Art Speak

Last Sunday was very fulfilling. The scavenger hunt with the group was really fun, looking for certain pieces of art and exploring many areas. It certainly helped a lot with getting to know the museum. 

Here's a picture of me and a floating head. 

Hello Everyone! Another Sunday at the museum has allowed me to explore the museum’s different sites and learn something new about art. Scavenger Hunts are super fun! Working as a team, we searched for the different places located within the museum. I loved the part which we each took selfies in front of a painting or an object that made us laugh.

A selfie!

It was a great activity to familiarize myself with the exhibition/collection locations and the different places in the museum such as the Jade Gallery and the Loggia. In addition to the Scavenger Hunt, I also learned about Art Mediation. Did you know that the average time a person spends looking at an art piece is about only a couple of seconds. SECONDS! Art Mediation was a way for us to spend some time to look at an artwork and think about nothing else but what we see. We took five minutes to look for something that caught our eyes, five minutes to observe it and five minutes to write a haiku.

Here is my Haiku about a Ceremonial Bowl with Zoroastrian Themes.

Round and silver bowl

captured men with ropes on hands

what crime have they done?

My first day working at the museum was quite the experience. However, I must say that I did feel prepared for the questions that were thrown at me and the occasional abrasive visitor because of volunteer work I've done in the past. Working with children was reminiscent of the time I spent tutoring at Alvarado Elementary School. In a way I always forget how patient you have to be and work step by step because they can't remember the instructions all at once. What frustrated me the most was, how shy some kids were when I was trying to reach out to them but then I recalled my fear of strangers when I was the median age of these youngsters. In fact, it still lingers in the back of my head today as it's natural as a human being to dislike change and new things.The event didn't necessarily change my perception of the museum but I got to see the preparation and effort that goes into making Target Sundays work. It made me admire and appreciate the dedication workers at the Asian Art museum put into events for the sole purpose of customer satisfaction and how everyone is invited, not just one exclusive group. I feel like the biggest take-away for customers was the memory of making a piece of art with their own hands rather than walking around and observing the art of someone else, as you would usually do at a museum. My biggest take-away was getting to be a teacher to numerous people and fostering their creativity by encouraging them to not hold back and make what they wanted.

It was a blast! While working with little kids as well as general public, time passed by a little too fast...wish it lasted a bit longer. 

My experience working with children and the public in the past was always very boring and tedious, though I didn't exactly dislike it. Maybe it was just the type of activities done between them and myself. But after the experience of the Family Fun Day, my perception had differently changed. I believe that one of the main reason is because of the activities were set up. These activities during the Family Fun Day created a more engaging environment for both families as well as myself, and I really like the fact of that. During the activities, I had fun just by watching the children using their creative minds to piece together all these shapes and patterns and it was hard to grasp what they were going for until it was a finished product. 

I always envision museums as a quiet, peaceful place where people just pay to go in and look at ancient artifacts. But I guess not anymore. After experiencing events like the Family Fun Day as the Korea Day, my view on how museums are have definitely changed. I learned that museums can be festive too.

Biggest take-away for visitors: making art & knowing that Asian Art Museum is not just a museum to look at sculptures/paintings, it also have activities, like the ones provided in the Family Fun Day, that everyone can can get involve in.

Biggest take-away for me: working with little kids/ the experience

   So as many of you may know, last sunday was this years interns very first Target Sunday! We spent the day at three tables that held three different art activities inspired by different themes and pieces in the Gorgeous exhibit. One of the reasons that I signed on for the ArtSpeaks internship was to gain more experience with teaching art to children and Target Sundays are a perfect place for that. I was able to spend the whole day doing fun art activities with children, parents, and even some adult visitors who were surprisingly enthusiastic about their creations. just to think about the thought process and dedication that went into the creation and development of these crafts by last years class of interns already has me buzzing with excitement to work on the next batch of projects for the next exhibit! I went into last weekend with a few misconceptions about how the day would go. I expected a lot of awkward conversations and for people to turn down my offers more often then not, I had even begun to dread the possible problematic child or supplies malfunction. Of course my worries were quickly put to rest as the entire day went by without a single problem. If anything Target Sunday was more fun then I could've possibly hoped for and I can barely wait for tomorrows Target Sunday!

