As part of the research for the conservation treatment of the painting The Virgin of Valvanera, attributed to Cristóbal de Villalpando, a team from the Denver Art Museum traveled to Mexico City in March, 2017. There, the team was fortunate to visit several sites and meet with specialists on Mexican painting of the baroque period.
Art conservation is a field that encompasses a breadth of expertise. As we roll up our sleeves in anticipation of improvements and potential discoveries, a plan that will provide optimum preservation is essential.
Entering its seventh year, the Bank of America Art Conservation Project has funded more than 100 projects in 29 countries, on six continents. In 2016, the Denver Art Museum was among 21 institutions to receive one of these prestigious grants. As a result of this generous support, the conservation and New World curatorial departments will be able to undertake the full scope of historical and technical research as well as the conservation treatment of a very important painting from the museum's Spanish Colonial collection.
The Denver Art Museum is looking for its next creative-in-residence to work alongside staff and visitors May through August 2017 (selection criteria and submission guidelines). Our creative-in-residence program invites creatives working in a range of non-traditional mediums to cocreate work with us that responds to our museum collections and also looks to actively engage visitors in new ways.
Mar Williams worked with local “hackers” on an interactive installation which explored the connection between technology, art, and individual identity.
Viviane Le Courtois built a Global Thinking Pod at the Denver Art Museum where visitors could slow down, make something, and connect with new people.
Denver Art Museum creative-in-residence Viviane Le Courtois’ Global Thinking Pod is now installed in the exhibit Audacious: Contemporary Artists Speak Out. This is not the first thinking pod the artist has designed and built for an art setting. It is, however, the first thinking pod to rely heavily on the contributions and help of visitors.
Mar Williams' installation at the Denver Art Museum is playful and interactive, yet the creative-in-residence wants visitors to ask questions about the role of technology in their lives. In this video, Williams shares the big ideas that inspired the "Feed the Animal" installation, among these is the question: How can we create an emotional response to our personal data or "online" identity? The technology involved in the installation is being developed over the course of this residency.
Viviane Le Courtois, a Denver-based artist, will be a creative-in-residence at the Denver Art Museum from April 5–15, 2016. During her residency, she will be building a “thinking pod” inside the exhibition Audacious: Contemporary Artists Speak Out on Level 3 of the Hamilton Building. The most important aspect of Le Courtois’ residency is the participation of visitors whom she hopes will not only donate materials to weave into the pod’s structure, but also will join in the weaving process and in discussion.
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When the time came to choose someone to be the next creative-in-residence, well, we knew right away who it should be. That person is Mar Williams. The beauty of working with Williams is that we are simultaneously working with a hacker, an artist, a tinkerer and an extraordinarily creative mind. We are excited about the activities that Williams is creating because they blend technology and art in a way that is new to the DAM and will provide a unique experience for visitors.
Evan Weissman and Chris Getzan brings, Warm Cookies of the Revolution (WCoR), into the DAM to examine voting and civic health from different perspectives.
Artist Arthur Williams took inspiration from the museum collections to create site-specific installations and live performances.