Bronx, NY, March 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wave Hill’s Family Art Project, celebrating 30 years of free, weekend programming this month, is designed for experimentation and freedom of expression. Its informal, open-ended format combines storytelling, excursions outdoors and art-making, looking to nature as teacher. This is as true today as it was three decades ago when the first generation of families wandered into the Kerlin Learning Center to ignite their imaginations.
Community and Caring Evolve Naturally
Families come and return, again and again, over time evolving naturally into a community. Drawn together by art-making, families and staff form a welcoming space, for creativity and for caring—for the natural environment and for all living things.
“The Family Art Project is the beating heart of Wave Hill,” is how Wave Hill President and Executive Director Karen Meyerhoff describes the program. “It brings together the primary elements that drive all we do here. The most beloved experience in this much loved place, it teaches people of all ages—families—about nature and how to care for it with a holistic approach to learning and a boundless spirit of shared creativity.”
Each weekend’s free, drop-in project is developed by Wave Hill’s education staff, supported by a team of storytellers, artists and paid youth interns. The interns, our Arts, Community and Environmental Stewards, commit to working alongside Wave Hill educators for a full year, learning the socio-emotional and professional skills needed for careers in arts education and community building. Comments current ACES intern Ahna Pultinas, “There is something unique that comes from a child being nurtured by art. From a young age, to be enveloped in such a creative world that is hands-on and supportive is an incredibly valuable thing. I love being a part of this community where we support this nurturing through art.”
Restore and Re-story Quilts: A Birthday Project
A special Family Art Project takes place on March 14 and 15 to commemorate the anniversary.
SAT, SUN March 14, 15, 2020, 10AM‒1PM
Celebrate our 30th birthday with us! At this special Family Art Project, plant your story in our collective story quilt and honor your unique relationship with the land that holds us. Together we’ll take inspiration from the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer as we consider how caring for the land starts with restoring our relationship to it. Join in photographing family faces and nature spaces, then layer them on bundle-dyed quilt squares. Free with admission to the grounds.
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The Family Art Project is supported by the Barker Welfare Foundation; Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Stavros Niarchos Foundation; and Sarah and Geoffrey Gund. Wave Hill Incorporated is an independent non-profit cultural institution governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The buildings and grounds of Wave Hill are owned by the City of New York. With the assistance of the Bronx Borough President and Bronx representatives in the City Council and State Legislature; Wave Hill’s operations are supported with public funds through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the Zoos; Botanical Gardens and Aquariums Grant Program administered by the New York State Office of Parks; Recreation and Historic Preservation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
A 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, Wave Hill’s mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscapes, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts.
HOURS: Open all year, Tuesday–Sunday and many major holidays: 9AM–5:30PM; Nov 1–Mar 14, closes 4:30PM.
ADMISSION TO THE GROUNDS: $10 adults, $6 students and seniors 65+, $4 children 6-18. Free Tuesdays and Saturdays until noon. Free to members, children under 6.
DIRECTIONS: Getting here is easy! Located only 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, Wave Hill’s free shuttle van transports you to and from our front gate and Metro-North’s Riverdale station, the W. 242 Street stop on the #1 subway line, and to and from our free offsite parking lot. Onsite parking is temporarily closed for renovations. Complete directions and shuttle van schedule at wavehill.org.
Follow us on: Wave Hill website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Wave Hill, 675 W 252 Street, Bronx, NY 10471
Phone: 718.549.3200
Fax: 718.884.8952
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