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Sketching Classes, Walking Tours, and Graffiti Inspired Family Activities Offer Fun Ways to Learn about New York City This Summer @ The Museum City of New York
Posted July 14, 2014
The Museum of the City of New York announces a diverse line-up of adult and family programs for July and August 2014. Highlights include a talk with Cey Adams, the founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings; sketching classes on the City Museum’s Fifth Avenue terrace; and a family program for kids to decorate a brand new bike helmet with imagery inspired by the City As Canvas exhibition.
Monday, July 7, and Saturday, August 9 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to see City As Canvas: Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection and then help them mimic the stylized writing seen in the artists’ sketchbooks to create their own flipbook. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Thursday, July 10 and Saturday, August 2 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to see the work of famed graffiti artist Keith Haring in the City As Canvas exhibition and then help them create their own coloring book with prints of Haring’s popular artwork. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Saturday, July 12 and Monday, August 4 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to see the vibrant canvases and photographs in the City As Canvas exhibition and then help them create colorful collages that represent their individual style. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Monday, July 14 and Saturday, July 19 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to see the colorful work of the graffiti writers in the City As Canvas exhibition, then help them use those techniques and styles to create their own CD covers, just like some of the graffiti artists did in the 1980s. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Innovators: The Engineering and Design of Tall Buildings
Wednesday, July 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Join Nadine Post, award-winning journalist and editor-at-large for Engineering News-Record, and other leading innovators for a roundtable discussion on how architects and engineers are tackling issues presented by buildings that exceed 100 stories. Panelists include structural engineer Bill Baker, partner at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill; mechanical engineer Ashok Raiji, principal and Americas Property Market Chair at ARUP; architect Paul Katz, managing principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox; and architect Rafael Viñoly, founder of Rafael Viñoly Architects. Presented in conjunction with Palaces for the People. RSVP required. Free for Museum and AIA members; $12 students/seniors; $16 general public.Soaring Vaults, Soaring Voices: Music from Guastavino's Spain
Thursday, July 17 at 6:30 p.m.
Join Spanish soprano Amaya Arberas and Peruvian classical guitarist David Galvez as they perform music by Iberian composers Isaac Albeniz, Manuel de Falla, and Miguel Llobet, which celebrates the Mediterranean roots of Valencian-born master builder Rafael Guastavino. Presented in conjunction with Palaces for the People. RSVP required. $20 for Museum members; $30 general public.
Thursday, July 17 and Thursday, August 7 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids for a fun family activity exploring the architectural wonders of Guastavino tile vaulting. Get inspired by Palaces for the People, and then help the little ones design their own tile pattern. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Monday, July 21 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to see the City As Canvas exhibition and then help them apply the colors and techniques of the graffiti writers to create a magnet representing their own style. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
On the Terrace: Sketch and Sip
Thursdays: July 10, 24, and 31 at 6:00 p.m.
Put pencil to paper and relax with drinks on the Museum’s elegant Fifth Avenue terrace, overlooking the Central Park Conservatory Gardens. A professional artist will guide participants through the techniques of sketching architectural details (July 10), the natural world (July 24), and people (July 31). Open to participants ages 21 and up; includes use of materials and two drinks. Reservations and pre-payment required. $20/session or $50/3 sessions for Museum members, students, and seniors; $25/session or $65/3 sessions for all others.
Thursday, July 24 and Saturday, August 16 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to see the fun and eclectic work of the graffiti writers in the City As Canvas exhibition and then help them apply the stylized writing to the Museum’s Fifth Avenue sidewalk with chalk. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Saturday, July 26 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to see the Activist New York exhibition and learn about how New Yorkers are speaking up for safer streets for cyclists and pedestrians. Then help them decorate a brand new bike helmet (provided on a first-come, first-served basis) with stylized writing and imagery inspired by the City As Canvas exhibition. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
In a World of Their Own: Coney Island Photographs by Aaron Rose, 1961-1963: Gallery TourSunday, July 27 at 1:00 p.m.
Join Sean Corcoran, the City Museum’s Curator of Prints and Photographs, to discover the story behind Aaron Rose’s Coney Island photographs—each capturing beachgoers of all ages, ethnicities, and walks of life, while they remain in a zone of privacy. Also, learn about Rose’s innovative use of early color technology. Free with admission. RSVP required.
Monday, July 28 and Thursday, August 14 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, help the kids put away the smartphone cameras—the earliest photographers used daguerreotypes and glass plate negatives. Learn about the City Museum’s photography collection, then create sun prints using blue cyanotype paper. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Thursday, July 31 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Parents, bring the kids to admire the soaring arches and domes of architectural marvels like Grand Central Station and Saint John the Divine in the Palaces for the People exhibition, then help them build their own dome. Free with admission. No RSVP required.
Guastavino Fireproof Construction: A Midtown Walking Tour (sold out)
Saturday, August 9 at 2:00 p.m.
Historian John Simko will lead a walking tour through the Oyster Bar, St. Bartholomew’s Church, a public bath house, and the 59th Street Bridge Market. Explore an underground vaulted passageway and visit a fake Guastavino. Presented in conjunction with Palaces for the People. Reservations and pre-payment required. $25 for Museum members; $35 general public.
In a World of Their Own: Coney Island Photographs by Aaron Rose, 1961-1963: Gallery Tour
Wednesday, August 18 at 3:00 p.m.
Join Sean Corcoran, the City Museum’s Curator of Prints and Photographs, to discover the story behind Aaron Rose’s Coney Island photographs—each capturing beachgoers of all ages, ethnicities, and walks of life, while they remain in a zone of privacy. Also, learn about Rose’s innovative use of early color technology. Free with admission. RSVP required.
Stations of the Elevated: New York Graffiti on Film
Thursday, August 14 at 6:30 p.m.
Join legendary filmmaker Manfred Kirchheimer for a film screening of his unnarrated 45-minute film “Stations of the Elevated,” with music by Charles Mingus and Aretha Franklin, which explores graffiti as a reaction to the city’s social and economic crisis in the 1970s. Presented in conjunction with City As Canvas. Free for Museum members; $12 students/seniors; $16 general public.
About the Museum of the City of New York
Founded in 1923 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the Museum of the City of New York celebrates and interprets the city, educating the public about its distinctive character, especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation. The Museum connects the past, present, and future of New York City, and serves the people of the city as well as visitors from around the world through exhibitions, school and public programs, publications, and collections. Visit www.mcny.org to learn more.
NOW ON VIEW City As Canvas
Tuesday, February 4 to Sunday, August 24, 2014
The first-ever exhibition of graffiti art from the Martin Wong Collection.
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