What’s New? Weekend update!

Here’s what’s new this weekend (hope it doesn’t snow us in!):
Start of with Target Free Fridays at Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Check out http://www.cmom.org
The Museum of Chinese In America (MOCA) and Children’s Museum of the Arts (CMA) are teaming up to create a huge co-hosted weekend of fun family-friendly events, classes, art workshops and festivities. to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. Check out the events on http://www.mocanyc.org/visit/events/lunar_new_year_preview and on http://cmany.org/pages.php?pn=specialevents_upcoming
Also check out:
Lunar New Year Festival
February 6 at 3 pm
P.S. 124 The Yung Wing School
40 Division St. NY, NY 10002
General Admission: $10
Check out what is on tap for Black History Month at Brooklyn Museum where tomorrow is Target Free Saturday http://www.brooklynmuseum.org
As always, the Museum of the City of New York continues to be free on Sundays before 12. If you have never checked it out – visit this wonderful museum: www.mcny.org
Have a great weekend and for those football aficionados out there – enjoy the Superbowl!

Puppetmasters!

Ms. Nancy Schneider from Marquis studios has been visiting on Wednesdays and guiding students from our mini and main buildings in the art of puppet making. The students will be making a few different puppets and will culminate with performing a puppet show on March 24th. I cannot wait to see the finished products, as the students have been working very hard on their puppets, both in constructing them and in planning their personas.
Students from Ms. Bates, Ms. Gundersen, Ms. Leston, Ms. Lopez, and Ms. Kominoski’s (with Ms. Sullivan) classes are participating in this multi-faceted program.

They Write the Songs….

What is that wondrous sound coming from the auditorium? Well, if it”s Wednesday, it must be Songwriting with Mr. John Bellia of Marquis Studios. I don’t want to give away too much, but the students who are participating in this program are composing some incredible lyrics and together with Mr. John are putting their words to music. The talent of the students is amazing! They’ll be performing their creations in March, so watch for the coming events – you don’t want to miss it! Students from Ms. Madino, Ms. DiMeo, Ms. Brassfield, Ms. Caputo, Mr. Mac, Ms. Vivaldi, Mr. Reich and Ms. Cunningham’s classes are doing a tremendous job!

What’s Goin’ On? The weekend update January 15, 2010

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr! There is much to see and do in and around NYC, no matter what you want to do! Check out some of these top picks for the week:

Amazing opportunity to enjoy world renowned musicians in a fabulous setting!  Visit this link for $6 tickets for Carnegie Kids Concerts:http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/explore_and_learn/art_carnegieKids.html
Saturdays @ the Dwyer, a daytime series, is the “Open House” where the whole family can enjoy a full day of simultaneous arts events and programs, from music to visual arts workshops, they have it all.  The center is kicking off a month long celebration of the life of Harlem visionary and community activist Percy E. Sutton.  Admission is free.  Visit here for more details:info@dwyercc.org

The Staten Island Children’s Museum has loads of activities for the whole family to partake of this weekend and particularly on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Visit http://statenislandkids.org/ for more information.

The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra: Peter & The Wolf–Financial District, Manhattan
The World Financial Center puts on this performance of Musical tales and Adventures: Peter and the Wolf & Voyage in the New World, narrated by Neil Gaiman, in the gorgeous WFC Winter Garden. FREE Visit:www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com for a calendar of events and further information.

Feel like doing some projects at home, but need some ideas?  Try the Crayola website for some inspiration and ideas:http://www.crayola.com/creative-fun/

Have a great weekend!

What’s Goin’ On? This week’s top picks….

The weather outside is frightful and cold – but don’t let that hold you back – check out things to do, including where to get a great hot chocolate:

Check out MOMA on Thursday nights when they are open late.www.moma.org/visit/plan

Rubin Art Museum in Cheslsea is free on Fridays! Check out http://www.nyc-arts.org/events/6545/free-fridays

Museum of Chinese in America has free admission on Thursdays all day long! http://www.mocanyc.org/

Check out the best places to get hot chocolate in the city :http://www.uptake.com/travelinsights100/ultimate-hot-chocolate-crawl-the-22-best-hot-cocoas-in-new-york-city/

Queens Museum of Art is a great place to visit.  The museum offers free Family Drop-in Art Workshops as a means to develop art skills through a variety of materials and themes. This Sunday, January 10, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm, 2010, the museum has chosen transportation in the city as the theme.  For details: http://www.queensmuseum.org/free-drop-in-art-workshops-for-families-city-transportation

Whatever you choose to do – stay warm, be safe, and have fun!

Giorgio Armani Sends Holiday Greetings to Students at P373R

Giorgio Armani at home in Milan, Italy with artwork by P373R students.

