See More Children's Museum of the Arts 6/10/24 Artists in Schools End of Year Celebration at P396K Sid Miller Academy NEXT IN

Alexandra Sorokolit Frankel Donate Now Since 1988

See More Children's Museum of the Arts 1/16/24 Artists in Schools Oil Pastels and Mosaic Grouting Dispatches from CMA Resident Artist Maria D. Rapicavoli's after school class at Hudson Guild. NEXT IN

See More Children's Museum of the Arts 10/5/23 Interviews "Art is a way of speaking your mind when words can’t be found." Artist Isis Avila on finding her path to becoming an artist through her career as an attorney. NEXT IN

4/5/23 Reflections Considering the Lemon Click to expand media gallery. This past weekend, we welcomed over 200 young artists to Chelsea Factory to create art according to the deceptively simple program of renowned abstract expressionist painter Jasper Johns — Take an object (in our case, a plastic lemon) Do something to it (use clay to create an entirely new object) Do something else to it (make a drawing of your new sculpture) We were especially excited to welcome kids from Hudson Guild ‘s K-12 after school program! The fruits of the young artists’ labor will form the basis of The Lemonade Stand , a fundraiser exhibition at NADA New York (May 18-21, 2023) where kids will offer their artwork in exchange for donations bringing experimental arts education to schools all across NYC. Kids helping other kids get the art education they deserve. It’s that simple. NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

Tomashi Jackson Artist & Educator Tomashi Jackson (b. 1980, Houston, Texas) grew up in Los Angeles, California. She was included in the Whitney Biennial 2019 and has presented solo exhibitions at institutions including the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and the Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, Georgia. Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at MoCA Los Angeles; MASS MoCA; the Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans; and the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University. Jackson was a 2019 Resident Artist at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. Her work is included in the collection of MOCA Los Angeles and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston; and Cooper Union, NY, and she has been a visiting artist at New York University. In 2021, Jackson presented solo exhibitions at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University and at the Parrish Art Museum of Art. Jackson lives and works in Cambridge, Massachusetts and New York City. Donate Now Since 1988

5/29/24 Classroom Visits In the Classroom with Noormah Jamal CMA Resident Artist Noormah Jamal discusses building trust with her students, finding the perfect assignment, and the art lesson that blew her away. Click to expand media gallery. As part of CMA's Residency for Experimental Arts Education, Noormah Jamal teaches art to fifth graders twice weekly at Children's Workshop School , a progressive public elementary school in NYC's East Village. Below, visit Noormah in her classroom and get a glimpse at her students' artworks. On Happy Accidents in the Classroom. When kids make artwork, they’re not scared. They don’t hesitate; they jump right in. That really inspires me. Sometimes it’s a good thing when kids don’t entirely listen to my instructions – the accidents or deviations that happen along the way make the final work all the more interesting. Children learn a lot when they experiment. That pushes me in my own artmaking, as well. Every now and again, kids will struggle with certain assignments, but the perfect assignment always comes along. They will completely surpass my expectations. As an educator, that’s the most exciting thing that can happen in a classroom. On Earning Trust Among Students. When working with young children, you really need to earn their trust. Time is the most important thing to have with them. The more you get to know them, the more you can engage their individual interests. I have a student in one of my classes who has behavioral issues. In the beginning, he wouldn’t engage at all. Recently, I overheard him talking about Naruto. I loved Naruto growing up, so I know all the characters. Once I started talking about those characters, and he was like, “Wait, you know this world?” When we started the zine assignment , I encouraged him to imagine a Naruto character interacting with another student’s Addams Family character, and merge those worlds together. That was only possible because I was with him long enough to know the universe he was interested in, and that’s what got him to engage. Because I've worked with my students for so long, I know how to “get” to them. When I introduce an assignment, I already know who's going to engage and who is not going to be as interested in the lesson. For those students, I’ll edit the lesson as I go. I’m only able to do that because I know them so well. "the Empire State Building becoming a monster” On Watercolors. The wet on wet watercolor lesson was my absolute favorite. I was shocked by the quality of work that students were producing. We practiced painting in previous lessons, and many were struggling to hold the brush and maintain consistent amounts of water. I demonstrated the wet on wet technique once, turned around to arrange some art materials, and by the time I turned back around, they had completely mastered it. I was floored by their level of control and observation of color. Some were even color mixing directly on the palette. On Her Students Becoming Artists. Sometimes students will rework my assignments into something even better. During the animal cloud lesson , one student sandwiched extra pillow fluff between two foam sheets to create her own stuffed animal character. That inspired seven other students to create their own pillow characters as well. It’s amazing to see them being inspired by each other! I have a handful of students that I seriously hope will become artists. It would be a real shame if they didn’t. For the others, it’s just about practice and sticking with it but they clearly have other interests or life goals. They’re at a tricky age where they’re deciding whether they’re good at something or not. That's why I enjoy having different art practitioners visit the classroom. It’s helpful for the kids to see that they don’t have to necessarily be a painter or a sculptor to be an artist. With the zine assignment , I told my students about comics, animations, mood boards, frame-by-frame drawing … There are many different paths in artmaking, yet these fields are interconnected. There are many, many ways to be an artist. cardboard baby with moveable arms and legs On Her Fellow Educators. The other teachers at Children’s Workshop School are so creative. They're used to not having an arts program, so they incorporate art in their everyday lessons. For example, the postage stamp assignment came from a lesson in their social studies class. Each student has a board outside their classroom, and sometimes I’ll notice assignments or techniques from our art class on the boards. After we did the one-point perspective assignment , I saw my students’ drawings on their boards for weeks afterwards. When we studied gradients and color repetition, I knew which students completed which drawings without looking at the names. I get really excited when I can recognize how a students’ hand moves. Somedays I get to school early and spend time looking at the boards. Interview and photography by Kerry Santullo for Children's Museum of the Arts NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

