Author Archives: Phyl Terry

Slow Art Day Belgium & Mindfulness Webinar

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Join us for our first webinar of the 2018-2019 season when the leaders of Slow Art Day Belgium takes us through their innovative mindfulness program.

Wed, Sept 12

– 11:00am NYC time
– 08:00am California time
– 16:00 London time
– 17:00 Paris time

Register here to join us:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/980687799284256001

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Belgium has long had a very active Slow Art Day community – one of the most active in the world.

In this webinar, we’ll hear from FARO – the Flemish Interface for Cultural Heritage – and their partner, the Photo Museum in Antwerp.

They have prepared a short 3 minute film and a set of slides to walk us through what they have learned about producing effective Slow Art Day events.

Should be a great presentation and conversation.

– Phil Terry
Founder, Slow Art Day

Slow Art Day Begins Worldwide

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Slow Art Day 2018 begins in about 12 hours in Australia and China.

Then as the sun rises across the world more and more events come online in Africa, Europe, then North America and South America until finally more than 205 museums, galleries, sculpture parks, libraries and churches have together celebrated the power of slowly looking at – and loving – art.

If you want to find a museum or gallery near you, click here to see all the venues.

Countries around the world include:

Australia 11
Belgium 7
Brazil 1
Canada 10
China & Hong Kong 4
Denmark 1
El Salvador 1
England 1
Finland 7
France 7
Germany 10
Ireland 3
Italy 6
Lithuania 1
Netherlands 5
New Zealand 1
Slovakia 1
South Africa 3
Spain 3
Sweden 3
UK 14
Ukraine 4
USA 100
Zambia 1

Belgium Goes Big Again for Slow Art Day

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Four different museums and one church will host Slow Art Day across Belgium this Saturday, April 14, 2018.

Katrijn D ‘Hammers, writing in Dutch on the Blog for Faro, a nonprofit cultural center in Brussells that supports museums throughout the country, outlines what’s happening and directs Belgians to go look at art slowly this Saturday.

Here are the five venues with descriptions of their events quoting from Katrijn’s blog post:

  • Red Star Line Museum
    “During Slow Art Day, you zoom in on the paintings by Emigrants from Eugène Laermans and Belgian Emigrants from Louis van Engelen.”
  • Fotomuseum
    “…the Fotomuseum invites you to zoom in on one photo during a 45-minute session.”
  • Saint Paul’s Church
    “…discover The Lamentation of the Zonnekind of Kristo, a beautiful statuette that has been set up in the Kruisweg chapel for several months.”
  • Arentshuis – Groeninge
    “Choose from a Slow Art Talk in the Groeninge Museum, the Sint-Janshospitaal and the Arentshuis (collection presentation Gruuthuse in a gallant company).”
  • BOZAR
    “…a BOZAR guide will give you a few highlights from the Spanish Still Life exhibition and you will have time to ‘enjoy’ paintings by Cotán, Goya, Picasso and Dalí.”

Sounds like a great Slow Art Day across Belgium. If you are in Antwerp, Brussels, or Bruges, I hope you go slow down at one of these events.

To read Katrijn’s post in full, click here.

The Big Easy Goes Big for Slow Art Day

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New Orleans is currently sponsoring *7* – cross that out – now *9* – Slow Art Day 2018 events this Saturday (two more signed up after this post went live including the Ogden Art Museum).

As a result, New Orleans beats New York (incl Brooklyn) (4), Toronto (4), Washington, DC (4), and a city about the same population as New Orleans – Turkuu, Finland (4) – as well as London (3), Antwerp (3), and Hong Kong (3).

So, the ‘big easy’ has gone big.

This is in part due to the wonderful efforts of Matthew Weldon Showman who runs the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans and also is President of the Arts District New Orleans. Matthew signed up both his gallery and encouraged other galleries who are part of the Arts District.

As a result, Slow Art Day in New Orleans will happen in five different galleries, one historic house, and three different museums.

To see all the venues in New Orleans and around the world, click here.

Slow and Savory Tea at Crystal Bridges

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The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas is participating again this year in Slow Art Day. The museum, opened in 2011, celebrates the American spirit in a setting that “unites the power of art with the beauty of nature.”

Consistent with their mission, they have designed a special combination event for this year’s Slow Art Day: Slow and Savory Tea.

