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.
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.
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 😉
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.
Participants were first invited to look slowly at the following five artworks:
“Enderroc” by Ignasi Aballí
“Rinzen, Subito despertar” by Antoni Tàpies
“Eco de una carta inacabada” by Elena del Rivero
“Movil Home” by Mona Hatoum
“Dialegs de Llum” by Josep Grau-Garriga
After the slow looking exercise, art therapists Aura Pizarro, Joaquim Basart and Maribel Perpiñá led the group in a facilitated discussion using gestalt psychotherapy, which focuses on one’s present life rather than on past experiences. Through the discussion, participants shared reactions to the art and discovered common themes of friendship, play, family, pain, and happiness.
Slow Art Day is founded on the principle of being present in the moment, and we at HQ love to see how MACBA and the Fundacion La Casa Ambar combined Slow Looking with Gestalt Art Therapy. The Fundacion La Casa Ambar also mentioned that they offer therapy to everyone, irrespective of economic means — and radical inclusivity is another shared principle with Slow Art Day.
We are excited to see what the MACBA and the Fundacion La Casa Ambar come up with for Slow Art Day 2024.
For their 8th Slow Art Day, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), one of the largest art museums in North America, invited participants to join one of two slow looking offerings with the AGO collection: either by designing their own slow looking tour, or by joining a guided tour.
Participants engaging with “Paysage du Midi et deux enfants” by Pierre Bonard (note the slow motion captured in each of the photos from AGO)
For the guided tour, one of the AGO’s art educators asked participants to look at three artworks:
Participants engaging with “Unearthed – Midnight” by Otobong Nkang
AGO curator Mellisa Smith reported that the post-looking conversation gained momentum through the tour as people became more comfortable sharing. This was a function of the trust participants built with each other as they experienced the act of looking at the art through each other’s eyes.
For the final session of the guided tour, the AGO hosts asked participants to wander slowly across the entire length of Tintoretto’s painting, “Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet.” Specifically, they asked observers to pay attention to a trick with perspective that occurs with this painting. When viewed from the side as one slowly walks its length, Tintoretto’s painting seems to emphasize the gaze of the disciples towards Jesus, thus focusing the viewer on his status as the main subject. This is truly a painting which needs to be seen slowly.
Participants slow looking at (and moving around) “Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet” by Tintoretto
When asked if they would do anything differently next year, the AGO told us two things:
In the future, they hope to try a more densely curated space, and investigate how participants are able to center themselves in a more chaotic space.
They would like to also avoid choosing artwork with in-depth wall texts, as visitors couldn’t help but to read the labels (understandable!)
We encourage art educators and curators to listen to an episode of the CBC Commotion podcast series hosted by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and featuring AGO curator Melissa Smith – Slow Art Day and the value of lingering. Smith mentions a point that we always like to reinforce about slow looking: it is about building your own meaning with a piece, and you don’t have to have any prior knowledge of art or the piece to do that. Yes! That indeed is the power of slow looking.
We really appreciate the Art Gallery of Ontario’s long-term commitment to Slow Art Day, and can’t wait to see what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2024.
The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, one of the largest museums in North America, hosted its first Slow Art Day in 2023, with a simple design: participants were invited to look slowly at art in two rooms of the gallery before discussing their experiences together.
Slow Art Day poster. National Gallery of Canada
Slow Art Day participants at the National Gallery of Canada, 2023. Featured artworks: Kazuo Nakamura, Landscape, Spring, 1959. Oil on masonite, 93.6 x 121.5 cm; Kazuo Nakamura, August, Morning Reflections, 1961. Oil on canvas, 93.7 x 121.5 cm. Both paintings are located at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Respectively purchased in 1960 and 1961. Photos: NGC
On April 15, educator Andrea Gumpert and interpreter Valérie Mercier greeted English and French speaking participants in the Great Hall. After a quick grounding exercise and a collective slow looking warm up, participants were taken to two different galleries for their slow looking. They were given a few prompts to keep in mind during each session, including choosing to read or ignore the artwork labels.
Participants were first invited to select a piece in a gallery with only figurative works (Indigenous and Canadian Galleries – A110). They spent 10 minutes looking at their chosen artworks before sharing thoughts.
This was repeated for 15 minutes in a different gallery with a variety of figurative and abstract paintings and Inuit sculptures (Indigenous and Canadian Galleries – A112). After the second session, participants compared experiences from each gallery.
In the sharing sessions, participants remarked that their impressions of the works grew more nuanced as they spent time with them. Some found themselves asking questions about painting techniques or of the artist’s life. Two participants in the French speaking group requested to spend time with Riopelle’s Pavane, and enjoyed the exchange so much that they decided to lunch together afterwards despite not knowing each other beforehand.
