This week the nation honors the thousands of volunteers who selflessly aid the ever-growing number of organizations providing critical services and programs to our citizens. This year’s National Volunteer Week theme is Celebrating People in Action. I can think of no more deserving group of people to celebrate than our very own volunteer corps.

Since the very beginning of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Museum has relied heavily upon the dedication and generosity of hundreds of volunteers who come together each year with a common passion for our institution. As the Museum has grown, this volunteer corps has enlarged to meet our expanding campus and programs.

Today volunteers and docents number more than 550 strong—significantly more than the Museum’s combined State and Foundation staffs. Last year alone these dedicated groups of people contributed 16,000 hours of service. This year with a burgeoning schedule of programs and a blockbuster exhibition that ushered 150,000 people through the doors, that number will only grow. It is no exaggeration to say the Museum could not operate without this incredible group of dedicated individuals.

It has been a true honor to work closely with this passionate team. I am humbled by the generosity and sheer tenacity of these fabulous professionals. No job is too big or small. Every visitor and member is important. Smiles abound, with little fanfare or appreciation for their tireless efforts. What unsung heroes! And binding us all together is a shared vision for this Museum and its outreach.

So this year as we Celebrate People in Action, let us simply say thank you. Thank you for all that you do and all that you are. You are truly indispensable to us all!

Caterri Woodrum is the chief deputy director and chief financial officer for the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation.

Image: (left) Volunteers work on weekly membership mailings. (right) Volunteer Sylvia Gill takes tickets at Rembrandt in America.

Visitors to the Museum always delight in discovering Devorah Sperber‘s After the Mona Lisa 2 in the permanent collection. Sperber used an amazing  5,184 spools of thread to re-create Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa. Her piece explores the reproduction of images in the digital era, the links between art and technology, and visual perception (how the eye and the brain make sense of the visual world).

Taking a popular image and manipulating it into something new is a way both to honor the masters of art and to express personal creativity. This echoes the reason we developed our Teens, Inspired blog and our annual Teen Art and Video Competition. Sperber’s work inspired 2010’s first-place winner, Virginia Niver, who recently graduated from Broughton High School in Raleigh. Niver’s submission, made from M&M’s, is a great example of how a high school student can reinvent a piece from the NCMA’s permanent collection. Current students are invited to submit art or video entries to this year’s competition. For details on how to do that, visit Teens, Inspired.

Today’s guest contributor is Sydney Snedeker, who will graduate from Apex High School in May and plans to attend the University of Texas to major in public relations. Sydney is a member of the Museum’s Teen Advisory Council and is the intern responsible for managing the Teens, Inspired blog. The blog contains posts by Sydney and other members of the Teen Advisory Council as well as images of works from last year’s Teen Art Competition.

Before I had the opportunity to work with the North Carolina Museum of Art, I thought integrating art into my classroom meant drawing pictures and coloring diagrams. After spending time with Museum educators, I learned that art integration includes observing, interpreting, critiquing, and using pieces of art to relate to the science curriculum. It also includes having students create their own paintings, drawings, and sculptures. By using art in my classroom in these new ways, I have come to the realization that art and science have many connections. And now that I see these natural connections, bringing art into a science classroom has become an easy way to engage, empower, and excite students about learning.

One lesson that has been successful in my classroom is using art to discuss texture in geology. After learning about types of rocks, students are introduced to the painting Orange Outline by Franz Kline. I guide a discussion about the painting and then use it to introduce the students to texture and scale, words that relate to both science and art. I ask the class to compare and contrast how texture is used in art and how it is described in terms of rocks and geology. As a final product, the students create a rock painting. They choose a rock and make careful observations of a small portion of it. They use that small part of the rock to create a larger-scale painting, referring to the rock as often as needed to help complete the painting. I encourage them to use layers of paint, brushes, sponges, and other materials, such as sand and glitter, to add texture to the painting, similar to Orange Outline. Afterward the students complete a reflection that assesses their knowledge of geology as well as their understanding of the art techniques used in this activity.

