CV

Nancy Cohen Israel

Summary:

Art Historian with over 30 years of teaching experience through the Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University’s Continuing Adult and Professional Education program and Dallas College

Art Educator and lecturer to private groups as well as in public forums such as the Meadows Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Crow Museum of Asian Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and McKinney Avenue Contemporary. Currently serving as the Manager of Docent Programs at the Meadows Museum.

Arts Writer as a regular contributor to Patron magazine. Other local publications include Glasstire, Dallas Arts District Guide, VisitDallas, Arts + Culture, FD Luxe, and FYI+ 50 magazines. National publications include art ltd. 

Curator with over 25 years of experience serving as a curator and/or juror for exhibitions throughout North Texas

Art Tour Organizer and Leader with over 20 years of experience of organizing and leading tours to artists’ studios private collections and unique art spaces locally, regionally and internationally

Professional Experience:

Owner, Art à la Carte, Dallas, Texas (April, 1997-present)

Art à la Carte is an art-education focused organization. For 15 years, Nancy organized, marketed, budgeted and led the successful program, Second Saturdays, which introduced participants to artists in theirs studios, collectors and their collections and exhibition venues throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Using an extensive network of contacts throughout Texas, she also planned and took groups on out-of-town arts tours. In addition, Nancy has organized and led art tours for museum groups visiting North Texas. She has also served as a tour leader for the Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas (CADD) bus tour series. 

As an art historian, Nancy has given numerous public lectures in a variety of formats, including docent training, gallery talks and lecture series. A partial list includes the following:

Siren’s Song: The Allure of Spanish Painters and their American Collectors, Luis Martín Lecture Series in the Humanities, Meadows Museum, Fall, 2023

Threads that Endure: Tapestries Share Our Stories, Women Who Weave Series, Temple Emanu-El, April, 2023

Dalí/Vermeer: A Dialogue, Gallery Talk, Meadows Museum, December, 2022

Sinners, Saints, Lovers and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks, Docent Training, Dallas Museum of Art, February 2023

Dressing to Impress: The Promotion of Flemish Industry in the Portraits of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella Clara Eugenia, Virtual Gallery Talk, Meadows Museum, December, 2020

Reviving Nature Morte: Reimagining 17th Century Still Lives, Virtual Gallery Talk, Meadows Museum, November, 2020

Dalí Loves Campari, Virtual Presentation sponsored by Patron magazine and Campari, October, 2020

The 17th Century Teleconference: What the Backgrouns in Portraits of Religious and Secular Leaders Say about the Sitters, Virtual Gallery Talk, Meadows Museum, October, 2020

Painting a Pandemic: How the Plague Changed Art in 17th Century Spain, Virtual Gallery Talk, Meadows Museum, September, 2020

The Flemish Muse: Artistic Connections across Spain and the Low Countries during the 15th & 16th Centuries, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Summer, 2019 

Aliyah: Dalí’s Visual Celebration of Homecoming, Gallery Talk and Docent Training, Meadows Museum, Winter, 2019

Lights, Camera, Landscape: The Rise of Impressionism, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Summer, 2018

Zurbarán: Jacob and his Twelve Sons Paintings from Auckland Castle, Gallery Talk, Meadows Museum, Fall, 2017

Museum Madness, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas program, Winter, 2017

In the Footsteps of the Camino Santiago de Compostela, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Summer, 2016

Making Light of Art, Public Program, Nasher Sculpture Center, Pecha Kucha event hosted by Texas Sculpture Association, Fall, 2015

Netherlandish Highlights of the Alba Collection, Gallery Talk and Docent Training, Meadows Museum, Fall, 2015

The Greatness of Goy, Part I: Works on Paper, Lecture Series Meadows Museum, Fall, 2014

The Crossroads of Art and Tea, gallery talk which included highlights of the Dallas Museum of Art and Crow Museum of Asian Art collections, presented to the Specialty Tea Institute, Summer, 2014

The Spanish Gesture: Drawings from Murillo to Goya in the Hamburger Collection, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Summer, 2014

Art and Soul: Art Treasures of Temple Emanu-El, Public Lecture, Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, October 2013; February, 2014

For the Public Good: Private Collections that Shaped American Museums, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Fall, 2013