Open Studio: Tradition and Identity in Pottery Free Community Artmaking Thursday, December 14, 2023 3 PM to 5 PM Pier 57 Pier 57, 11th Avenue, New York, NY, USA Media Inquiries: adam@culturalcounsel.com RSVP Face jugs, Old Edgefield District, South Carolina, c. 1850–1885. The one on the left is in the collection of April L. Hynes; the others are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph by Eileen Travell, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Jean Sahme, Pot with Snake, ca. 1987, fired clay with clay slip. Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Hortense by Simone Leigh, from 2016. Photograph courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery. Uncover the diverse historic traditions shaping this art form, from the enslaved potters of Edgefield, South Carolina who kept their identity alive through “face jugs” to modern interpretations from Simone Leigh , who pays homage to the ceramic history and traditions of the American South and Africa, and Jean Sahm e, an Arizona-based Hopi / Tewa artist who produces her works purely with fire, just as her family did before her. Artists will create their own air-dry clay pots from scratch by mixing flour, salt, water, and food coloring, then knead their clay into coils and wrap them together to build a bowl. If time allows, children can decorate their bowls using an array of decorative objects. About Open Studio Taking place Mondays and Thursdays, Open Studio at Pier 57 invites children to explore hands-on projects across a wide range of artistic disciplines. Specially designed for children on the Autism Spectrum but welcoming to all, each session is multisensory focused. Participants will explore art materials (such as clay, paper, or textiles) at their own pace alongside movement breaks and ample time for storytelling and social interaction. Open Studio is recommended for ages 12 & under. What To Expect Led by CMA Artist Instructors Emma Waldman and JT Baldassarre , each session introduces children to the elements and principles of art while surveying artists across generations. The program’s curriculum is rooted in accessible artmaking practices and Children’s Museum of the Arts’ pedagogy of Look, Make, Share. Take a peek at one of our virtual Inclusives lessons, catered to children with Autism, that families can try at home: here ! While caregivers are welcome to stay with their children, families are encouraged to enjoy the extraordinary setting of Pier 57 in the adjacent Family Living Room for the duration of the session. Image Credit: Face jugs, Old Edgefield District, South Carolina, c. 1850–1885. The one on the left is in the collection of April L. Hynes; the others are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph by Eileen Travell, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Children's Museum of the Arts' Open Studio at Pier 57 is generously supported by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, William Talbott Hillman Foundation, The LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Google Community Grants Fund,, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Harriet Ames Charitable Trust, The Cowles Charitable Trust,, and the Viniar Family Foundation. Additional support is provided, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Donate Now

4/2/24 Artists in Schools Zine Making: Adventures in Carbon Paper Dispatches from CMA Resident Artist Noormah Jamal's fifth grade class at Children's Workshop School. Click to expand media gallery. Students continued working on their zine projects. With their drafts behind them, they are ready to embark on their final zines! They loved flipping through example zines from Miriam Gallery , including publishers like Childish Books , Artistic Noise , Black Mass , and Terminal Ediciones . Carbon paper continues to be in high demand as many students are choosing to do narrative works with pop culture references. Noormah’s work at Children’s Workshop School is supported by the Emergency Arts Education Fund , which provides free arts education to NYC school communities whose art programs have been decimated by recent budget cuts. Children’s Museum of the Arts’ three Residents Artists are currently implementing ambitious arts curriculum at each of our partner sites throughout New York City: Hudson Guild in Chelsea, Sid Miller Academy in Crown Heights, and Children’s Workshop School in the East Village. Come spring, our residents will showcase their students' work through exhibitions and installations across the city. Learn how you can support the work of our residents here . NEXT Emergency Exhibition: New Training for Future Artists and Art Lovers Take a Virtual Tour on Bloomberg Connects Donate Now

See More Children's Museum of the Arts 3/25/24 Artists in Schools Story Street Quilts Dispatches from CMA Resident Artist Maria D. Rapicavoli's after school class at Hudson Guild. NEXT IN