The Dallas Museum of Art by following this link: DMA Website.

Assignment Overview

To complete assignment, you will visit the website for the Dallas Museum of Art by following this link: DMA Website. The assignment is an opportunity for you to demonstrate what you have learned in this course by analyzing your experience of engaging with the museum website and discussing a selection of artworks in its diverse collections. Because the assignment is worth a significant percentage of your course grade, plan to spend several hours exploring the website, taking notes and photos, and contemplating the many artworks you see. In Part One you will write about the museum’s website. In Part Two you will choose artworks in the DMA collection to analyze and place in their historical and cultural contexts. Allow several days to write responses based on your notes and to edit your document before submitting it. 

If the website link does not work, type dma.org into your web browser or google search Dallas Museum of Art

1.1 History and Cultural Context 

The context of art is the set of social, historical, cultural, philosophical and/or religious circumstances in which the artwork was created. 

Choose one work from the following collections: Arts of the Americas, Arts of Africa, Arts of Asia, or Arts of the Pacific Islands. The only “American” art you can use for this part is art from traditional Native American, ancient Mesoamerican, or ancient South American cultures. (Navigate from the Collection link in the Art pull-down on the front page and look for the Departments listed.)

Question Part One: Identify the artwork using the information provided on the website. Type the information after the prompts below. If something is missing from the website info, leave that part blank. 

Title:

Region/country/culture:

Medium/materials:

Date:

DMA collection number:

Read the museum information provided for your chosen artwork (some works of art on the website have more information provided than others). Refer to Unit 3 of your textbook for additional information. Do not use the internet or any other sources. 

Question Part Two: Based on information from the museum website and Unit 3 of your textbook, but in your words, write long, detailed paragraph explaining the context of your chosen artwork. Questions you might answer for this part include:

According to museum information and your textbook, what major historical events occurred at the time and in the place in which the artwork was created?

According to museum information and your textbook, what technological developments or scientific discoveries may have influenced the artist or provided information necessary to complete the work?

According to museum information and your textbook, what are the key philosophical or spiritual beliefs of the time and culture?

According to museum information and your textbook, what are the social and cultural influences on the work? Consider: social structure (individualistic or collectivistic), gender and other identity issues, patrons, intended audience (for personal use, private collection, royalty, the public, other artists), and original purpose of the work (religious ritual, functional, ceremonial, memorial, political).

Textbook :Gateways to Art

Understanding the Visual Arts

Third Edition

Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields