The Gregory Allicar Museum of Art (GAMA), located at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, held their first Slow Art Day this year, which was hosted by GAMA Administrative Staff Members Madeleine Boyson, Theresa McLaren, and Lynn Boland. They chose seven works by five artists exemplifying a range of styles and media.
Kara Walker, Boo Hoo, 2000, linoleum cut on paper, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, gift of Polly & Mark Addison, 2009.2.21. [A black and white silhouette linoleum cut by Kara Walker titled “Boo Hoo,” illustrating a crying woman holding a snake in her left hand and a whip in her right].Anna Bogatin Ott, Juliet, 2017, acrylic on canvas, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, gift of the artist in memory of Gregory Belim, 2018.15. [A square, pink painting by Anna Bogatin Ott with small hatch marks against a white wall, underneath a sign that reads “Scott Family Lobby.”] After Claude Lorrain, Le Sacrifice au Temple d’Apollon dans I’lle de Delos (View of Delphi with a Procession), ca. 1648-1650, oil on canvas, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, gift of Larry Hartford & Torleif Tandstad, 2016.1.16. [A view of a large, gold-framed painting against a green wall, featuring a large tree in the center, many small figures in the foreground, and a temple in the background.]Unidentified Tibetan Artist, Vestment Cabinet, ca. 1840 (Qing Dynasty), paint on pine, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, gift of Larry Hartford & Torleif Tandstad, 2016.1.126. [An ornate, multicolored vestment cabinet by an unidentified Tibetan artist from the 19th century, traditionally used to store liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion.]Enrique Chagoya, Linda maestra!, Ni mas ni menos, and Se repulen from The Return to Goya’s Caprichos, 1999, etching and aquatint on paper, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, gift of Polly & Mark Addison, 2005.144.8, 2005.144.3 and 2005.144.7 [A view of three framed works from Enrique Chagoya’s series “A Return to Goya’s Caprichos” against a red wall.]
Museum staff approached visitors with a short handout (see below) detailing instructions on how to find the works, prompts for slow looking, and an invitation to discuss amongst themselves, with a staff member, or in larger, more “formal” discussions at 11:30am & 3pm.
Note: Educators or curators might want to copy this simple flyer for their own slow looking events.
After participants finished their slow looking sessions, the museum provided bottled water and light refreshments in the lobby (nice touch!).
We look forward to seeing what they come up with for next year.
The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California ran their second Slow Art Day, where they invited museum visitors to join them in the galleries of California Bounty.
Opened in 2016, this permanent exhibit takes visitors through a “rambling journey” of California’s visual history – a “history shaped by a unique mixture of Mexican and Anglo traditions as well as the state’s position on the Pacific Rim.”
Photo credit: Bowers Museum Instagram page for Slow Art Day
For Slow Art Day, The Bowers Museum replaced their normal public tours with two special Slow Art tours and advertised them as being held in conjunction with Slow Art Day; including links and an explanation about the day. Docents guided visitors in closer looking at select paintings from the historic California collection.
VP of External Affairs Kelly Bishop hosted Slow Art Day. We’ll note that Bishop previously worked at SF MoMA, which has been a longtime participant in Slow Art Day.
We can’t wait to see what Bishop and this important California museum come up with for Slow Art Day 2023.
For their third Slow Art Day, the TarraWarra Museum of Art in Melbourne, Australia, invited the public to a mindful slow looking session and group reflection featuring work by David Noonan from the exhibition David Noonan: Only when it’s cloudless . The event was led by Sarah Metzner, museum educator at TarraWarra and a visual, collaborative, and public artist who has been working with different community groups for 30 years.
On Slow Art Day, participants followed a 20-20-20 ratio of time during the hour. They were first welcomed and then invited to look at David Noonan’s artwork “Only when it’s cloudless” for 20 minutes.
David Noonan: Only when it’s cloudless’, installation view, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2022. Courtesy of the artist, Anna Schwartz Gallery, and Modern Art, London. Photo by Christian Capurro.
The group then spent 20 minutes slowly watching David Noonan’s 20 minute film: Mnemosyne, which has a focus on evoking memories (a link to the trailer is included in the picture below) before the session was rounded up with shared reflections for the final 20 minutes.
