This Web site has been designed to assist you in using the art and architecture in New York City’s public schools, and perhaps your own school, as an educational resource. As you will discover, the built environment often tells the social and political story of our city, region, and nation, and provides valuable connections to your classroom curriculum. We hope that as you look through the site, you are inspired to learn more and find ways to use the art and architecture in our schools as a resource for teaching and learning.
The Public Art for Public Schools Web site includes an illustrated database of the entire collection of art in New York City’s school buildings, background information on time periods and artworks, as well as lesson connections. You can search the collection by school, artist’s name, theme, or era to find artwork that will enrich your classroom teaching. Clicking on the time period tab will take you to a page that describes each time period as it relates to the art that was being installed in the schools and is also where you will find Lesson Connections.
The Lesson Connections have been created to provide a direct bridge between New York State Learning Standards and the New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts to the art and architecture found in our schools. These are not fully developed lessons, but can serve as a starting point for you to think about how to use public art and architecture as part of your everyday curriculum. You will also find links to websites that provide additional background and curriculum ideas.
If you need more information, would like to contribute lesson ideas, or have feedback and/or pictures from some of our lesson ideas that you have tried in your own classroom please e-mail us, we'd love to hear from you.