Using art in a science classroom is a way for me to connect with my students. All students—AIG, EC, ESL, and everyone in between—can have success through art integration. By observing different works of art, students are able to make personal connections, use higher-level thinking skills to analyze the work of art, and learn to value the thoughts and opinions of their peers. Art gives the students a different way to look at the science concepts, which ultimately gives them a better understanding of what is being studied.

Jennifer Rogers is a math and science teacher at Hunters Creek Middle School in Onslow County.

In all honesty I must begin my comments on Rembrandt in America with the admission that I am really not a Rembrandt person. Clearly Rembrandt stood head and shoulders above his contemporaries during the Dutch “Golden Age,” and it goes without saying I would be thrilled to have an autograph Rembrandt painting come to the Museum (unfortunately, the three we thought we had have all been de-Rembrandted!). My interests have centered elsewhere in the field, however—specifically Frans Hals and painters in his circle, among them Jan Miense Molenaer. Readers might recall the Molenaer exhibition I did at the NCMA in 2002. So, naturally, one might wonder why a “non-Rembrandt” person would agree to devote most of the last three years of his life to a large and complex Rembrandt exhibition.

The answer lies in the fact you can’t really function as a 17th-century Dutch painting curator without dealing with Rembrandt. The long shadow he casts over Dutch art touches nearly everyone, and one can argue that his popularity has never been stronger than it is today. Certainly much of this interest centers on the lingering controversies over whether a particular painting was painted by Rembrandt or by one of his assistants. So, as one deals with the myth, reality, and especially the marketability of Rembrandt, I asked myself, what is the glue that could hold these concepts together? More important, how do these concerns relate to the North Carolina Museum of Art? The answer was simple—William Valentiner, the NCMA’s first director.

As one of the world’s foremost authorities on Rembrandt during the first half of the 20th century, Valentiner was largely responsible for expanding the accepted number of Rembrandt paintings. His flawed accounting would eventually embrace more than 700 works. This expansion happily coincided with a huge appetite for Rembrandt paintings by American collectors, an interest that began just after the Civil War. These “Gilded Age” collectors—many were often described as “robber barons” (or “the 1 percent,” to use today’s terminology)—snagged some of Rembrandt’s greatest masterpieces. Others, however, bought studio works, imitations, and even outright forgeries. To their credit, though, many eventually gifted their “Rembrandts” to American museums.

Thus, it was my idea to link Valentiner with Rembrandt and the collecting of his paintings in America. Since collecting history has long been of interest to me (note my Sinners and Saints exhibition), I was returning to a comfort zone as I considered the viability of Rembrandt in America. With the help of my co-curators, we created a project that was intellectually sound, visually exciting, and certainly worth pursuing. Long story short, we successfully made our case to the museums and individuals who agreed to lend works to the show. So while I am exhausted, I couldn’t be prouder of the exhibition, its installation, and the accompanying catalogue. And yes, I guess I have become a Rembrandt person!

Dennis P. Weller is the NCMA’s curator of Northern European art and co-curator of Rembrandt in America.

John Knox is the Director of Operations for the NCMA.

Image above: Rembrandt van Rijn, Lucretia, 1666, oil on canvas, 43 3/8 x 36 3/8 in., Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The William Hood Dunwoody Fund, 34.19

We spent the first hour in the Portrait Gallery, where we learned points in analyzing how a portrait is developed: where the features are placed, how the lighting and shadows bring the face to life and add to the model’s expression. Information I know is going to enhance my enjoyment of the Rembrandt exhibition.

Then it was off to the studio to try our own hand at creating great art. Well, not exactly, but we did have a good time trying. After some preliminary instruction, we each chose a photograph cut from a magazine to copy. There was a lot of friendly interaction and kind words when we all held up our “finished” pictures.

I had looked forward to the class with anticipation and wasn’t disappointed, and I’m already looking forward to the next classes. Who knows where this will lead: the next Grandma Moses?

The NCMA’s next Senior Sampler is Tuesday, January 10. Find out details and reserve your spot here.

