Meet the Dixon Staff - Laura Gray

Name: Laura Gray Teekell    

Position: PR Associate

College/University:  BA, History, Rhodes College, MA, History of Art and Connoisseurship, Christies Education/University of Glasgow 

How long have you worked at the Dixon?  Since January…

The best thing about living in Memphis is……

The people and the food—I enjoy being here (in Memphis and more specifically at the Dixon) because I am surrounded by and connected to people who care about Memphis and in doing so, highlight the good things that are happening across the community (specifically in the arts and culture sector) and continue to make it a better place to live.

What famous artist (deceased or living) would you want to be for one day and why?

Oouufff. This is the best/worst question. Ideally, it would be someone who can be credited with thinking or creating something that was completely new for their time—like Leonardo Da Vinci for his across-the-board genius, but that is pretty subjective and people are always influenced by something or someone before them…but that being said it would most likely one of the Old Masters—Durer, Michelangelo, Bosch (because his stuff is nuts), El Greco or Bernini. Or in Modern painting, Manet or Picasso. OR any one of the Royal French furniture makers from the second half of the 18^th century, just because.

How old were you on your first visit to a museum (art, science history)? How did it shape your interest in museums?

I remember visiting the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in DC when I was…not sure how old—I was really into animals and dinosaurs and seeing stuff that I had never seen or didn’t exist in the natural world anymore. Just found it fascinating, I remember thinking that this was not a “boring” museum.

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?

Moose is a black lab mix, he is almost 7 (sniff, sniff), and he’s awesome and very human-like.

What is your favorite piece in Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne?

I love the Café Riche series and In the Wings. I also love Toff with a Bouquet and the drawing of Clemenceau.

What do you like most about working at the Dixon?

I love the Dixon’s collection, the history of the house and the Dixons, and being surrounded by such beautiful gardens that people really care about and care for! Really, I like the people and how everyone is trying to do great things here—and that we’re succeeding!

Meet the Dixon staff - Tanya

Name: Tanya Miner Dumas

Position: Visitor Services

College/University: University of Memphis-BA/ CBU-MA

How long have you worked at the Dixon? 11 years

The best thing about living in Memphis is…… The changing of the seasons, the people.   The community of faith that is displayed in Memphis by Memphians/ the U of M-Go Tigers!

What famous artist (deceased or living) would you want to be for one day and why?

Helen Turner.  I love the femininity of her work, the colors, her love of the outdoors is apparent in her paintings

How old were you on your first visit to a museum (art, science history)? How did it shape your interest in museums?

Probably on a visit to Florida with my family-a wildlife museum

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?

I have no pets.

What is your favorite piece in Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne?

I like all of it. I don’t have a favorite.

What do you like most about working at the Dixon? 

The interesting people that I meet every day in my position from all over the world and the nice people that I work with on a daily basis.

 

Meet the Dixon staff - Erica!

Name:Erica McCarrens

Position:Children’s Program Coordinator

College/University: Memphis College of Art

How long have you worked at the Dixon? 2 years (1 year full time staff)

The best thing about living in Memphis is……Everyone knows everyone. Everybody is somebody.

What famous artist (deceased or living) would you want to be for one day and why?

Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun. She lived such a fancy life as an artist during the Rococo period. Despite her busy schedule of painting fabulous portraits of Marie Antoinette and other royals, she seemed very devoted to her daughter. (Which is something I can really relate to.)

How old were you on your first visit to a museum (art, science history)? How did it shape your interest in museums?

At 4 years old I went to the Art institute of Chicago. They had an interactive exhibit, and all I remember of that was colorful blocks. But I wanted to go back again and again.

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?

I have two dogs, Trotsky and Elsa. Trotsky is not very bright, and Elsa never misses a chance to make fun of him.

What is your favorite piece in Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne?

I feel like The Toff and I have a bond. I’ve drawn him at least 50 times for various reasons. But my most favorite is a little painting in the Orgill Gallery, Dancer in her Dressing Room. The color and lighting are breathtaking. It’s amazing that such a little painting can hold so much beauty.

What do you like most about working at the Dixon?

The fact that my mantra from childhood “when I grow up, I’m going to work in an Art Museum!” has actually come true. Of course it doesn’t hurt that I absolutely love all the kiddos and their fantastic caregivers that come to the museum. Oh! Oh! And my coworkers are the smartest, most wonderful people ever.

Meet the Dixon Staff - Glenn

Name: Glenn Overall
 

Position: Bookkeeper
 

College/University: UCLA/State Tech
 

How long have you worked at the Dixon? 11 years

 

The best thing about living in Memphis is……Golf in the winter. Living closer to my 
 family. The Grizzlies.
 

