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What is Art? 2012

What: An artist-in-residency program

Who: Three early childhood centers

When: Spring 2012

Where: Mid-Bronx Headstart, BronxWorks Early Childhood Center, P.S. 114

 

Program Description: What is Art? debuted in Spring 2012 by connecting 250 children and their families from three local day care centers to three local artists showing their art at the Andrew Freedman Home in collaboration with No Longer Empty and the Bronx Arts Alliance. 

 

In April of 2012, the Bronx Children’s Museum collaborated with No Longer Empty, a not-for-profit arts organization that widens the audience for contemporary art through temporary site-specific exhibitions in vacated spaces throughout New York City. The pilot program brought together local Bronx artists from the exhibition This Side of Paradise at the Andrew Freedman Home, together with three early childhood centers in the South Bronx: Mid Bronx Headstart, BronxWorks Early Childhood Center and Public School 114: The Luis Llorens Torres School. Museum educators and This Side of Paradise artists provided four distinct experiences through ten classes for children from ages 4-8 years old including school and early childhood group tours, family workshops and family tours of the art show. The exchange exposed children and their caregivers to art and professional artists in a welcoming, intimate, and dynamic setting.

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TESTIMONIES

“For many young children at Mid-Bronx Head Start, this may be their first experience with art. Not only do they gain an understanding and appreciation for the technical aspects of the artistic process, but art allows them to express their thoughts and emotions through a safe and creative medium. Through this expression, parents and caregivers develop a deeper understanding of their child. With the "What is Art?" program, The Bronx Children's Museum has provided a much-needed outlet for the vast artistic potential found among the children of Mid-Bronx Head Start.”

― Monique van Putten, Director, Mid-Bronx Head Start

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