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• Fall 2005 Activities
• Winter/Spring 2005 Activities
• The Necessity of Childhood
• Summer, Fall Exhibitions and Workshops, 2004
• Cave: An Evocation of the Beginnings of Art (Summer 2004)
• The Bird of Imagining (Fall 2004)
• First Conversation (Fall 2004)
• Spring 2004 Workshops
• Spring Workshops and Exhibitions: 2003
• Educational Projects: 2001-2002
• Learning and The Imaginative Experience

Activities Fall, 2005

Roots, Leaves and Branches:
Raices, Hojas y Ramas

Family Art Project featuring a performance based on the book A Tree Lives by Richard Lewis and illustrated by Noah Baen by The Touchstone Center Theatre Ensemble and published by Touchstone Center Publications - followed by a workshop for children with Noah Baen.

Wave Hill
675 West 252 Street
Bronx , NY 10471

1 PM and 2:30 PM
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Sunday, October 16, 2005

For further information:
718-549-3200
www.wavehill.org

The Rain is Making a New World:
Listening for the Poetry of Childhood

Workshop with Richard Lewis
New York City Association for the Education of Young Children Conference

City College
138 Street and Convent Ave.
New York, NY 10031

10:30 AM-12;30 PM
Saturday, October 22, 2005

For further information:
www.nycaeyc.org

Celebrating the Known, Imagining the Unknown:
Artist-Teachers and the Sustaining of Another Side of Learning

Workshop with Richard Lewis
Face to Face Conference
NYC Arts in Education Roundtable

Riverside Church
490 Riverside Ave.
New York , NY 10027

10:15 AM to 11:45 AM
Friday, October 28, 2005

For further information:
www.aieroundtable.org

A Tree Lives:
Working with Images of the Natural World
To Deepen Imaginative Understanding

Workshop with Richard Lewis
Conference of NYC Art Teachers Association/United Federation of Teachers

LaGuardia High School
100 Amsterdam Ave.
New York , NY

9 AM to 10:15 AM
Saturday, October 29, 2005

For further information:
www.uft.org

Say Snow,
And It Will Snow Forever

Reading and Workshop for Children with Richard Lewis

Poet’s House
72 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012

11 AM to 1 PM
Saturday, December 10, 2005

For further information:
212-431-7920
www.poetshouse.org

Winter/Spring 2005 Activities

The Dialogue of the Imagination
Continuation of conversations and arts workshops for faculty and students around the centrality of the imagination. This year’s theme, Seeing and The Light of Imagining will feature Arthur Zajonc, author of Catching the Light: The Entwined History of Light and Mind.

Townsend Harris High School
Flushing, New York
January 31st and March 1st

The Bird of Imagining
Exhibition and teacher workshop based on recent Touchstone Center publication, The Bird of Imagining.
Weeks Gallery
Jamestown Community College
Jamestown, New York
(716) 665-5220
February 4th-March 12th

Air Water Light
Continuation of the Center’s Arts and Education residency at the East Village Community School - exploring the varied spaces of natural phenomena and their relationship to the imagination.

East Village Community School
610 East 12th Street
(212) 982-0682
February-May

Spoken Through Roots Again
As part of Judy Hoffman’s exhibition, Off Spring, a reading by Richard Lewis of poems inspired by the natural world.

Ceres Gallery
Suite 201
547 West 27th Street
(212) 947-6100
Thursday, February 17th
7:30 PM

When Thought is Young
Full day workshop with Richard Lewis on the importance of the imagination and its expression in childhood learning and understanding.

New Perspectives Program
Bank Street College of Education
610 West 112th Street
(212) 875-4649
Saturday, March 19th

The Bird of Imagining
Exhibition based on Touchstone Center’s recent publication, plus teacher and arts educator workshops.

Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch Library
Greensboro, North Carolina
(336) 373-2923
April 8th-May 8th

Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World
Whitsett, North Carolina
(336) 449-0612
April 9th-April 12th

Everything Sings, Everything Dances
A reading and workshop for children by Richard Lewis of poems celebrating the marvel and surprise that is Spring

Poets House
72 Spring Street
(212) 431-7920
Saturday, May 21st,
11 AM -1 PM

In The Space of the Sky
Performance by Touchstone Center Theatre Ensemble with Clea Rivera and Harry Mann based on In The Space of the Sky by Richard Lewis and illustrated by Debra Frasier - followed by family art workshop conducted by Noah Baen.

Wave Hill
675 West 252nd Street
(718) 549-3200
June 4th - June 5th, 1 - 3 PM

The Necessity of Childhood


A series of informal conversations, presented in association with the Bank Street College New Perspectives Program and Wave Hill, centered on the importance of strengthening the intuitive, imaginative and expressive capacities of childhood, and the role they play in children's learning and understanding. The series will be moderated by Richard Lewis.

The Child as Child

A conversation on the instinctive abilities of children to explore their worlds through their play and imaginative creations. The conversation will feature William Crain, author of Reclaiming Childhood, and Barbara Feinberg, author of Welcome to Lizard Motel: Children, Stories and the Mystery of Making Things Up.

Saturday, March 5, 2005
Bank Street College
610 West 112th Street
(212) 875-4649
10 to 12 PM

The Play of Imagining

A conversation based on the ideas of the eminent French philosopher, Gaston Bachelard, author of The Poetics of Reverie: Childhood, Language and the Cosmos. The conversation will feature Joanne Stroud, editor of the Gaston Bachelard Translation Series of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, and Susan Kinsolving, poet, teacher and author of The White Eyelash.

