conservators, engineers and doctors.
Food served at the event (slow looking pairs well with snacks)Scott Boilard’s painting ‘Nightmares of Time’, featured at The White Room Slow Art Day 2023Slow Art Day participants at The White Room. 2023.Slow Art Day participants at The White Room. 2023. Here viewing Scott Boilards painting. Slow Art Day participants at The White Room. 2023.
We love the way Michelle May and Payal Thiffault continue to lead the Slow Art Day movement – and continue to keep their own minds open to constant and ongoing learning. We look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2024!
For their first Slow Art Day, the Glengarry Artists’ Collective, a volunteer-driven organization of artists in eastern rural Ontario, Canada, designed “The BIG Show”, an event highlighting local art and artists.
The Collective’s mission is to create programs focused on community, and they encouraged visitors to slowly look at a selection of 149 artworks by 39 artists. About 300 participants attended the event.
Slow looking participants at the Glengarry Collective Slow Art Day event, 2023.
Ahead of Slow Art Day, the Collective posted a promo on their website and printed posters for the venue.
On April 15th, they welcomed participants at the venue and encouraged them to use the following prompts when viewing the artworks:
Look Take time (5 to 10 minutes) and slowly let your eyes wander all over the work. Look at it from different angles and distances.
Observe Notice the colors, shapes, textures and markings on the surface of the artwork. Where does your eye focus?
Feel What words come to mind about this art work? How do you feel looking at this art work? Does it evoke any memories?
Share Share your experience of the work with someone or post an image of the work online with a word of reflection and #slowartday2023.
Slow looking participants at the Glengarry Collective Slow Art Day event, 2023.
Slow looking participant contemplating an image from a distance at the Glengarry Collective Slow Art Day event, 2023.
The hosts Alison Hall and Yvonne Callaway toured the venue, looking and talking with visitors. They agreed to let the audience choose the works they wanted to look at slowly, rather than imposing a selection on them. The photos above offer a sense of the engagement generated. They told us at Slow Art Day that, “There was lots of art talk, more than at most shows. People engaged with the works and each other.”
We love that the Glengarry Collective was able to bring out so many people in rural Canada and look forward to what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2024.
– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl
PS. Stay up to date about events by the Glengarry Collective via their Facebook page
For their second Slow Art Day, the member-run non-profit gallery Artspace, in Richmond, Virginia, planned a simple approach for their event: start with a 5-minute meditation, followed by 5-minute slow looking at four chosen works currently hanging in the gallery, and a group discussion afterwards.
Slow Art Day at Artspace social media graphic.
The gallery opened at noon, and the hosts provided healthy nibbles, mimosas, and water with cucumber, mint and lemon as they welcomed visitors and explained the history and mission of Slow Art Day. At 2pm, they started to play meditative flute music.
While the organizers had a clear plan for meditation, slow viewing and discussion, the participants decided to make some changes on the fly. For example, the first group of visitors skipped the meditation and jumped right in to looking at a large painting. Next, the participants decided to split up and slow look at one art work that they each chose. This did not quite follow the event plan, the organizers went with the flow of the group, and said it worked out even better than planned. Many Slow Art Day educators and hosts know that sometimes visitors take ideas into their own hands, which after all is the central mission of Slow Art Day.
Slow looking at Artspace
At the end of the session, participants held a long discussion about their experience: why did they choose the art they chose, what did they see, and thoughts on the design of the exhibit.
At Slow Art Day HQ we are pleased to know that the event worked out well and we look forward to seeing what this Richmond gallery comes up with for Slow Art Day 2024.
– Johanna, Ashley, Jessica Jane, and Phyl
P.S. Check out Artspace on their social media pages Facebook and Instagram.
P.P.S. Note to Slow Art Day museums: please provide water with cucumber, mint and lemon to all your guests 😉
For their second Slow Art Day, El Nido Art Space, presented by VC Projects, in Los Angeles celebrated the 100th birthday anniversary of artist and poet Sam Francis.
Sam Francis (1923 – 1994) — American painter and printmaker. Photographed in 1968. Photo: Eric Koch. CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
Ahead of Slow Art Day, one of Francis’ poems was sent to participating artists. They were invited to create a new artwork, dance, or song in a medium of their choice, inspired by the poem. The artists included:
Shane Guffogg – California
AKAT – Japan
Bjarni Sigurbjörnsson – Iceland
Mark van Drunick – Netherlands
Victoria Chapman – California
Here is the file containing the instructions and poem. Take a look for yourself, and read through it slowly (or listen to the poem through one of the artists’ interpretations, such as one of A.K.A.T’s recordings on SoundCloud).