-Sophia

Hooray for Target Sundays! 

September 7th was my first day of interacting and making art with visitors. I got excited every time someone came over to the tables to check out what was going on. Seeing the visitors, especially the children, walk away with big smiles with their decorated boxes, colorful stamp bags and cool texture books made me really happy. I am delighted that they had fun doing the activities and got to take something home from the museum. Some adults were curious and wondered if they could draw and make something too. These fun activities are not just for kids, but adults also! Everyone is welcomed to participate!

Working with the visitors made me realize that the Asian Art Museum actually has a lot of exciting events. The three different art activities are super hands on and allows anyone to create whatever they want. I think that the visitors had a great time and enjoyed the different art activities. Visiting the Asian Art Museum can totally brighten your day! I can't wait for the next time everyone comes back to the museum so we could make some fabulous art together. 

Hey guys! It's Queena and I thought that last Sunday's Family Fun Day was a really great experience. I had a lot of fun interacting with the kids and adults that participated in the art projects. I love to see other people's art, especially the kids because I think that they have a different perception of the world. I knew how to talk to the children, praising them on their artistic abilities and helping them out, but to be honest, I didn't really know how to talk to the adults. All I did was tell them about the projects and direct them to the different tables. Of course, if they needed anything, I would help them, but otherwise, I left them alone. I was surprised at myself how little I could say to the older visitors, but I will try harder from now on and figure something out! To tell the truth, I thought that an art museum was a place to appreciate art from different styles and cultures, but working on Family Fun Day completely changed my perception of the museum. I couldn't believe how fun the day actually was. Now I'm looking forward to every Sunday! I think that the biggest take-away that the visitors got was the opportunity to make art freely, using materials that they have never seen or used before, and to see the art that was offered in the museum. Also, maybe meeting the new interns was a take-away as well... :) As for me, I think that being able to interact with different people, especially strangers, was definitely a great experience for me. Experience is always a huge take-away in my opinion.

I’m Aliya Robin and I'm a senior at College Preparatory School. For the next 9 months I will be working on the Teen Advisory Board for the Asian Art Museum. I’m so excited to be engaged with the Museum and their ArtSpeaks Interns for another year! During this internship, I’m hoping to improve my communication skills and learn more about the process that goes into making a museum run. If you're wondering what I'm like in person, I'll give you a few different descriptions: acquaintances call me shy, my friends think of me as motherly, and my family says I'm creative and silly. Come by the Asian Art Museum and get to know a version of me!

Hello! My name is Dayna Lu. I'm currently a senior attending George Washington High School. I'm a very flexible and easy going person. I like to go by the saying "just go with the flow", at least for most of the time. One of the things I like to do on my spare time is just read, especially under the sunshine. Through this internship, I hope to become more familiar with art and learn about about art that I've already know as well as the arts that I have yet to come across. Can't wait to see the possibilities this internship will bring me! I'm really looking forward to it!

Hello! My name is Sophia and I'm one of ArtSpeaks interns at the museum this year. I'm a senior at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts as a visual arts student and could not be more excited to be involved with the Asian Art museum. I can only hope that during my time here I'll be able to help and contribute to the museum in anyway possible, and I already know that the Asian Art will do nothing but help me in my art career and in my goals of traveling the world teaching art. I'm practically buzzing with anticipation for the next year! I cannot express how thrilled I am to be involved with this program and how lucky I am to be among such amazing artistic minds. Just to give anyone a sense of who I am as a person, I'm an artist through and through. I've dedicated my life to the visual arts and being able to share it with people of all ages this year is going to be truly fantastic. I like to think I'm outgoing, an enthusiastic teacher, and an even more enthusiastic student. All I want to do in my short time here is learn as much as I possibly can and share with anyone who will listen. Also, to give people a sense of who I am as an artist, I included a bit of my own work in this blog post, hope you enjoy it!

With much anticipation,

Sophia