Blogs and Podcasts

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “modern art?” Multi-colored Marilyns? Blocks of color? These are wonderful examples of the ism that is modern, but our recent special exhibition (and the Carter’s great collection of modern paintings and sculptures) has broadened my horizons. Here are some ideas on how to learn more about modern art before you visit the Carter.

For an informative read on the modern movement, try Why a Painting is Like a Pizza: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art, by Nancy Heller. This easy-to-digest book helps you use analytical skills you already have to “read” modern art and enjoy it. This book is available from the Fort Worth Public Library or through your local book retailer.

Here are some links to sites about artists in this exhibition and in our permanent collection:
Alexander Calder Foundation
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
Edward Hopper Scrapbook from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Stuart Davis

Robert McChesney (1913-2008)
Variations, 1946
Transparent and opaque watercolor over graphite on paper
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, Purchase with funds provided by the Estate of Electra Carlin

The Carter offers a new program, Crafting from the Collection, this evening from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Associate Registrar Jana Hill (one of the many creative artisans on our staff and a regular contributor to the Carter’s blog) will lead a stimulating evening of dialogue and inspiration amidst great examples of American art. Who knows where the evening will lead you!

Isn’t the Internet great? There is so much good information at your fingertips and, sadly, so much bad information too. The Teaching Resource Center offers an online tool that helps you find classroom-worthy content. Look for grade level appropriate Web links on the Teaching Resource Center’s del.icio.us bookmark page. Here at the Carter we talk about a wide variety of subjects and this is reflected in the tags used to describe the selected Web sites. Look for Highly Recommended and TRC-Materials-Available tags for Web pages that directly support art on the walls and ongoing conversations in the galleries.

Check out these helpful links for classroom activities in February …

African Americans Seen Through the Eyes of Newsreel Cameramen

This small digital collection from the libraries of the University of South Carolina features newsreels of African Americans selected from the period of 1919 to 1963 when “Fox News and Fox Movietone News camera crews covered the people and events of the country and, indeed, the world.” Some of the clips include the third anniversary of Tuskegee Army Airfield, Josephine Baker in the Netherlands, and Jack Johnson’s Jazz Band.

A Guide to Harlem Renaissance Materials Library of Congress

Examples by African-American artists of writing, music, and art during the 1920s and 1930s are well represented in the vast collections of the Library of Congress. This guide presents the Library’s resources as well as links to external Web sites.

Images of African Americans from the 19th Century

This site offers thematically categorized selection of images from the New York Public Library and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Topics covered range from the Civil War to Social Life and Customs.

Geoge Bellows, Sixteen East Gay Street, Lithograph, ca. 1923-924

We had many friends—old and new—visit our museum in 2009. Almost 20,000 students had a conversation about great American art in our galleries; about 6,500 visitors stopped by for a docent-led tour of our permanent collection or a visiting exhibition; and over 2,500 visitors enjoyed our five Family Fundays.

We welcomed many a virtual visitor too! Our distance learning program reached over 15,000 students. We now have over 700 Facebook fans, and 2,700 folks follow the museum on Twitter. Our Web site gets hundreds of thousands of hits each year.

All in all, we were busy, and now we’re working on making next year even better. Join us here in Fort Worth or online as the Carter Gets Modern in 2010.

Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889–1953), Milking the Cow, 1922, lithograph

Happy New Year!

This Sunday, January 10, from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m., is our next Family Funday. The folks from the Noble Planetarium will turn our library into the night sky and art-making activities, poetry, and storytelling will lead you to our galleries. Get bundled up and be ready to check out winter landscapes and night-time adventures at the Carter!

The Carter encourages you to visit our Web site before you visit to learn about our collection as well as exhibits and programming that we hope will be of interest to you.

Our home page is the gateway to all the Carter has to offer. Want to know about what is hanging on the walls? How about going on a tour? Perhaps you want to get your kids ready to come to the museum for a visit? There’s also a way to see some of the art that is not on display at this time.

Starting December 12, 2009, the Carter will display a new acquisition. Edward S. Curtis: The North American Indian exhibits this comprehensive collection for the first time. Visit the Library of Congress American Memory page for a great look at this collection online and then come see the real thing in the gallery.

Edward S. Curtis, Yellow Owl, Mandan, Photogravure on vellum, 1908.

Educators are always welcome at the Carter, but Thursday night will provide a unique oppotunity. It’s the annual Evening for Educators in the Cultural District. All of the museums will be free of charge to educators, and their respective education staff will be available to talk about programs and resources available for teachers and students for the coming school year. Bring your teacher friends and spend an evening with us!

Summer is coming to an end, the heat will end soon, and fall is almost here. That might not mean that the leaves will dramatically change color here in north Texas, but it sure means that football season is here! Here’s to a great season for all the athletes and their fans.

Helen M. Post (1907–1979)
Phoenix Indian School, Beginning at Football, ca. 1936–1941
Gelatin silver print
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, Gift of Peter Modley
©Amon Carter Museum

A recent fire destroyed a significant collection of African-American art owned by Peggy Cooper Cafritz. Her loss is our loss too and brings new significance to the Harmon and Harriet Kelley collection now on view at the Carter. This exhibition will close on August 23rd, so be sure to come in and see examples of great American art.

Please join us this Friday for a presentation by the museum’s Davidson Family Fellow, Aaron Carico, PhD candidate in American Studies at Yale University, as he discusses the painting Attention Company! by William Harnett.