Impressions of Europe: 19th Century Vistas by Martín Rico, Docent Training, Meadows Museum, Spring, 2013

A Guide to Jews and the Arts, Public Lecture, Dallas Jewish Historical Society, Spring, 2013

Martín Rico and his place in the the 19th century landscape tradition, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Spring, 2013

The Noblest Man: The Art of Diego Velázquez, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Fall, 2012

West Meets East: Reconciling Cross Cultural Influences, Lecture Series, Crow Collection of Asian Art, Fall, 2009

Diego Rivera and the Circle of Montparnasse, Docent Training, Meadows Museum, Winter, 2009

On the Cutting Edge: How Caravaggio taught the world to embrace contemporary art, Public Lecture, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Summer, 2008

Spanish 17th Century Painting through the lens of European Art, Lecture Series, Meadows Museum, Winter, 2008

Hapsburg Reign in Spain as seen through the Meadows Museum Collection, Public Lecture, Meadows Museum, Winter, 2002

Cynthia Lin: The Extraordinary Ordinary, Gallery Talk, Meadows Museum, Winter, 2000

A Rendezvous in Paris: 20th Century Jewish Artists work in Montparnasse, Public Lecture, American Jewish Congress, Summer, 1994

Art and Politics, Gallery Talk, Dallas Museum of Art, Fall, 1992

Bacchus: A Pagan Figure Turns Christian, Gallery Talk, Dallas Museum of Art, Winter, 1992

Selected exhibition catalogue essays include:

Inspired Friendship: James Surls and George Tobolowsky Share 50 Years of History in side by side: James Surls/George Tobolowsky, National Center for Jewish Art, Dallas, Texas, April, 2022

The Kramer Collection: Art of Arie van Selm, with Belanger Fine Arts, August, 2021

Luminous Translucence: The Art of Orna Feinstein and McKay Otto, MADI Museum, Dallas, October, 2019

Hope for the Future, Embellished with the Past: Ellen Francis Tuchman’s Reveries, koelsch haus gallery, Houston, September, 2018

Golden Jubilee: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence, University of Dallas, Irving, Spring, 2017

Deborah Ballard: The Voice Within, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Dallas, 2016

Susan Perkins: Luminous Impressions, Cohn-Drennan Contemporary, Dallas Winter, 2013

Connie Connally, Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas, January, 2009

José Navarro-Vives: Venetian Atmospheres, Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas, October, 2005

Select magazine publications include (click here to visit links to many of these stories):

Urban Pioneers, Patron magazine, March/April, 2022

Full Steam Ahead, Patron magazine, October/November, 2021

Natural Habitat, Patron magazine, June/July, 2021

Treasures in Our Midst, Patron magazine, April/May, 2021

Rarified Company, Patron magazine, August/September, 2019

Diversity in the District, Dallas Arts District Guide, Spring, 2019

Chaouki Choukini at the Green Gallery, Patron magazine, Dallas Art Fair issue, April, 2019

Zoë Buckman at Albertz Benda, Patron magazine, Dallas Art Fair issue, April, 2019

Dreaming with Dalí, Patron magazine, August/September, 2018

Basque Memories, Patron magazine, April/May, 2018

Private View, Patron magazine, February/March, 2018

The Enlightener, Patron magazine, December, 2017/January, 2018

All My Sons, Patron magazine, October/November, 2017

The Next Wave, Patron magazine, June/July, 2017

Glowing Gold, Patron magazine, April/May, 2017

Art@the Academy, Patron magazine, December, 2016/January, 2017

Spain’s Modern Masters, Patron magazine, October/November, 2016

Come Together, Patron magazine, February/March, 2016

High Lights, Patron magazine, December, 2015/January, 2016

Spanish Acquisition, Patron magazine, October/November, 2015

Modern Times, Patron magazine, June/July, 2015 

Spotlight: Dallas/Fort Worth, art ltd. magazine, March/April, 2015

Universal Appeal, Patron magazine, February/March, 2015

Hidden in Plain Sight, Patron magazine, December, 2014/January, 2015

The Missing Link, Patron magazine, June/July, 2014

Devil in the Details, Patron magazine, April/May, 2014

Freedom of Expression, Patron magazine, February/March, 2014

Viva Sorolla!, Patron magazine, December, 2013/January, 2014

High Note, Patron magazine, Summer, 2013

Leading Lady, Patorn magazine, Spring, 2013

In Good Company, Patron magazine, Winter, 2012

Art as a Life Line to Healing, Arts + Culture magazine, October, 2012

Texas Got Talent, Arts + Culture magazine, Summer, 2012

Vision Accomplished, Patron magazine, Summer, 2012

X Marks the Spot for KAWS at the Modern, Arts + Culture magazine, December, 2011/January, 2012