What famous artist (deceased or living) would you want to be for one day and why? Andy Warhol…just to hang with the celebs of those days. Oh the stories I could tell.

How old were you on your first visit to a museum (art, science history)? How did it shape your interest in museums? 

I was a teen and visited the Detroit Institute of Art. I wasn’t very cerebral in those days so it was not a life changing event.

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names? 

Two dogs: Tex and Bella. Tex is afraid of people and loves dogs. Bella loves everyone and everyone loves Bella. They both like to eat my house. No joke!

What is your favorite piece in Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne? 

There are too many favorites to pick one. I lean toward his more ominous paintings for some reason.
 

What do you like most about working at the Dixon? 
The art, the parties, my co-workers and the Dixon members.

Meet the Dixon staff - Maria

Name: Maria Griffo

Position: Education Intern

College/University: SUNY Purchase College

How long have you worked at the Dixon? A month and a half

The best thing about living in Memphis is…… my church!

What famous artist (deceased or living) would you want to be for one day and why?  I would like to be Vincent Van Gogh, and only for one day, because I want to know what was going on in his mind just long enough to understand it, then be lucid enough to understand it after!

How old were you on your first visit to a museum (art, science history)? How did it shape your interest in museums?  

Oh goodness… super young.  I grew up in New York City and remember going to the Museum of Natural History when I was 5 or 6 for a field trip.  Field trips definitely shaped my interest in museums.  I loved getting out of the classroom to really experience the thing that prior to the trip was just two-dimensional or pictures in a book.  I especially loved my art class in high school that required us to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on our own and find plenty of famous paintings (most memorably David’s “Death of Socrates”) and reflect on them.  Since the Met was pay as you go anyway, I would use my school train pass, get up to the Met and pay whatever change was in my pockets to go see the treasures inside often.

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?

I grew up in a house full of pets but, tragically, for the first time in my life do not have pets due to landlord stipulations. 

What is your favorite piece in Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne?

Relief in the Trenches, 1918.  Hands down.  The first time I saw it, I was transfixed.  I’ve never been to war, but something in it captures the fleeting nature of life and the scent of death on the battlefield.

What do you like most about working at the Dixon?

As an intern, seeing the inner workings of a non-profit has been wonderful, and that it is arts-based is even more spectacular. 

 

Meet the Dixon staff - Linley!

Name: Linley Schmidt

Position: Adult Program Coordinator

College/University: University of Memphis

How long have you worked at the Dixon? 3 weeks!

 

The best thing about living in Memphis is……

Everyone is connected somehow! Its fun to find out this person knows that person and that person knows this person…

What famous artist (deceased or living) would you want to be for one day and why?

I would want to be Annie Leibovitz for a day because I could photograph just about anyone (who would say no to her?) and create an image of them that beautifully reveals the essence of who they are while being aesthetically beautiful.

How old were you on your first visit to a museum (art, science history)? How did it shape your interest in museums?

My mother is an artist and my father is a Memphis historian at heart so as a child the world was an art and history museum. Everything beautiful was pointed out and the story of everything historically significant was told. That passed on knowledge made me want to know more, and a concentration of “more” tends to be in museums so I love them!

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?

A dog named Zara, a cat named Selene; two birds, Moninoke and Keoko and a hamster named Halle. Oh, a big spider currently in the front yard named Steve.

What is your favorite piece in Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne?

Dancer in a Colored Tutu. I love the way she seems to glow out of the darkness.

 What do you like most about working at the Dixon?

Everyone is very nice and willing to help.

 

Meet the Dixon Staff - Eric!

Name: Eric Bork  

Position: Assistant Preparator / Weekend Manager

College/University:  

BA Lyon College, Batesville, AR

MFA - Painting, Graduate Certificate Program – Museum Studies, University of Memphis

How long have you worked at the Dixon?  

3 Years

The best thing about living in Memphis is……  

The International Bar-B-Que Festival, hands down!

What famous artist (deceased or living) would you want to be for one day and why?

If being them means I would know what they did, then John Singer Sargent. His instinctive use of light is something that could lifetimes to learn. It would be nice to just already know it.

How old were you on your first visit to a museum (art, science history)? How did it shape your interest in museums?

I remember going to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago when I was very small and thinking it was pretty fantastic. But my first visit to the Met in New York sealed the deal. After that, I knew I wanted museums to be a  part of my life after that.

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?

Um, my son has an aquarium full of fish. There are about 15 of them. I think some of their names are Jeff, Plo, John, and Jericho. I don’t know all the others.

What is your favorite piece in Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie parisienne?

It’s a tie between two very different pieces: Jeanette in a white collar and The Racetrack

What do you like most about working at the Dixon?

Talking with guests, my co-workers, handling artwork, traveling, the gardens, the parties, my goodness what isn’t there to love about the Dixon?