In addition to the public group experience, the Gallery also suggested that participants participate on their own or watch the guided slow look of Rembrandt’s Heroine via a video produced by the museum. Several people on social media commented positively about Slow Art Day, and others wrote to the Gallery asking if the exercise would be repeated. A few staff also suggested the approach be offered on an ongoing basis.
The slow looking event was first tested in staff sessions at the Gallery in March prior to the public event in April. Andrea and Valérie ran the program with staff to 1) offer a team building exercise, and 2) test their approach and work out any kinks ahead of the public program. The staff loved it and later answered a survey, including this note from Dina Groulx, Corporate Relations Officer:
I genuinely enjoyed every minute of the tour […]. What a treat it was for me to have experienced that. As a remote employee, it felt very impactful. I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up, but I was so glad to have invested time out of my day for myself. I also thought of how lucky I was as an employee to have had access to the quietness of the space (most of the time) and I realized that as the pilot took place on Monday, it created a calm retreat experience. It was so nice to go through that experience with colleagues outside of my regular work and made connections with them and with the art in a way that I had never experienced before.
Dina Groulx, Corporate Relations Officer
Taking inspiration from the National Gallery of Canada, we strongly recommend that other museums and galleries imitate what they have done and run slow looking sessions with their staff.
Note that the National Gallery of Canada also ran an effective marketing campaign. Their Slow Art Day event was featured in an article by Chelsea Osmond in the National Gallery of Canada Magazine and advertised on local radio stations. The Gallery also promoted the event via social media posts and in their monthly newsletter.
We are so glad the National Gallery of Canada has joined the Slow Art Day movement, and we look forward to the creative design they come up with for 2024.
-Johanna, Ashley, Jessica Jane, and Phyl
P.S. Take a look at these concluding remarks from educator Andrea Gumpert:
“Participation in the Slow Art Day requires little preparation, links the Gallery to a broader global movement and aligns directly with the Strategic Plan. The approach also benefits visitors by reported reduction in stress levels, improved concentration levels and a better ability to foster empathy. As the participants in the Gallery’s Slow Art Day expressed, slow and careful looking helps to unravel complexity, build connections and see things from multiple perspectives. Finally, since slow looking is inclusive: everyone can take part and no prior knowledge is required. For those who want to practice slow looking with art, no art historical knowledge is required giving confidence in one’s own abilities to visit a museum and to understand works of art for oneself. The Gallery is ideally placed to continue the annual Slow Art Day event and might consider further opportunities to host slow looking programs for the public as well as the staff.”
Andrea Gumpert, educator at the National Gallery of Canada
For their first Slow Art Day, Ellie Harold Studio and Gallery in Frankfort, Michigan, a small town of 1,500, hosted a slow looking event from 12 – 4 pm in her home-based venue. One of the things we love about Slow Art Day is that it happens in national museums, regional museums, movie theaters, and even local home-based galleries.
On April 15, Ellie Harold displayed a variety of paintings from her private collection, one large painting of her own, and a sculpture.
Photo courtesy of Carol Lautenbach.
Photo courtesy of Carol Lautenbach.
Photo courtesy of Carol Lautenbach.
Photo courtesy of Carol Lautenbach.
The whole town embraced this first Slow Art Day in Frankfort. Not only did a large group of people come out to view the Slow Art Day, but the local paper, Benzie County Record Patriot, also ran a substantial article.
For the event itself, the gallery handed each participant a sheet with suggestions for slow looking and a blank space and pen for writing down notes:
SUGGESTIONS FOR SLOW LOOKING
Gaze at a spot and let it reveal itself to you.
How do the colors make you feel?
Look at details.
Follow a path through the painting with your eyes.
Find different textures in the painting.
What comes forward and what recedes?
Does the painting take you up, down, or all around?
Look for rhythm or pattern.
Where in the painting do your eyes want to rest?
Does the painting have a message for you?
What else do you notice?
Most participants took 45 minutes to 1 hour to look at the pieces. Since the event took place in Ellie’s home, there was more artwork on display than what was selected specifically for the event, and some visitors chose to look slowly at those as well. During the event, Ellie walked around and discussed the experience with participants. She also later published a blog post: “Slow Art Day: Taking Time to Gaze.”
“Everyone reported having a positive experience and said that the exercise would change how they view art in museums going forward.”
Ellie Harold, Gallery and Studio owner
As we noted, we are always happy to see Slow Art Day being embraced by towns and institutions of all sizes and scale around the world. We welcome Ellie Harold Studio and Gallery to the Slow Art Day community, and look forward to their event next year, which will expand to include several artists.
