Your Museum Time: September 10, 2020

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Welcome to Your Museum Time

Thank you for being part of the Your Museum Time program. Each week, you’ll receive a prompt that you can use during your next visit to the Museum. The prompts will vary—a question, a looking technique, an insight related to new scholarship, a mindfulness exercise, a poetry form, or a sketching idea. You might even be asked some of the same questions the Museum staff is asking of themselves, as we work on action steps related to our commitment to action on racial justice.

My hope is that you visit the Museum often and see it as a place where you can bring your whole self. Spending time with works of art can do so many things for each of us—offer new ways to see the world, pose difficult questions, activate feelings and emotions, challenge us with new ideas, and sometimes delight us with beauty.

If you have questions, or ideas for museum prompts, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected].

All the best,

Kris Bergquist

Mirken Curator of Education and Engagement

Prompt #1

“The more you look, the more you see.”

– Shari Tishman, author of Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation

With your journal and pencil in hand, grab a stool at the Welcome Desk and spend some time looking around the galleries.

What work of art are you drawn to? Choose one that captures your attention, and sustains it.

As you sit in front of that work of art, use the approach called Looking 10 X 2, found in Shari Tishman’s Slow Looking book.

Step 1

Look at the work of art slowly for at least 30 seconds. Let your eyes wander.

Step 2

List 10 words or phrases about anything you notice.

Step 3

Repeat steps 1 and 2: look again, and add 10 more words and phrases to your list. Choose words or phrases that are truly descriptive and include details; if shared, these words and phrases would allow others to picture what you see and sense.

NEW: Create-It Kits for Colby

Don't forget to pick up your free art kit at the Museum's Welcome Desk. The September kit features the Nature & Symmetry: Designs in Foil art project, inspired by works in The Sea in a Jug: The Welch Collection of Islamic and Later Indian Art. There will be a new art kit each month for Colby students, staff, and faculty.

For more information about programs and resources, visit Colby @ Home on the website, www.colby.edu/museum.

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Colby College Museum of Art

5600 Mayflower Hill

Waterville, ME 04901