Director’s Letter, April 2016
Updated Jul 20, 2022
At about 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 17, I came down to our John R entrance to welcome a group of middle school girls. My daughter, Piper, was among the students who had come to the DIA to admire Shakespeare's famous First Folio, which we had installed in our galleries. On loan from the Folger Library in Washington, D.C., this book is the first compilation of William Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623. We had it on view next to Othello and Desdemona Dagger and Scabbard by Félicie de Fauveau and other art with literary themes to emphasize a special moment: the 400-year anniversary celebration of the death of the great English writer.
On my way back to my office, I walked through the gallery where the folio was displayed and noticed how packed it was with our young visitors. Some of them used their iPads to take photos (no flash!) of the folio and the surrounding works of art. It was fulfilling to see the students engaging with the art. The DIA was bursting with nearly 1,000 of them that day, most on free field trips with complimentary bus transportation. They spent their time admiring the folio, taking tours, and finding works of art through scavenger hunts, among other activities.
I like seeing the DIA be an educational resource for our schools, and I am very curious to discover what kind of impact we have on the lives of those students. Do these visits, for example, improve their ability to think critically, be imaginative, or be creative? Creativity is the ability to make new things or to think of new ideas. Discovering innovative ideas helps an individual, for instance, to solve problems. The more creative we are the better equipped we are to address any difficulty or challenge life brings us.
We can all agree that artists have creative minds and the ability to make new things, such as sculptures and paintings, and the DIA has one of the best art collections in the world. Our museum is a house of creativity, and visitors to the DIA experience the possibilities of inspiration and imagination. The big question, therefore, is how do our art programs and our collection help improve creativity in the lives of our visitors, and how can we measure our success? We are already addressing this relevant question internally as we assess the role we want the museum to play, both in society and in the daily lives of visitors. We will keep you posted on our progress.
In the meantime, I know my daughter's class had a very good time in the museum, according to her report about the visit at the dinner table that evening. They read the famous question "to be or not to be?" directly from the folio, which was open to that page of Hamlet. As they remember Hamlet's soliloquy and grow personally, I hope their visits to the DIA will continue opening their minds and imaginations to new ways of thinking and understanding the world. The DIA is much more than an art collection--it has the power to change our lives and better our community.
At about 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 17, I came down to our John R entrance to welcome a group of middle school girls. My daughter, Piper, was among the students who had come to the DIA to admire Shakespeare's famous First Folio, which we had installed in our galleries. On loan from the Folger Library in Washington, D.C., this book is the first compilation of William Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623. We had it on view next to Othello and Desdemona Dagger and Scabbard by Félicie de Fauveau and other art with literary themes to emphasize a special moment: the 400-year anniversary celebration of the death of the great English writer.
On my way back to my office, I walked through the gallery where the folio was displayed and noticed how packed it was with our young visitors. Some of them used their iPads to take photos (no flash!) of the folio and the surrounding works of art. It was fulfilling to see the students engaging with the art. The DIA was bursting with nearly 1,000 of them that day, most on free field trips with complimentary bus transportation. They spent their time admiring the folio, taking tours, and finding works of art through scavenger hunts, among other activities.
I like seeing the DIA be an educational resource for our schools, and I am very curious to discover what kind of impact we have on the lives of those students. Do these visits, for example, improve their ability to think critically, be imaginative, or be creative? Creativity is the ability to make new things or to think of new ideas. Discovering innovative ideas helps an individual, for instance, to solve problems. The more creative we are the better equipped we are to address any difficulty or challenge life brings us.
We can all agree that artists have creative minds and the ability to make new things, such as sculptures and paintings, and the DIA has one of the best art collections in the world. Our museum is a house of creativity, and visitors to the DIA experience the possibilities of inspiration and imagination. The big question, therefore, is how do our art programs and our collection help improve creativity in the lives of our visitors, and how can we measure our success? We are already addressing this relevant question internally as we assess the role we want the museum to play, both in society and in the daily lives of visitors. We will keep you posted on our progress.
In the meantime, I know my daughter's class had a very good time in the museum, according to her report about the visit at the dinner table that evening. They read the famous question "to be or not to be?" directly from the folio, which was open to that page of Hamlet. As they remember Hamlet's soliloquy and grow personally, I hope their visits to the DIA will continue opening their minds and imaginations to new ways of thinking and understanding the world. The DIA is much more than an art collection--it has the power to change our lives and better our community.