Irene Lejman is one of the NCMA’s most dedicated volunteers and a happy participant of the Senior Sampler program.

The music of the eminent Dutch poet and composer Constantijn Huygens, whose son Christiaan was a renowned mathematician and astronomer and discovered the rings of Saturn, will be featured. Other composers whose works will be performed include master Jan Sweelinck, known as the Orpheus of Amsterdam; Johannes Schenk, who created the first Dutch opera; and Jacob van Eyck, a virtuoso of the recorder and the carillon, famous throughout the Netherlands in the late 17^th century.

These works provide the soundtrack to Rembrandt’s Amsterdam and the stunning collection presented in Rembrandt in America. The music will be brought to life by vocalist Glenn Siebert from UNC School of the Arts, cellist Brent Wissick from UNC-Chapel Hill, and Jennifer Streeter on recorder—wonderful musicians all.

The concert is part of Sights & Sounds on Sundays—the chamber music series that is produced in collaboration with the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild. It’s the perfect showcase for North Carolina’s extraordinary classical music talent that flourishes from one end of the state to the other.

Image: Rembrandt van Rijn, Joris de Caulerij, 1632, oil on canvas transferred to panel, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Collection (66.31)

Now, 22 years later, 15 of my photographs are in the permanent collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art. One of them—Reidsville, North Carolina, June 2003—is included in the exhibition Landscape Sublime: Contemporary Photography, which closes November 13.

I have met some very good souls along the way. One of them is Huston Paschal, a long-time associate curator (now retired) at the Museum. When I began exhibiting my photographs in 1990, Huston, unbeknownst to me, started following my progress. I was exhibiting everywhere I could (photographs I’d made on Ellis Island), including the just-opened Cup A Joe on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh and the Weems Gallery at Meredith College. When I began to photograph around the Tar Heel State, Huston quietly watched as my new work—and I—progressed.

On the eve of my 50th birthday in 2003, I received a fateful phone call: Linda Dougherty (the NCMA’s current curator of contemporary art) was on the line. Would I like to schedule a time to bring a selection of my work? She and Huston wanted to see it, with a purchase in mind. Well, happy birthday to me!

I am grateful to Linda and to the NCMA and, now, to Jen Dasal, assistant curator, for including my work in the current exhibition. But mostly I am grateful to Huston, who saw in my work, and in the work of other North Carolina artists she watched grow and mature over her years as curator, something worth paying attention to.

David Simonton is a photographer living in Raleigh, N.C. See his work in the exhibition Landscape Sublime: Contemporary Photography through November 13.

Image: David Simonton, Reidsville, North Carolina, June 2003, 2003, printed 2004, gelatin-silver print, 9 11/16 x 9 13/16 in., Purchased with funds from the William R. Roberson Jr. and Frances M. Roberson Endowed Fund for North Carolina Art, © 2004 David Simonton

Recent visitors to the Museum will have noticed a new addition to the paintings in the American galleries. Dock Builders by George Bellows is the latest promised gift of Ann and Jim Goodnight. Bellows (1882–1925) was one of the most influential and beloved American artists of the early 20^th century. He dropped out of college to play semiprofessional baseball before pursuing a career as a painter in New York. There Bellows studied under Robert Henri and through him fell in with a group of young urban artists. The “ashcan school” advocated painting contemporary American society in all its gritty reality. Though more famous today for his boxing pictures, Bellows painted a wide variety of subjects, capturing the bustle of life around him.

Painted in 1916 during a summer in Camden, Maine, Dock Builders is one of a series of pictures depicting the hard laboring lives of Down East people. It gives a noble dimension to men and horses struggling to move logs into position. Bold, slashing brushstrokes give a sense of movement to this otherwise carefully ordered composition. Bellows’s painterly gusto spills out along the rocks at the bottom as his thick, churning splashes of color encrust the sunlit shoreline. There is a playfulness in Bellows’s handling of the brush. Perhaps the relaxed atmosphere of coastal Maine and the joy of working outside encouraged him to paint more freely. In a letter to Henri, he wrote, “I have done a number of pictures this summer which have not arrived in my mind from direct impressions but are creations of fancy arising out of my knowledge and experience of the facts employed.” Whether it was the sea air or a desire to try new things, it is exciting to see an artist enjoying himself in this “creation of fancy.”

