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Brooks Makes A Difference

At the Brooks, we believe art is a unifying force. We see how art inspires creativity, dialogue, and communal spirit. That is why we strive to make art accessible to the whole community, in and outside the museum.

 

Green Initiatives

In the summer of 2007, eARTh Matters, a committee of representatives from each department was established. In the beginning the committee brought a variety of initiatives to the table from small—recycling—to large—a new LEED certified building. The mission of eARTh Matters is to conserve resources, reduce the museum's enviornmental footprint, and educate the community.  The Brooks was nominated for a Governor's Enviornmental Stewardship Award in the Spring of 2008.

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 Visual Thinking Strategies
VTS is a learn-centered method that takes place in both the classroom and the museum. Through group discussions about art that are facilitated by a teacher or docent, students practice observation, problem solving, evidential reasoning, and verbal language skills, all of which transfer to other classroom interactions and beyond.

The Brooks and the University of Memphis are facilitating an evaluation research over the next three years. To learn more about VTS visit www.vue.org.

 

We Offer Free Admission Wednesdays
On Pay What You Can Wednesdays, you set your own admission fee! From a penny to any dollar amount, you decide what you pay. Excludes group tours of 10 or more.

 

Family Days

Throughout the year the museum hosts a series of Family Days in conjunction with special exhibitions. These fun-filled days are free for everyone and include hands-on art projects and other exciting activities such as: live music, costume contests, films, storytelling, food, and much more!

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Community Mural Program
Students from a variety of organizations in the Memphis area work with a teaching artist to design and paint a mural at the partner organization’s site. Using house paints, the murals can be painted either indoors or out, and each completed mural will be celebrated with a community reception to showcase the creativity and hard work of the participants. The finished product is a lasting work of art for the community and a source of pride and accomplishment for the young people who create it where a sense of possibility is nurtured.

Read the March 12, 2008 Commercial Appeal article on the Brooks’ Mural Program

 

Art Therapy Program

Each year, the museum partners with an area organization in a multi-visit outreach program, which includes art making sessions with a certified art therapist, museum tours, family/caregiver tours, and an exhibition of the resulting artwork. In the fall of 2007, Brooks collaborated with Alzheimer’s Day Services of Memphis in Piece of Mind. The museum will partner with the Veterans’ Administration in 2008.

 

Memphis World
The Brooks is collaborating with Rhodes College on an exhibition based on the recent acquisition of 222 photographs from the Memphis World, an African American newspaper published from 1931 to 1973. These images provide a fascinating portrait of African American life in Memphis through the lens of such photographers as Ernest Withers, Mark Stansbury, and the Hooks Brothers. Among the themes that will be addressed are education, civics, social organizations, civil rights, business, sports, and religion.

We are asking our visitors to help us find some of the people pictured or individuals who participated in the events captured, as we want to include the words of the people who lived these events as part of the wall text and exhibition catalogue.

 

In Focus

Modeled after a very successful program by the International Center for Photography in New York, In Focus is a collaboraton between the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and Girl's Incorporated of Memphis. Working with a digital artist, girls aged 12-14 explore portraiture through digital photography. Participants visit the museum weekly to view photographs and portraiture in other media from the museum’s permanent collection, and take photos both in the museum and out in the community. The girls are instructed in the use of digital cameras and digital imaging software; they learn to create portraits and self-portraits, and use journals to record their thoughts and feelings about their artwork. In Focus culminates in a group exhibition of participant artwork and writing on display in the museum’s Education Gallery.

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Dia de los Muertos Celebration
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a special holiday celebrated annually in Mexico and parts of the United States honoring deceased loved ones. In this biennial event, families are invited to honor ancestors and celebrate the cycle of life and death through gallery talks, films, hands-on art activities, music, dance, and theatrical performances, and place an offering on our communal altar. Admission is free.

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Arts and the Basic Curriculum (ABC)
ABC is a collaboration with Memphis City Schools. The goal of ABC is to integrate the visual arts into the standard fourth-grade academic curriculum, and to bring quality art education and the museum experience to students. Since its inception in 1979, ABC has grown from a program that served 120 students, to a program that currently serves approximately 1,000 students in Title I schools.

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