Artworks By New York City Public School Students On View At The Guggenheim Museum

Family Day on Sunday, May 25, 1–4 p.m., to include Art-Making Activities, Performances, and Storytelling
  
(NEW YORK, NY—April 16, 2008) A Year with Children 2008: Selected Works from Learning Through Art, an exhibition organized by the Sackler Center for Arts Education at the Guggenheim Museum, will be on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from May 16 through June 13, 2008. The exhibition presents artworks by second- through sixth-grade students from 15 public schools throughout New York City. These schools have participated in Learning Through Art (LTA), a 38-year-old pioneering arts education program of the Guggenheim Museum, during the 2007–08 school year. Approximately 200 colorful and imaginative works will be on display, including prints, paintings, sculptures, masks, quilts, papier-mâché and clay works, and more.

Overview
A Year with Children is an annual exhibition that showcases art by students participating in Learning Through Art (LTA). LTA places professional teaching artists into New York City public elementary schools, where they collaborate with classroom teachers to develop art projects that allow students to learn art skills and techniques and explore ideas and themes related to school curriculum. The program encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and ongoing collaborative investigation. Additionally, LTA immerses students in the artistic process, encouraging them to view themselves as artists. Each student is given a sketchbook and an artist’s apron, and throughout the program teaching artists expose students to the same practices and explorations with which they themselves engage.

2007–08 School Year
Approximately 1,500 second- through sixth-grade students at 15 public schools participated in 10- or 20-week projects led by Learning Through Art teaching artists in the 2007–08 school year. The schools include: in Manhattan, P.S. 28 (Washington Heights), P.S. 42 (Chinatown), P.S. 115 (Washington Heights), P.S. 152 (Inwood), P.S. 153 (Hamilton Heights), P.S. 154 (Harlem), P.S. 200 (Hamilton Heights); in the Bronx, P.S. 86 (Kingsbridge); in Staten Island, P.S. 48 (Grasmere); in Queens, P.S. 88 (Ridgewood), P.S. 144 (Forest Hills), P.S. 148 (East Elmhurst); and in Brooklyn, P.S. 8 (Brooklyn Heights), P.S. 9 (Prospect Heights), and P.S. 58 (Cobble Hill).

The students investigated local communities, the role of art and artists in society, natural habitats, geography, storytelling, cultural traditions, historical eras, and identity. They explored questions such as: How does where you live affect how you live? Why do people tell stories? What are the traits of a good leader? While creating their art projects, students explored and experimented with selected materials and techniques. Some of the art processes students engaged in include drawing, printmaking, photography, acrylic and watercolor painting, assemblage, collage, installation art, and papier-mâché, clay, and found object sculpture.

Rebecca Shulman Herz, Senior Education Manager, Learning Through Art, organized A Year with Children 2008 with Marie Reilly, Associate Manager, and the LTA staff. According to Herz, “Students participating in Learning Through Art not only learn about art materials and techniques; they learn how to be artists. They learn how artists explore and address aspects of the world around them; the complex process of creation and reflection; and how to look at and learn from other artists. This exhibition honors those students as artists.”

According to a participating fifth-grade teacher from P.S. 200 in Manhattan, “The program benefits the students in many ways. The program allows the students to explore, reflect on, and create art. The experience is not only fun for them, but it also enhances their artistic and creative abilities.”


Selected Highlights:
 
P.S. 48, Staten Island, third grade
Teaching Artist: Ardina Greco*
What are the traits of a good leader? Third-grade students at P.S. 48 believe leaders should be intelligent, friendly, adventurous, hardworking, loving, and willing to take action. After studying rulers from different cultures throughout history, students reflected on what they had learned and brainstormed what they thought were the most important qualities of a good leader. They then created painted assemblage boxes that incorporate collage and found objects. Each symbolically represents a character trait that a student believes is essential for a good leader to possess. 
 
P.S. 88, Queens, fourth grade
Teaching Artist: Antonia Perez*
Fourth-grade students at P.S. 88 created board games based on encounters between Native Americans and Colonial settlers. After studying 18th-century life in what is now New York State, with a focus on artifacts from this period, students re-imagined the ways these groups might have interacted and captured various alternatives in games intended to be played by their peers. The board games include carefully painted backgrounds and playing pieces sculpted with clay.
 
P.S. 86, The Bronx, sixth grade
Teaching Artist: Jeff Hopkins
Sixth-grade students at P.S. 86 wondered, “Why do people tell stories?” They studied the mythology of ancient cultures and invented characters and myths of their own. Students then brought their stories to life by creating short films utilizing a variety of stop-motion animation techniques. Through the act of crafting their own narratives, students learned how to use simple materials like charcoal or clay in an expressive way, and also considered the ways in which elements like character, plot, and setting could be combined to tell a story in a compelling way.
 
For information about Learning Through Art, please visit www.learningthroughart.org

 
Events for A Year with Children 2008

• Opening Reception Thursday, May 15, 6–8 p.m. Tickets are available for $125 each. Call 212 423 3796 for additional information.
• Family Day Sunday, May 25, 1–4 p.m. The public is invited to celebrate the exhibitions Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe and A Year with Children 2008. Families will explore the exhibitions and engage in conversations, art-making activities, performances, and storytelling. Open to the public. No reservations necessary. $15 per family, $10 members, FREE for Family members and families of LTA participants (includes a free family pass for an upcoming visit).
• Open House for Educators Wednesday, May 28, 3:30–5:45 p.m.

To register, please call 212 360 4231 or email schoolprograms@guggenheim.org by Friday May 23.
 
This exhibition is made possible in part by Gail May Engelberg and The Engelberg Foundation, as well as the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation.
 
The Leadership Committee for A Year with Children 2008 is gratefully acknowledged.

Educational activities are made possible by The Edith and Frances Mulhall Achilles Memorial Fund, The Engelberg Foundation, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Mortimer D. Sackler Family, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, Esther Simon Charitable Trust, and the Museum’s Education Committee.

The Learning Through Art program is supported by Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Inc., Citi Foundation, Sidney E. Frank Foundation, Gap Foundation, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Janus Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, The New York Times Company Foundation, Generoso Pope Foundation, The United States Department of Education, and Arthur Zimtbaum Foundation.

The Guggenheim Museum
Contact: Marisa Wayne
(212) 843-9216