Note: We recommend you watch the trailer. We found it beautiful, eerie, and a little ominous.
Still from David Noonan’s 20 minute film: Mnemosyne.
The event was well received, with one participant saying that the experience “enhanced my love of art and mindfulness and reminded me to slow down and be present with myself and my practice.”
We look forward to what the TarraWarra Museum of Art comes up with for Slow Art Day 2023.
Flyer of the exhibition “Two Millenia of Changing Faces: Gloucester’s Architecture.”
For the event, visitors were encouraged to slow down and look closely at each piece for 5-10 minutes so that they could ponder how architecture has inspired and shaped stories of Gloucester’s people, culture and industry.
At Slow Art Day HQ we look forward to their next year’s event!
For their third Slow Art Day, Sweden’s Gothenburg Museum of Art hosted a meditation session in their exhibition Barbro Östlihn. New York Imprint, featuring renowned post-war Swedish artist, Barbro Östlihn, who was friends with several US-based artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, Claes Oldenburg, and Roy Lichtenstein.
Linda Noreen, program coordinator, organized the event, while the meditation was lead by Lars Hain, who has 25 years of leading meditation workshops.
IMG_1444: Barbro Östlihn (1930-1995) Suffolk Street Wall, 1972 Oil on canvas Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Donation 1994 from Anders Lönnqvist, Stockholm.
Once they arrived at the museum, participants were taken to the Barbro Östlihn exhibit, invited to sit down on chairs and cushions, and then led through a meditative slow looking experience.
We’ll note that mixing meditation and slow looking is not new to Gothenburg Museum of Art.
In fact, as part of Slow Art Day 2021, they created a meditative video guide on how to slow down with art (in Swedish), while the museum was forced to close due to the pandemic. If you are a speaker of a Scandinavian language, we recommend viewing the video below for inspiration.
We at Slow Art Day HQ love the mixing of meditation and slow looking and especially appreciate that Gothenburg Museum of Art provided soft chairs and cushions (sounds really comfortable – every museum needs to do this!).
We look forward to seeing what Gothenburg Museum of Art comes up with for their 4th Slow Art Day in 2023.
For their 7th Slow Art day, the Harn Museum of Art, located on the campus of The University of Florida in Gainsville, featured 5 artworks from their collection, including:
– Dogon Couple, by Kehinde Wiley – Northeast Gorge at Appledore, by Childe Hassam – Pli Selon Pli, by Akiyama Yo – Waiting for the Signal, by Robert Fichter – Horizontal Mask (korubla), by a Senufo artist
Host Allysa Peyton, Curator and Student Engagement Manager, and a group of University of Florida student ambassadors greeted participants with a flier that spelled out instructions, featured art works, and space to draw or take notes (see below).
The Harn instructed attendees to spend 10-12 minutes with each of the five featured artworks and encouraged them to not only draw or make notes, but also to reflect on the experience of looking slowly – and how what they see in the art may change over time.
After the slow looking session, everyone then gathered for tea, cookies, and discussion.
Educators and curators in the slow looking movement should take a look at their simple flyer (attached above) and consider copying elements of their approach for future sessions.
Akiyama Yo, Pli Selon Pli, 2002Kehinde Wiley, Dogon Couple, 2008Robert Fichter, Waiting for the Signal, 1981Senufo Artist, Horizontal Mask (korubla), 20th century
The Harn Museum of Art has also launched a year-round program Art & Mindfulness, which incorporates slow looking and guided meditations in 40-minute workshops.
We at Slow Art Day HQ like the incorporation of drawing and notes – and especially appreciate the cookies and tea (yum, yum) at the end – and we look forward to seeing what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2023.
For their third Slow Art Day, the Art Gallery of St. Albert, Canada, organized an in-person slow looking event focused on their current exhibitions, which were promoted on their Facebook & Instagram.
St. Albert’s Slow Art Day Flyer
For the event, the museum prepared a slow looking guide with prompts and questions (see below).
We at Slow Art Day HQ like the simplicity and clarity of their guide and recommend that educators and curators around the world take a look at this and consider copying their approach for future slow looking events.