The artists were given the following guidelines, also included in the document above:
1. Read the text slowly out loud
2. After reading, go outside or look through a window to see the sky (either day or night.)
3. Contemplate in silence
4. Create a work in any medium in reflection of this text
The responses included dance, song, and new paintings. VC Projects wrote a report following the event, which includes these responses. We also include a selection of them below.
Mark van Drunick, a dancer from the Netherlands, interpreted a poem through dance. If you click directly on the still image below, you will be taken to the page where the video is viewable. Mark also included some of the text from the poem directly in the video, so that the viewer could follow it slowly as part of the experience.
A.K.A.T., a Japan-born artist who today resides in both L.A. and Tokyo, recorded two different versions of the poem being read out loud, with music and sound effects included. The first version is a recitation of the poem by A.K.A.T. (note: the recitation is whispered). In the second version, we hear the sound of A.K.A.T’s mother’s voice reciting the text (done in one take! This one is spoken at normal volume and has a calm and relaxing mood).
We highly recommend that you view the other contributions in the excellent report written by VC projects.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we love that artists were invited into a celebration of another artist as part of this Slow Art Day event. Why not try it yourself: How would you interpret Sam Francis’ poem?
We can’t wait to see what El Nido and VC Projects come up with for 2024 Slow Art Day.
Slow Art Day has come to the Sierra Nevada Santa Marta in Colombia, known as the ‘Heart of the World’ to the indigenous communities who inhabit the coastal mountains and valleys.
Photographer Natasha Johl organized this first Slow Art Day at Sonidoselva, a cultural center in Minca. After giving a short speech describing the simple methodology of slow looking, Johl invited participants to look slowly at her photography exhibition Dream Weaver, which presents a series of photographs taken over nine years that represent the ordinary, simple, and often overlooked moments of life.
In a world where images shout at the viewer, I believe there is a dignity in silence.
Natasha Johl
Generous Dreamer Unframed Giclee. Natasha Johl.
As we Watch Unframed Giclee Print. Natasha Johl.
The main subject of her photos are the indigenous group of the Arhuacos, which descend from the Tairona, an ancient South American civilization that now reside in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Arhuaco have developed an understanding of the earth, which gives equal measure to the human mind and spirit and the forces of nature.
Natasha Johl (on the left) and members of the Arhuacos (on the right).
Slow Art Day visitors engaging in the exhibition (we love the light in these photos).
We at Slow Art Day HQ love that slow looking at art has made it to the ‘heart of the world’ and we look forward to seeing what Johl and her colleagues put together for Slow Art Day 2024.
For its 10th Slow Art Day, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington DC celebrated a week of events. And because the museum’s historic building was closed for a major renovation until October 2023, the April 2023 events were hosted virtually.
The theme for this year’s events was “A Growing Collection,” featuring recent acquisitions by the NMWA from 2021 and 2022. For the week, a selection of the artworks were uploaded to the NMWA’s Lightbox: 2023 Slow Art Day virtual art gallery. These could be viewed by participants in the week leading up to the 15th, when the NMWA hosted a Zoom meeting where all artworks could be discussed live.
Ahead of the Zoom meeting, all participants were encouraged to consider questions about the role of the art museum, including:
Which museum collection has spoken most to you? What about it resonated with you? Whose faces and voices were represented?
What should an art museum’s collection look like?
What do you want to see more of in art museums? Less of?
During the Zoom meeting, the group was divided into breakout rooms, in which each person was invited to select an image from the Lightbox options, and the whole group was asked to discuss using the Harvard Project Zero prompts See/Think/Wonder.
Following this, all groups came back together to share experiences of and reflect on process of looking together. Attendees called in from Canada, the United Kingdom, DC, FL, IL, MD, NJ, and NY. For 60% of the attendees, 2023 was their first Slow Art Day experience.
At the end of the Zoom event, participants were asked what they enjoyed the most about the slow looking experience. Here’s a selection of their answers:
“Hearing other people’s experiences and seeing more through their eyes.”
“Talking with just a few people at a time. I could talk a bit more than normal.”
“The shared experience; the opportunity to give over to LOOKING, observing, talking, and reflecting.”
“Breakout session, taking the time to understood what and why each of us chose specific artworks & how we all came with different background and observations.”
Everyone said that they would love to attend another Slow Art Day.
We at Slow Art Day are big fans of the NMWA – for many reasons including that they are real leaders in the global Slow Art Day movement. We hope more museums imitate their weeklong activities. And now that the NMWA has reopened, we look forward to what they come up with for Slow Art Day Week 2024.