Here’s how it works is:

  • First visitors start with tea and treats
    The goal is to put participants in a “calm, meditative mindset” before entering the galleries.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Then, special in-gallery activities
    Once visitors are calm and ready to go, they then head in to the galleries ready to “slow down and savor” the art

This Slow Art Day event is free for Crystal Bridges members (although registration is required). Members can register here or by calling 479.418.5728.

Slow Down with Women Artists

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The National Museum of Women in the Arts is a longtime leader in the Slow Art Day movement, and they are hosting again this year. Based in Washington, DC, this wonderful institution takes seriously how to help its audience learn how to slow down and really see art by women.

On their Slow Art Day page, they begin by quoting the wonderful Georgia O’Keeffe:

“…to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time”
—Georgia O’Keeffe

We couldn’t agree more. Good friendships require time and so does the art of looking at art.

The museum also suggests several other reasons people should participate in Slow Art Day:

  • To break out of your typical “go, go, go” routine.
  • To learn about yourself, fellow participants, and the creative expressions of women artists.
  • To make discoveries about and forge connections with artwork.

For Slow Art Day, their staff will make artwork suggestions and provide questions to consider as you slow down and look.

So, if you are based in DC, or traveling there on Slow Art Day 2018, we hope you will consider going to the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

You can register here for their event, which is free with museum admission.

Rubin Museum’s Tips for Slow Looking

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The Rubin Museum in New York has been a longtime leader in the Slow Art Day movement.

In 2016, they published a terrific article with tips on slow looking. You can read the article here:
SLOW ART DAY: MAKE YOUR NEXT MUSEUM VISIT MORE MINDFUL

The Rubin understands how hard it is for most people to slow down. “It’s not easy for most people to sit with one piece of art for more than a few moments.”

They emphasize that this activity, if practiced continuously, will bring great joy for decades. “…the deep looking encouraged during Slow Art Day is a lifelong skill that will continue to provide rewarding experiences in museums and galleries for years to come.”

We couldn’t agree more.

We think this simple concept is important – especially in this age of multi-tasking where the emphasis is placed on speed. We started Slow Art Day in 2009 to provoke a new way of seeing in the midst of the blindness that this screen-based world is creating.

The Rubin Museum is hosting Slow Art Day again this year – if you’re in the New York area, we hope you’ll join them!

 

New Zealand has joined Slow Art Day 2018!

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We are happy to welcome the Waikato Museum in Hamilton, New Zealand to Slow Art Day 2018.

One of the things we love the most about Slow Art Day is that it brings together hundreds of museums and thousands of people from institutions like the Tate Modern (they are a longtime participant) in London to museums like the Waikato in New Zealand.

On the banks of the Waikato River in the heart of Hamilton’s south-end cultural precinct, the Waikato features 13 galleries and more than 25 new exhibitions and 100 public events annually.

On April 14, people all over the world – now including Hamilton, New Zealand – will be coming together to learn how to slow down and discover how to really see art.

We think this simple concept is important – especially in this age of multi-tasking where the emphasis is placed on speed.

We started Slow Art Day in 2009 to challenge the blindness that this screen-based world is creating.

We hope you’ll participate in Slow Art Day this year either as a visitor (see all Slow Art Day 2018 venues here), or, if you work for a museum or gallery, by signing up to host a Slow Art Day event.

Ready to Slow Art Day? Welcome Shanghai + more

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Are you ready to Slow Art Day?

In the last 48 hours, museums and galleries from Shanghai to Finland to New Orleans, from Germany to Minneapolis, from Cornwall, Connecticut, Oakland, and Australia have all signed up to organize events.

We are very happy to welcome all of these to Slow Art Day 2018 (including this year’s first event in mainland China):

From Sao Paulo to Hong Kong – Slow Art Day 2018

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Slow Art Day 2018 continues to grow around the world (see all 147 participating museums+ here).

In most cases, we have multiple museums, galleries, sculpture parks, libraries, or other cultural institutions in each country.

Current continents include Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe,  South and North America. Just missing Antarctica this year (have had events at McMurdo Station in the past).

Countries include:

Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Denmark
El Salvador
England
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Hong Kong
Ireland
Italy
Lithuania
Netherlands
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Ukraine
United States
Zambia