Slow Art Day Worcester

{image: work by charlene von heyl, worcester art museum}

On April 16th art lovers in Worcester, Massachusetts enjoyed and learned from looking at slowly. Slow Art Day is a worldwide movement devised by Phil Terry and Reading Odyssey. Worcester, Massachusetts is one of about 100 cities currently participating in the event. For more information on Slow Art Day or to find out how you can host in your city, click the link. Get inspired, not tired!

Are you coming to Slow Art Worcester?

“Looking” at art sloooowly...

1. Take 5-10 minutes to view each piece, move on when you would like, enjoy each piece and decide the elements that are most appealing to you. If a piece is not one of your favorites, stop and try to investigate why.

2. Look at an object first as a whole, to try and understand its "presence".

3. Then begin to "notice" the piece: look at its structure, surface, organization, level of abstraction-the touch of the artist. You are an explorer making discoveries.

4. I like to look at how the elements of design are present in a piece: (line, shape, color, texture, space, value). I find this is a real key to appreciating the work. For example if you look at an impressionist painting strictly in terms of color you begin to see that these paintings often use an ordered and restricted palette, same goes for contemporary art.This opens up the compositional structure, and attunes the viewer as well to tonal nuances within the color structure.

5. Notice repetition, flow, nuance, symbolism, technique.

6. Read the label and any curator’s comments, thinking about how this new knowledge fits with your observations.

7. Use associative reference to allow your brain to make reactions and put ideas together. What do you, the viewer, bring to the art? What part of the human experience does this artwork capture?

8. Don’t forget: If you really like something, just enjoy it, look at it, marvel at it! Take note of physical reactions and emotions, sometimes they jump right out at you!

9. By the way, don’t feel that you have to limit yourself to the pieces on the list; the museum is filled with amazing work that you will be drawn to. If you are compelled by any certain pieces, please write them down and share what drew you in.

Please share your experience with your friends and family and the rest of the world that experienced Slow Art.

Twitter: #slowart
Facebook: Upload your pix and comments on www.Facebook.com/SlowArt
Email us! Michelle May and Kathy Horgan – mlhiggs2@yahoo.com and viriditas@verizon.net – any thoughts you have after the event, feedback, future Slow Art venues, etc.

We thank you for being a part of this historic and global slow art day 2010!

Slow Art Worcester tomorrow!

{image via wam}

Sloooooooow down for a few reminders...

SLOW ART WORCESTER is this Saturday 10:30-2ish at The Worcester Art Museum.
If you haven't registered yet, don't worry, you still can. Just show up at the door if you'd like. We are meeting at the Lancaster Lobby at 10:30, and the viewing starts at 11. This is not a WAM organized event, so it is not a "tour". Just a bunch of art lovers enjoying art a little slowly! The best part is getting together after for a little conversation about what we saw.

Featured in our 10 picks are pieces from the visiting exhibit, Who Shot Rock. With the recent passing of rock photographer Jim Marshall, whose work is epic and a true historical treasure to culture in the US. I am so happy that his work is available in Worcester for viewing. The exhibit is worth another trip back to the museum!

Please come. Almost 50 cities around the world are taking part of Slow Art Day! Be a part of this global movement and experience the amazing art we have here in Worcester. The Slow Art Facebook page is BUZZING. {I highly recommend the click!} The new Slow Art Day website is up and looking good. Visit and check out the press Slow Art is getting.

It's kind of incredible, check out the testimonials. Slow Art is getting a lot of press, so if you are reading this from afar, do find out if there is a Slow Art in your area. We are on every continent, except Antarctica. Bravo to Reading Odyssey and Phil Terry for the dedication to this event. It's one thing making an event success in your town, it's another to create a global experience. Yes, they have.

We have...see you Saturday.

Join us for Global Slow Art Day at WAM

Admiring art ... slowly

Take a day to "see" artwork at the Worcester Art Museum
In the footsteps of the Slow Food movement comes Slow Art. On April 17, 46 cities around the world are participating in International Slow Art Day.

Research shows that people spend as few as eight seconds looking at a single work of art in a museum. The aim of Slow Art Day, powered by the dynamic Phil Terry and Reading Odyssey last summer in New York, is to encourage people to spend more time and fully admire single pieces of art.

Both expert and novice art lovers are invited to join Slow Art Day in Worcester at the Worcester Art Museum, where the event will be hosted by Michelle May and Kathleen Horgan. It will be followed by a meet up in the Museum Cafe, where everyone can purchase lunch or a beverage and enjoy lively conversation about what they experienced.

We will provide participants with a list of works to look at and a map for locating them in WAM. Participants will view the art on their own or with a friend. Organizers encourage people to attend with a friend or family member. We request that children under 12 years attend with a parent.