Before the holiday break students at P373R were the recipients of some very special holiday greetings, straight from Milan, Italy!  Mr. Giorgio Armani, internationally acclaimed fashion designer, sent framed, personalized greetings to each of the 134 students who sent him a card in March of 2009 in a display of gratitude for the designer’s monetary gift to the Arts in Public Schools Fund.  While we were not direct recipients of funds, it is important to remember that without funding there is no art program in any of our schools, so that his gift becomes very important in the message that it sends to the world – that the arts do count.  Our students created individual miniature original artworks and then wrote messages to Mr. Armani, which were sent to him in Milan by his director of public relations, Ms. Molnar.  The messages, which were heartfelt declarations by many of the children about the importance of the arts in their lives, struck such a chord with Mr. Armani that he arranged them into a huge collage which we are told is hanging in his home office in Milan.  To show his love of their work he photographed himself with the framed artwork and sent greetings of “Buon Natale” (Merry Christmas) in leather Armani Casa frames, which were gift wrapped for each student.  Mr. Armani has shown New York what the arts mean to him by his benevolent gesture to the Fund and more importantly, what our children’s art means to him.  Grazie Signor Armani!

VSA “Murals on Parade” at the Queens Museum

Ms. Bernstein, Ms. Seminara and Ms. London at VSA Murals on Parade 2010

Three murals from PS373s main building are on display at the Queens Museum of Art through January 6, 2010.  The works, which were created for the Very Special Arts Festival in May of 2009, were featured in an exhibition at the museum and have been visited by students, families and other interested museum goers over the past several days.  A Welcome Celebration was held on Tuesday, January 5th and was hosted by Ms. Bebe Bernstein, Director of VSA, during which certificates were awarded to the schools whose murals were chosen for the VSA NYC 2010 Calendar.  Congratulations once more to the students of Ms. Leston, Ms. Vivaldi, and Ms. Gundersen, who created the murals.  Special recognition to Ms. Leston’s students, creators of Celebrate Friendship on being chosen as the image for Febraury 2010.  The murals will now move on to the State house in Albany where they will be on exhibit.  After that?  On to Washington, DC for one mural from our state.  VSA arts is an educational Affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  I cannot wait to work with classes on the 2010 projects for VSA in May!

What’s Goin’ On? This week’s top picks to see or do!

Happy Hanukkah! the Holiday Season is in full swing and even though we are all busy, it’s great to take a break and check out some of the sights, sounds and offerings of the season all around the city. Here are some of my top picks for this week:

Museum of the City of New York has great exhibits and is free on Sunday mornings before noon.  http://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/103/museum-of-the-city-of-new-york

Sonatenabend at Juilliard: Musicians from the school’s Collaborative Piano Department perform sonata repertoire in collaboration with student instrumentalists. Thursday.  Free!
http://www.nyc-arts.org/events/6304/sonatenabend

ZigZag Quartet at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center: In addition to performing their own arrangements and works written especially for the quartet, the group’s musical palette is colored with Baroque, jazz and Latin American music. Thursday.  Also Free!
http://www.nyc-arts.org/events/6244/zigzag-quartet

Online Hanukkah guide from the Jewish Museum.  Celebrate with activities, offerings and even online greetings!  Check out the Jewish Museum website for more info! http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/Hanukkah2009

At the Brooklyn Museum participate in “ArtyFacts” for ages 4 through 7, on saturdays or Sundays at 11am and 2pm, just one of the many ongoing events at this family friendly museum!  For the adults there is a fabulous exhibit, “Who Shot rock and Roll”, which I highly recommend!  Check out the website for more! http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

Closer to home, at Historic Richmondtown there will be candlelight tours which begin this week.  http://www.historicrichmondtown.org/

Peter and The Wolf, Prokofiev’s operetta for children will be performed at the Guggenheim Museum, narrated by Isaac Mizrahi, it promises to be a wonderful event.  For more info on the performances and exhibit currently on view, such as the phenomenal Kandinsky, visit: http://www.guggenheim.org/

Even if all you do is get outside and take in some of the sights and people watch, there is so much to see and do!  Enjoy your weekend in the greatest city in the world!

Greece Is The Word!

Amphora by Ahmahd

Krater

Dinosa

We learned about three different types of Greek urns. They were called Amphora, Krater and Dinosa. These urns were used as prizes, similar to our modern day trophies. Greece is a country in Europe. Greek people participated in a lot of athletic games. Greece is the birth place of the Olympic games. The Urns were depicted as having images of the sport that the were being rewarded for. For example at a track and field event, the urn would have picture of people running on it. Chariot races would reap a trophy with that image. The urns were carefully and thoughtfully crafted, they were hand made out of terracotta and images were desig

Celebrate Friendship Mural Chosen for 2010 VSA Calendar!!

A mural done by students in Ms. Leston’s class for the Very Special Arts Festival in May 2009 has been selected for the VSA 2010 Murals calendar and will appear as the image for the month of February. The artwork, which is a paper mosaic was created entirely out of small scraps of reclaimed paper, making it not only attractive, but GREEN too! The artwork will travel with the other VSA murals to the Queens Museum of Art where they will all be displayed in January, then on to Albany later in the spring for an exhibit in our state capital. Great work everyone!