For their third Slow Art Day, the Missoula Art Museum (MAM) in Montana organized an in-person event encouraging participants to focus on Nancy Erickson’s (1935-2022) Hall of Memory #10: Guard Bear.
Nancy Erickson. 1999. Hall of Memory #10: Guard Bear.
Interestingly, to help guests slowly engage with this one work of art, they set up a small “maker station” in the gallery space with a 5-minute timer, worksheet, prompts, and materials for guests to create their own artworks.
Below is an explanatory video they put together for guests.
We recommend that educators and curators throughout the slow looking movement take a look at this video and think about how to integrate art making into their 2023 Slow Art Day.
MAM Slow Art Day 2022 explanatory video
We at Slow Art Day HQ, are excited to see art making brought into slow looking and would like to thank Educator & Outreach Specialist Cameron Decker and his team for organizing this event.
We look forward to what they come up with for Slow Art Day 2023.
For their second Slow Art Day, the Museum der Stille, in Berlin, Germany, organized an in-person event where participants were invited to look slowly in silence and peace.
The Museum der Stille, literally the “museum of stillness”, is a quiet and safe space in the heart of Berlin where visitors can find a moment for contemplation and deep spiritual connection. It is literally a slow – and slow – art museum.
Visitors engaging with a work of art by Nikolai Marakov. Photo credit: Steve Nietz.
For Slow Art Day, the organizers, Steve Nietz, Alexander Aleksander, asked participants to look silently at two works (one in each room) by fellow organizer and artist Nikolai Marakov (see photo above).
While they did not answer questions in the galleries, the organizers did make themselves available in the lobby in case participants had questions or comments.
Perhaps, due to the lingering effects of looking slowly in noiseless rooms with dimmed lighting, participants did not ask questions afterwords – but some did leave comments about the power and impact of this experience.
“If I had more time, I would have sat down in the room forever. It was exactly what I needed: silence.”
Slow Art Day participant
“The dense atmosphere, the absence of sound, and the minimal exhibition has put me in a state of calm.”
Slow Art Day participant
“The room of silence left me speechless.”
Slow Art Day Participant
“Soft tones, forms and figures of every kind, evoking transcendence and the urge to let go. A place of utter calmness in the middle of busy Berlin/Mitte.”
Slow Art Day Participant
The event was a success with 25-30 participants coming to silently look at the art slowly.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we are impressed with the merging of silence and slow that the team at Museum Der Stille created – especially given how afraid many are of silence (think about how many of us walk around with headphones, or how loud many museums can be).
But silence, like slow, is powerful and we encourage more museums to consider using silence as a key design element of their future Slow Art Day events.
And we look forward to seeing what this creative museum in Berlin develops for their Slow Art Day 2023.
The Frederiksberg Museums, located in Denmark near Copenhagen, are a group of four museums: Bakkehuset, Storm, Møstings and Cisternerne, all within walking distance of each other – and all participated in Slow Art Day.
Here at Slow Art Day HQ we wish we could have participated in this interesting exhibit.
The way it worked was eight people sat down around a table that had a wooden ball that rolled on a track, eventually stopping in front of a letter. The letter corresponded to cabinets and texts around the room that then formed the framework for a slow conversation. Once the conversation finished, they rolled the ball again spurring yet another slow dialogue. Very cool way of choosing a piece of art (or artifacts).
The New Corner Room at Bakkehuset showing the table with rolling ball, cabinets, and texts.
At the nearby Storm museum, Slow Art Day participants were invited to participate in the study of Danish humor and satire through the work of Robert Storm Peterson, also known as Storm P.
Storm P. at his desk, Storm Museum
In addition to these two in-person events, five guided Slow Looking videos were featured on the Frederiksberg Museums’ YouTube channel.
You can view them (in Danish) below:
The Frederiksberg Museums host slow looking events twice a week in one of their four venues throughout the year.
They also have some really interesting things planned:
Podcast They are launching a podcast later this year that will focus on mindful Slow Looking.
Mental Health They also plan to integrate Slow Looking into their art and health programs for the mentally vulnerable.
We are glad that the Frederiksberg Museums have brought their collective expertise and creativity to the slow art movement and look forward to their podcast, mental health programs, and design of their 2023 Slow Art Day.