Slow Art Worcester Details:

Saturday, April 17, 2010
Slow Art
Worcester Art Museum
55 Salisbury Street | Worcester, MA
11:00AM - 12:30PM - art viewing, 1:00PM -2:00PM Lunch The Museum Cafe

Meet at 10:30 in the Lancaster lobby if you can for a quick hello and you are off on your own to enjoy the selections. Remember, sharing is fun with friends, so I urge you to sign up with a friend, your mom, or the personal next to you at the Bean Counter!

The list and map are provided with online registration at http://slowartworcester2010.eventbrite.com.

If you are on Facebook, check out the fan page for Slow Art, you can get inspiration from the global community that is involved. I just love how Facebook makes this world a little smaller!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/SlowArt?ref=ts

Twitter hashtag for Slowart: #slowart

For more information and to see the expanse of global ideas and to learn more about the Reading Odyssey, see http://showsupport.typepad.com/odyssey/

Thanks and we hope to see you there!
~Michelle and Kathy

Slow Art Worcester

{Opal: Zorn, WAM selection for SLOW ART}

{images of young Pete Townsend and Elvis featured at Who Shot Rock, NOW at the Worcester Art Museum}

April 17th is Slow Art Day around the world.

Come join over 46 cities around the world and us right here at the Worcester Art Museum that Saturday morning, when your visit is absolutely free. Some may forget that works of Monet, Renoir, Kandinsky, Picasso, Sargent and the like are right down the street from you. We drive by a few times a week and should really stop by. The Worcester Art Museum has been rocking and we are inviting you to be a part of it. "Rocking", I really mean it. Who Shot Rock, from the Brooklyn Museum is a current exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum and will be a part of Slow Art. What an appropriate town to have the Rock exhibit, with all the amazing musical talent here, most of it born here.

The tag line for the Worcester Art Museum is "Where Art Celebrates Life". Perfect. Art is life. Art is the interpretation of life and perhaps the largest and the most amazing level of personal gifts to the viewer, a museum and history. Slow Art gives you a chance and an open invitation to STOP and enjoy every brush stroke or nuance, the details that really capture the essence of what the painter, photographer, sculptor...what the artist was trying to express.


Since we are thinking about art, music and celebrating, I urge you also, not to miss:

Wormtown Rocks! Exhibition
In collaboration with ARTSWorcester.
April 6 - May 14
Public Reception: April 8, 6-8pm
{when prizes will be awarded}
Higgins Education Wing

Worcester has been known for its incredible and diverse music scene and its ability to nurture artists of all these genres. The exhibit is also a photo competition featuring this incredible look into the of the music scene of Worcester, amid the incredible musical talent are the photographers who capture the moments. You have seen them out and about if you are a supporter of live music in Worcester. {Louie Despres you had better be one of them!} Winners of this juried competition will be presented with cash awards on Thursday, April 8th, at the opening reception. Why check it out? All your friends will be there. Want to get involved in some Worcester art events? email me!

Louie was invited to photograph Cirque Du Noir 2009 and he captured the evening in such an amazing way. His lighting is signature and when you see a Louie photo, you know it. Louie and his wife Tina Zlody get around town supporting and contributing to the thriving art and music scene here. They are only two, together they do an incredible job spreading good vibes and community efforts around town. I hope to see some of Louie's images at this show. Every time I get the chance to see some music or go to some Worcester event, there are ALWAYS photographers present, capturing life. Scott Erb and Donna Dufault are always out and about with cameras in hand.

Worcester is thriving with life in all it's corners. Come check out Slow Art, Wormtown Rocks, the next Pecha Kucha Night. Come out and see what you have been missing. Talk to someone who has enjoyed Worcester lately. I bet you haven't been to Dr. Gonzo's Road Kill cook off lately have you? Walk by his shop on Main Street, you may hear him tickling the ivories, or enjoying the company of friends and neighbors in his little condiment shop with a big topless hot pepper out front, a prelude to the hot flavor of his passion for the Worcester community, music and art in town.

Want a taste of what I and chatting about? Watch Karl Connolly talk about his passion for mixing music at Pecha Kucha Worcester. A law student by day a dj by night. The diversity of the speakers are as diverse as the talent around Worcester. Keith Cross shares some letterpress with us at the first PKN.

Visit Worcester Art Museum on April 17th for Slow Art. Meet some new people, share the unbelievable collection we have in the galleries. The beauty of Slow Art is that you don't have to be educated in art, you need only to love it! Stop by, open your eyes and after, join us for some lunch or a beverage to chat about what you experienced. Don't stop there...there are alot more to keep you busy.

To stay on top of current events in Worcester, please visit the Social Web or the Worcester Cultural Coalition.

