Beatrice, photo courtesy of Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort
Each in-person visitor was given a journal in which to record their thoughts, observations, and ideas with the following attached label:
Through guided observation, visitors were asked to think about the following:
Spend a few moments being present with this piece. Pay attention to thoughts/emotions. As you gaze at the piece, notice your breath and your body.
Describe: What do you see?
Analyze: Think of 4 emotions or words that you associate with this piece.
Inquire: What does this piece tell you about yourself?
As you reflect on these photos, jot down a memory in this shared journal that comes to mind.
Out of Many, photo courtesy of Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort
For visitors who couldn’t make it to the museum, art therapy students at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania held a Virtual Open Studio. An aspiring art therapist guided visitors through slow looking techniques.
At Slow Art Day HQ we love seeing the use of art therapy techniques for Slow Art Day and look forward to what the Erie Art Museum comes up with, perhaps again in partnership with Edinboro, for their fourth Slow Art Day
Slow Art Day participants Ethan and Rick looking at War Party Pictograph by Unknown Sioux Artist.
Hosts Jill Carlson, AKMA Marketing & Communications Manager, and Amber Wilcox, AKMA Event Manager, invited participants to look at three works of art for 10 minutes. Afterwards, they facilitated an open group discussion for 15 minutes. They then pointed out contextual information about the pieces and how they were acquired.
Paul Pletka (American, b. 1946), I Hear Everything, I Am the Crow, 1990, Acrylic on canvasFritz Scholder (American/Native American – La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, 1937 – 2005), Bicentennial Indian, 1975, LithographUnknown Sioux Artist, War Party Pictograph, 1870 – 1900, Pigment on muslin
The staff enjoyed being able to engage and customize the experience based on what participants saw and said, reporting that this kind of individual immersion was “exactly what we all needed.”
Staff member Amber and visitor Ethan looking at artwork Bicentennial Indian by Fritz Scholder. This work is located on the newly installed “Salon Wall” at the entrance of the building.
We can’t wait to see what the Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art decides to do for Slow Art Day 2023!
For their third Slow Art Day, the Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, organized a variety of interesting, student-led slow looking activities.
Sam Ginn and Cassidy Rubio guiding visitors on the Slow Art Day tour, 2022
On April 2nd, visitors to the galleries were invited on a Slow Art Day Tour between 1-2PM to look at and discuss some visiting artworks from the exhibition Young, Gifted and Black together with Sam Ginn and Cassidy Rubio, both museum educators and students at Lehigh University.
Visitors were also separately given the change to join a Connect & Create Workshop with Lehigh student Afiwa Afandalo and the group Artists for Change.
For that workshop, participants read a short written piece connected to the theme, then discussed how a selection of artists engage with ideas of community in their work. In the final part of the session, they created an art piece (written or visual) that represented the influence of community on identity or vice versa. Participants considered their roles as community members, and reflected together on how “the collective and the self are equally important.”
In a LUAG student spotlight post, Afiwa Afandalo, the student and artist, reflected on how she created the workshop, which was inspired by sketching and contemplating one of the art works in the exhibit Young, Gifted, and Black.
We recommend you read her revelatory quote below –
The idea of having a workshop on the theme of identity and community came to me while viewing Blue Dancer by Tunji Adeniyi Jones. Every time I go to the gallery, I stop by that piece, the colors, the shape of the figure, the movement, they all feel so organic to me! I was so in love with that piece (I still am), I did a sketch of it in my sketchbook and used it as my artist study for my self-portrait painting. Sketching this piece allowed me to engage and decipher it; it felt like a puzzle—I love puzzles and I think it makes sense that I saw it as that: a puzzle—every piece carefully and intentionally crafted to create this beautiful piece. Something that stood out to me in this process was how the movements within the figure and outside of it are in sync with the form of the figure. I was trying to figure out which of the motion was impacting the other and couldn’t quite put my finger on it. When I finished the figure and was working on the surroundings, that’s when I had my “lightbulb moment”; it is not one or the other, it is both together, working at the same time, and having an impact on each other. That made me think of myself and my environment, how both work together and are equally important to the person I am and becoming. That’s when I knew what the workshop should be about.
LUAG is an example of a university art museum that has incorporated slow looking and non-judgmental looking practices deeply into their tours, programs, and student engagement.
Seeing this brings us real joy and makes us look forward to seeing what LUAG comes up with for their 2023 Slow Art Day program.
The Art Museum in Riga Bourse in Riga, Latvia hosted a virtual, weeklong Slow Art Week for their third year participating in the slow looking movement. Anna Emsiņa, art educator, hosted the event and communications manager, Anete Brakša, worked on virtual videos and Instagram stories.
The text above is an invitation/explanation on how and why to look at art slowly. It translates to: “Spending extended time with the chosen art object and delving into the details to find an individual connection with it.”
The image above contains prompts to consider while slow looking and translates to: “Choose one art object and devote time to it. (deep inhale and exhale) – What is your first impression, why? why chose this work? – Does this work of art remind you of something? – What attracts you to the composition? – What feelings do the colors create? – Imagine that a work of art is a new environment – what do you feel?”
The image above is a centering exercise; it translates to: “The main thing is to breathe. Close your eyes if necessary and don’t be afraid to answer the questions that arise for yourself.”
Their Slow Art Week brought many virtual visitors, with thousands of views.