Brave New Art at the Dallas Contemporary, Patron magazine, November, 2011 (debut issue)

Pamela Nelson: TEXTiles, Arts + Culture magazine, October, 2011

Southwest Spirit, Where Dallas, Vol. 1, No. 1, March, 1996

Curatorial/Juror experience includes:

125 Show, Plano Art Association, Juror, Summer, 2019

DADA Edith Baker Scholarship Fund, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Juror, Spring, 2019. 2020

Braniff 50th Anniversary Exhibition, University of Dallas, Curator, Spring, 2017

Yitzhak, Texas Jewish Art Association, Juror & Curator, Fall, 2016

Art on Henderson, Juror, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

2020 Under 20, Allen Arts Alliance, Juror, Spring 2015, 2016

In the Beginning, Texas Jewish Art Association, Juror & Curator, Fall, 2014

Art in the City, Creative Arts Center, Juror, Fall, 2010

Illuminating Traditions: The Art of David Moss, Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, Curator, February, 2009

Evolution: New Work by Denise Brown, Norman Kary and Ellen Francis Tuchman, University of Dallas, Curator, October, 2006

Found Elements, University of of Texas at Arlington Juror, October, 2005

New Texas Talent XII, Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas, Juror, Summer, 2005

Artscape, Dallas Arboretum, Juror, Spring, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011

Palette ’99, Henderson County Arts Council, Athens, Texas, Guest Curator, Fall, 1999

Cynthia Lin and Jun Cheng Liu, Richland College, Dallas, February, 1999

Bare Essentials, ArtCentre of Plano, Texas Sculpture Association, Juror, January, 1999

Mela at Pushkar: Photography of Stewart Charles Cohen, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Curator, Summer, 1996

Eastfield College Spring Juried Exhibition, Bath House Cultural Center, Juror, Spring 1995, 1996 

Selected Media:

Daniel, Mike. “‘New Texas Talent’ at Craighead-Green”, Guide, The Dallas Morning News, July 22, 2005.

Mathews, Quin. “Art Matters”, WRR radio, July, 2005.

Mitchell, Glenn. “The Glenn Mitchell Show”, KERA radio, April, 2000.

“Second Saturdays”, Editor’s Picks, Out on the Town, D magazine, October, 2000.

 Sime, Tom. Arts Out There, The Dallas Morning News, March 5, 1999.

“Art a la Carte presents Second Saturdays”, The Turtle Creek News, December 6, 1998.

Sime, Tom. “Art lovers’ bus tour almost ready to roll”, Arts Out There, The Dallas Morning News, September 4, 1998.

“Nancy Cohen to Lead Second Saturdays Program,” Neighborhood News, The Turtle Creek News, February 8, 1998.

Matthews, Quin. “Art Matters”, WRR radio, December, 1997.

Past Experience: 

Adjunct Instructor, Art History, Brookhaven College, Dallas County Community College District Academic Years 1998-2000

Director, Edith Baker Gallery, Dallas, Texas April, 1993-April, 1997

Assistant, Docent Programs & Teaching Resources, Dallas Museum of Art, June, 1992-April, 1993

Curatorial Assistant, Dallas Museum of Art Fall, 1992

Adjunct Instructor, Art History, Eastfield College, Dallas County Community College District, Academic Year, 1992-1997

Adjunct Instructor, Collin County Community College, Plano, Texas, Fall, 1992

Eugene McDermott Intern in Education, Dallas Museum of Art, September, 1991-May, 1992

Exhibitions Coordination, The Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C., June, 1990-July, 1991

Gallery Curator, Fine Arts Committee, The University of Texas at Austin, January, 1985-May, 1986

Education:

M.A., Art History, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

B.A., Humanities Honors Program, program with concentration in late medieval art and literature in Northern Europe. Graduated with honors. 

Dutch Studies Program, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands