Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine hosted its first Slow Art Day last April and they used a simple design: for each of five artworks, participants looked for five minutes then talked for five minutes.

During the discussions, visitors shared stories about the new details they noticed – like the interior architecture of a building, background activities, color, reflection, light, sound, and perspective.

2019 Slow Art Day at Colby included the following art:

• “Columbus Circle at Night,” 2010 by Richard Estes
• “Red Tree in High Winter,” 1968 by Alma Thomas
• “Cigarette Girls,” Seville, 1895 by Walter Gay (pictured)
• “Yellowstone Falls,” 1891 by Grafton Tyler Brown
• “Ntozakhe II, Own Things or Everything,” Parktown, South Africa, 2016 by Zanele Muholi

After the slow looking sessions, the museum gathered everyone in the lobby for coffee, tea, and sweets.

We look forward to their second Slow Art Day in 2020.

– Ashley