The Art Museum Riga Bourse holds slow art events throughout the year and more information can be found on their calendar. They hope to have some in person, but will continue with the virtual events as long as necessary.
We can’t wait to see what this important and creative museum comes up with for next year.
Earlier this year, the Gardiner Museum, Canada’s ceramics museum, hosted a Slow Art Day event focusing on the social, political, and environmental themes explored in the exhibition Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me. Education Manager, Farrukh Rafiq, guided attendees in slow looking activities and engaged them in a discussion about the works on display.
Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me
As a multi-sensory installation, Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me explores how we see ourselves and each other through drawings, ceramic sculpture, life-sized automatons, two-way mirrors, coin-operated sculpture, and an interactive score.
More information about the exhibit and the Gardiner Museum can be found on the links above and via their social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This is the third year that Toronto’s Gardiner Museum has held a slow art event and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.
The Museums at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA held their first Slow Art Day this year, led by Director of Museums Isra El-beshir and student curator Posi Oluwakuyide, and focused on “The Root of the Matter,” an exhibit featuring the contemporary art of Sharon Norwood.
A conceptual artist of Caribbean descent, Norwood aims to provoke an honest conversation about race, beauty, and differences.
The Root of the Matter V, 2016 Digital Collage by Sharon Norwood. Courtesy of the Museums at Washington and Lee website.Slow looking participant. Courtesy of the Museums at Washington & Lee University Instagram.
As you can see, she uses the curly line to express identity and cultural relationships through various art forms, including ceramics, drawings, paintings, installations, and videos.
We are happy to welcome The Museums at W&L to our movement, and very much look forward to seeing the art they focus on for their second Slow Art Day in 2023.
– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, Robin, and Phyl
P.S. Below is the digital flyer used to promote the event (note their use of tinycc in their print marketing, which makes it easier for readers to type in long urls – something we recommend other educators consider copying for their print materials).
For their second Slow Art Day, the Atelier delle Fate in Calvagese della Riviera, Italy, hosted a week of hybrid in-person and virtual slow looking events.
Atelier della Fate Slow Art Day poster 2022Artwork by Lorenzo Bianchini • Samuel Maccarinelli • Lorena Bianchini. Photo: Lorena Bianchini.
During the week, visitors to the gallery were able to slowly look at a series of 15 artworks by different artists. They were encouraged to write a written response to each of the artworks, including reflection about the emotions or memories evoked by each painting.
The event was also made virtual, and images of each work were shared in staggered intervals to the event page on Facebook, where people also shared their thoughts in the comments.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we especially like that participants who could not visit the gallery in person could still join online. The idea of staggering images to be released across a week allows people to make slow looking part of each day — a practice we love to see.
We look forward to what the Atelier delle Fate comes up with in 2023.
For their first Slow Art Day, Mindful Art hosted two days of mindfulness and slow looking at the Musée des Beaux Arts d’Orléans in Orléans, France. Organizer Marjan Abadie led the hybrid in-person and online event, which had 129 participants in total.
The Mindful Art Experience is an initiative by the Mindfulness Institute in Brussels, Belgium. Below is a website banner they used to promote the event.
Marjan Abadie leading participants through slow looking. CREDIT: Marjan AbadieSlow Art Day participants. CREDIT: Marjan Abadie
We look forward to what Marjan Abadie comes up with for Slow Art Day 2023.
On the 2nd of April, the Nashville Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, celebrated their first Slow Art Day with a variety of in-person activities.
For the event, they organized four art talks with Acting Curator Jennifer Richardson who helped participants look slowly and explore paintings while also facilitating discussions using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS).
Acting Curator Jennifer Richardson in the Cowan Gallery – Picture taken from website
Richardson alternated talks/slow looking with other activities.
For example, docents encouraged participants to take part in their Cowan Challenge: a slow looking, detail-finding game with paintings from their Cowan Collection, which includes art works that range from the 18th-20th centuries, to contemporary pieces from their Red Arrow – Show Up! past exhibition.
They also held an Achitecture Tour to look slowly at the building and, separately, organized a Kidsville event, where children, families, and adults could read a book with Imagination Library and create art inspired by it. To make everything even more inclusive, they also set up a Quiet Area for participants to enjoy art books in their specific designated area.
The event was a success, with 1,867 visitors and 242 recorded contacts many of whom admitted to being surprised by discovering how much they could really see thanks to the art of slowing down.
At Slow Art Day HQ we are glad to welcome Nashville Parthenon to our movement and look forward to what they come up with in April 2023!
For their 7th Slow Art Day held April of 2022, Hofstra University Museum of Art in Hempstead, New York held an in-person event focused on works of art in their “Drawing Matters” exhibition, which included works from the museum’s collection of botanical and scientific illustrations, as well as engineering and architectural drawings.
Museum Director Karen Albert led slow looking and drawing exercises throughout the 2-hour event, which was limited to 15 attendees.
Slow Art Day ParticipantsSlow Art Day Participants
Below is the flyer used to promote the event:
Hofstra, which uses slow-looking techniques throughout the year during their classes, brought a light touch to the program (i.e., less lecture and more looking), which is what we love to see.
You can visit them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin, and learn more about their classes, which are provided to elementary, secondary, and university students, as well as teachers and others.
We look forward to what the Hofstra Museum of Art comes up with for their 8th Slow Art Day in 2023.
