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Arts and Education

Since its founding in 1969, The Touchstone Center has made its arts and education programming a primary commitment. Beginning with its first major residency at PS 9 in Manhattan to subsequent residencies at various public schools throughout New York City, the Center has been concerned with implementing programs that use as their basis elemental themes and images derived from the natural world and the nature that is ourselves. Over the years the Center has explored with children and teachers, often on a multi-year basis, themes such as Humankind: The First Artisans; Realms of the Sea, Sky and Earth; In The Spirit of Play and most recently, Speakings: The Many Voices of Language.

Generally residencies consist of seven to fifteen weekly sessions within classrooms conducted by a team of artists working in a variety of mediums emphasizing the interplay, not only across writing, the visual arts and drama, but the arts and sciences. Prior to each residency a series of intensive workshops for participating teachers is provided so that they may fully understand and involve themselves in the residency in their classrooms. A major focus throughout the Center's residencies is the unique role of each person's imagination reflecting upon, connecting and ultimately expressing, through various art forms, the infinite relations and threads of specific themes and images.

The Play of Playing Project:
How the Arts Come Alive
Spring, 2008

An eight session residency, under the direction of Richard Lewis, consisting of weekly workshops with visual artists Noah Baen and Kathy Cruetzburg for children in the 3rd Grade from the Children’s Workshop School and the East Village Community School, in which Touchstone Center teaching artists representing music, drama, movement, the visual arts and poetry - will demonstrate how play and playing are a profound part of what makes the arts come alive. Children will reflect upon this relationship by creating their own images and writings to be incorporated into tiles to be incorporated into a large mural, The Play of Playing, designed and constructed by Noah Baen and Kathy Cruetzburg for the outdoor playground of both schools. Additional guest teaching artists in the residency will include Clea Rivera and Harry Mann of the Touchstone Center Theatre Ensemble. The workshops will take place in collaboration with - and in the art-rooms of Roberta Valentine of the East Village Community School and Gary Morston of the Children’s Workshop School.

The Sound and Movement,
Word and Image Project,
Spring, 2007

An eight-week residency program at the East Village Community School, in which Harry Mann, Clea Rivera and Richard Lewis of The Touchstone Center Theatre Ensemble, in collaboration with the school’s Art Teacher, Roberta Valentine, explored with two classes of children the beginnings of language and the depth of music, gestures and imagery within our words.

Beginning with a performance of Each Sky Has Its Words each session of the residency used improvisation, dramatization, listening, writing and art to uncover the languages of the natural world – and how these languages influenced our own creation of words and their meanings. At the end of the residency booklets of writings, drawings and artwork by the children were shared in a day celebrating the delight – and marvel of our language making.

The Tree of Knowing Garden Project
2006 - East Village Communtiy School (Manhattan)

 Beginning in the winter of 2006, the current major Arts and Education project of the Center will be The Tree of Knowing Garden Project. Under the direction of Richard Lewis, in collaboration with the Center’s artists, Claudia Keel, Kathy Creutzburg and Noah Baen – and the staff, children and parents of the East Village Community School, the Center is planning to rehabilitate an inner courtyard of the school so that it will become a space in which children and all members of the community can enjoy as a learning resource for imaginative thinking and reflection.

The overall plan of the rehabilitation of this space is to extend the Center’s two year theme of The Tree of Knowing Project – which was successfully brought to fruition in conjunction with Julie Kirkpatrick in her art room with four classes from the school during the academic years of 2002 - 2003 and 2003 -2004 respectively.  The extending of the theme of The Tree of Knowing Project will be focused on the diversity of life and natural events that live in and around The Tree of Knowing. Working with six classes in the school, each of the three artists will encourage children to express their ideas and imagery in relation to the living world surrounding the Tree of Knowing – which will be a large steel sculpture by Kathy Creutzburg. Using the mediums of writing, clay and two dimensional drawings – all three artists will incorporate and translate the children’s work into the sculpture of The Tree of Knowing, murals for the walls of the courtyard, and two stationary flower beds.

The garden was finished in the Fall of 2006  and dedicated on October 19th, 2006. For further information about the completed Tree of Knowing Garden please go to Upcoming Activities.

To review the Center's recent projects, click here.

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