TO REGISTER FOR SLOW ART:
Please visit Worcester Slow Art on eventbrite to reserve your spot and enable us to send you the list of art you will be looking at. Learn more about Slow Art, its origins by the Reading Odyssey and the global movement here.

Haberdash Saturday/ Cirque Swap Tuesday

{images courtesy of amylynn chase}

The Haberdash is over on Harrison Street today, and Amy tells me that there are some black articles that may be of interest to Cirque du Noir guests getting ready to rock the black. Super sweet coup for 50% off/print the page and get there!

I will be at SLOW ART this morning, at the WAM, but heading over later. Happy beautiful fall day.

SLOW ART at WAM

{image of Phil Terry of Reading Odyssey via Slow Art Boston}

Hello Everyone, I got so excited about the Slow Art event in Boston that Payal Kripalani is organizing for Reading Odyssey that I decided to host one here locally at the Worcester Art Museum! We have an unbelievable collection right here in town, so let's round up some arty/curious/fun friends and see some art at WAM on October 17th! Feel free to forward this link to others, in my effort to spread the word. Your help would be wonderful!

I know some of you are masters of getting the word out, like Cathy Walsh at Sprout, Claudia Snell at I'm From Worcester, and Amylynn Chase from Punkystyle, and the oh-so networked guy Duncan Arsenault of Worcesterite and about 100 other connected places. {Four very cool Worcesterites that I hope will be joining!}

For those of you who live afar, you can host one at your local museum. It's very easy and you will be a part of a international movement all happening on the 17th of October. Email me or Phil Terry of Reading Odyssey if you are interested. Contact info available on each link.

Here the lowdown:
Slow Art Worcester
Saturday,
October 17, 2009
Worcester Art Museum
55 Salisbury Street Worcester, MA

10:30AM - 12:30PM Art Viewing,
1:00PM -2:00PM Lunch The Museum Cafe

Organizer: Michelle May
Host/Founder: Reading Odyssey

From their site:

This live event is designed to help participants see art in a new way - to exercise their seeing, thinking and listening muscles.

We suggest that participants look at pieces of art for between 10 minutes and 60 minutes each (viewer's choice). Slow looking like this can transform the experience of viewing art. The typical visitor is often rushed through blockbuster exhibits and can feel intimidated or unwelcome. Certainly, such a person misses the wonder of looking at one painting or sculpture or other work for 10 minutes or more. Yet, it's hard in words to describe what it can be like to look slowly and experience whole new ways of seeing open up.

Slow art was started by novices to invite other novices (and experts) to come, to feel welcome, to not worry about what experts say but rather to take the time themselves to see and discover what is possible when slowly viewing art.

Hosted by the nonprofit Reading Odyssey, Slow Art is one of our many free programs aimed at helping adults break through the barriers that stop them from learning like children learn - with an openness and excitement guided by curiosity.

Fee: You pay the museum admission yourself day of the event and also pay for your own lunch.

Remember to REGISTER on eventbright for Slow Art Worcester. It's free and will give us your contact info, so we can forward you the top secret art pieces and the rest of the master plan!

{HUGE thanks to Claudia from I'm From Worcester and Cathy Walsh from Sprout for your support. Things don't happen without people like you!}

Slow Art at the MFA

Saturday, October 17, 2009
Slow Art at The Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston
10:30AM - 12:30PM - art viewing,
1:00PM -2:30PM Lunch in The Galleria
Boston organizer: Payal Kripalani
Hosted by Reading Odyssey


From Slow Art, eventbrite:

Fee: You pay the museum admission yourself day of the event and also pay for your own lunch.
This live event is designed to help participants see art in a new way - to exercise their seeing, thinking and listening muscles.
We ask participants in slow art to look at pieces of art for between 10 minutes and 60 minutes each (viewer's choice). Note: the average museum visitors looks at a piece of art for no more than 8 seconds (many for less!).

Stay tuned for artwork suggestions e-mailed to your inbox.
Hosted by the nonprofit Reading Odyssey, slow art is the art world's equivalent of "slow food."
How does it work?
1. You register at the link above (so we can send you further instructions and confirm the size of our lunch)
2. You arrive at 10:30 on October 17, pay your admission and then go look at two or more art pieces for 10+ minutes each. Note: we'll send you some suggestions ahead of time for pieces to look at - and recommend that first-time attendees spend 10-15 minutes with each work of art.
3. That's it - you arrive, pay your museum admission price, look at art slowly and then join us for lunch.
4. Oh, and come dressed distinctively.
5. Spread the word.

For more info on the:
-Slow Art event/founder Phil Terry or Reading Odyssey, visit here,
-the MFA
- slow art on FB

CONTACT PTERRY AT READING ODYSSEY DOT COM
with suggested date and museum TO HOST in your city!
(easy peasy)