For all the freedom of Dock Builders, Bellows was also experimenting with a systematic approach to composition. The smoothly contoured figures are carefully arranged in an underlying structure of intersecting diagonals. Also, along with several other members of the ashcan school, Bellows was intrigued by the color theories of Hardesty Maratta. Maratta devised a system that assigned each color to a corresponding musical note. He then directed artists to combine colors at prescribed intervals, using “chords” to achieve a harmonious effect. We do not know if Bellows used a color keyboard [see image below] when he was painting in Camden, though it seems likely that he had the balanced triads of the Maratta system in mind.

Combining freedom and restraint, Dock Builders adds something new to the Museum’s galleries. Celebrating men at work, the vibrant colors and innovative technique showcased in this landscape represent a pivotal moment in the history of American art.

Laura Fravel, Curatorial Intern

Hardesty G. Maratta’s color keyboard. From The Maratta Scales of Artists’ Oil Pigments, 1916. John Weichsel Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Image: George Wesley Bellows, Dock Builders, 1916, oil on canvas, Promised gift of Dr. and Mrs. James H. Goodnight

Thanks to funding from the North Carolina General Assembly to support character education in K–12 public schools, the ELA section of the Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Museum of Art had the privilege of hosting these young people and their teachers for a Character Education Teen Residency Project. Under the leadership of artist Peg Gignoux and writer Susie Wilde, students transformed their ideas into images and words that tell the story of what it means to be a good person. (See photos of the event on Flickr.)

Carolyn Crutcher, an English 10 teacher at New Technology High School at Garinger in Charlotte, N.C., reflects on her experience.

Participating in the residency was such a rewarding experience for my students and me. First, in the words of Moe Win: “I had so many new experiences in a few days. The environment at the NCMA made me feel so creative. As I was an author/writer, I learned so much about showing not telling, revising, and editing for the story. I am not the type of person who likes to work with a team, but I learned that it is more fantastic to work with others. We were discussing and helping each other while writing our story. Another good opportunity was visiting the art galleries. I loved the tours Ms. Rusak guided. The art work invited me to think more about the purpose of the artists.”

Here are Ivan Gaddy’s reflections: “I wanted to go to Raleigh, but I was nervous because this was the first time that I had gone somewhere and spent more than one day without my family. The main thing I was worried about was the way we had to make the art. Before the residency, I had only used pencil and paper for drawing. Also I was afraid that the groups weren’t going to agree on anything. I am so glad that my assumptions were wrong. It was nice hearing the other groups’ stories and seeing how they drew the main character, “Bird.” I liked making the collages out of fabric, and I hope to use that form of art in the near future. The trip was great and I hope to go again.”

For me, as the teacher, it was sheer pleasure to have this time with such talented young people on such a creative project. I spent most of my time with the writing groups, but to my delight, I also got to help cut out fabric for the illustrations and even helped a little with sewing. When we toured the galleries, I was deeply moved by Michael Richards’s bronze sculpture, Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian, especially when Sandy Rusak told us that Michael died on September 11, 2001, in his art studio in one of the Twin Towers.

I used a picture of the sculpture and Michael’s story to introduce the essential question for a recent literature project: How do beliefs and attitudes affect the lives of individuals? First I showed the students a picture of the sculpture and instructed them to look at it and think about it. Then I had them read about Richards. With a partner they discussed these questions and wrote their answers:

1. What is ironic about the bronze statue?
2. Explain the allusions in the title Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian.
3. Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
4. How did Michael Richards’s beliefs and attitudes shape his art?
5. How did the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of the young men who flew the planes 9/11 affect Michael Richards’s life?

When the students completed their research, we had a stimulating class discussion. Although only two of my students were able to participate in the art residency, I was able to share one of the pieces of art with all my students.