Saturday, May 7, 2005
Bank Street College
610 West 112th Street
(212) 875-4649
10 to 12 PM

The Unfolding of Nature

A conversation with Noah Baen, Leader of Wave Hill's Family Art Project, and Tom Goodridge, Director of The Garden Project, PS 76 (Manhattan) on the need of children to participate, imaginatively and artistically, in the natural world. Participants are welcome to observe a family art workshop in the afternoon centered around a performance by The Touchstone Center Theatre Ensemble of In the Space of the Sky, based on the book written by Richard Lewis and illustrated by Debra Frasier.

Saturday, June 4, 2005
Wave Hill
675 West 252nd Street
(718) 549-3200
10 to 12 PM

Registration
To register, please complete and mail the form in the brochure (pdf) or by completing and mailing the web form.

Single admission: $10 per conversation
$25 for entire series

Because of limited seating reservations must be made two weeks prior to any program.

All reservations will be acknowledged when received.

For further information please call:
The Touchstone Center
212-831-7717
rlewis212@aol.com

Summer, Fall Exhibitions and Workshops, 2004

CAVE: An Evocation of the Beginnings of Art
Exhibition based on recent book by Richard Lewis, illustrated by Elizabeth Crawford and photographed by George Hirose, published by Touchstone Center Publications.

August 5 -August 30, 2004
The Word and Image Gallery,
Treadwell, New York
(607) 829-5055

Spring 2004 Workshops

When Thought Is Young: Imaginative Worlds of Childhood (Ages 3-9)
March 27, 2004 (TEWS631N)

The Center's director, Richard Lewis, will be giving a full day workshop at the Bank Street College of Education on Saturday, March 27, 2004, from 9:30 to 5 PM as part of the New Perspectives series at the College.

This workshop will help participants recognize the qualities of their own imaginations as a prelude to helping children identify and express their imaginative worlds. Working with various natural materials we will explore how it is possible to perceive them - imaginatively and expressively - through art, writing and dramatic play.

In addition, we will look at children's original art and writing, in order to deepen our discussions on the ways children use their imaginative and poetic worlds to create, both for themselves and others, meaningful learning and understanding.

For registration materials and information please contact the New Perspectives Office at 212-875-4649 or continuinged@bankstreet.edu.

Spring Workshops and Exhibitions: 2003

The Imagining Garden: Developing a Curriculum of Nature and the Imagination
A workshop conducted by Claudia Keel based on the work of The Touchstone Center.
Growtogether Conference, Hostos Community College, March 22.

The Voice of the Tree: The Poetic Imagination
A full day workshop with Cecilia Vicuña as guest speaker.
The Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement, April 6.

The Tree of Knowing
A performance and workshop as part of the Family Art Project based on a poem by Richard Lewis with art by Noah Baen and musical accompaniment by Harry Mann.
Wave Hill, Kerlin Learning Center, April 26th and 27th.

Sing Your Song Looking Up at the Sky
A reading and workshop for children and their families based on recent books by Richard Lewis.
Poets House, May 31st.
In addition an exhibition of The Bird of Imagining(Touchstone Center Publications), featuring artwork and poetry by children from New York City Public Schools, will be on display from April 5th through May 31st.
For further information: 212-431-7920 or www.poetshouse.org

Educational Projects: 2001-2002

The Bird of Imagining

In conjunction with the Children's Workshop School in District 1 of Manhattan, the Center collaborated in the creation of a steel sculpture, The Bird of Imagining, which was dedicated on June 13th, 2002 in Sauer Park on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (12th Street between Avenues A and B) and is presently on view until June 2003. The sculpture, created by Kathy Creutzburg is based on poem by Richard Lewis from the forthcoming Touchstone Center publication, The Bird of Imagining - and is made up of over 200 wooden feathers painted by all the children from the Children's Workshop School. Creation of the wooden feathers was under the direction of Touchstone Center teaching-artist, Claudia Keel.

As part of the publication of The Bird of Imagining by Touchstone Center Publications (Fall, 2002), the Children's Museum of the Arts will exhibit all the original art work from the book, created by children from New York City public schools. This exhibition of The Bird of Imagining will be from October 10th 2002 through December of 2002.

The Bird of Imagining: An Exhibition

The Children's Museum of the Arts in lower Manhattan will be exhibiting the artwork bv children from New York City public schools from the Center's publication, The Bird of Imagining, from October 17th - December 29th.

The opening reception will take place on October 17th from 4-6 PM and will feature:

Dance performance at 6 PM by Nancy Allison accompanied with music played by Harry Mann.

Showing of a video by Geoffrey Jones based on The Bird of Imagining.

Introduction of map by Kathy Creutzburg, In Search of The Bird of Imagining: A Bird's EyeWalk from the Children's Museum to Sauer Park.

Additional workshops for Children and Parents based on The Bird of Imagining exhibit are scheduled for:

October 19th 12-5PM and October 20th, 12-5PM - Imagining bird drawings
November 7 - 4-6PM - Storytelling and artmaking with Richard Lewis and Julie Kabat
November 9th 12-5PM and November 10th, 12-5PM - Poetry w/word college
December 7th 12-5PM and December 8th 12-5PM - Special artmaking

For further information about the exhibit and workshops:

The Children's Museum of the Arts
82 Lafayette Street
New York, New York 10013
(212) 274-0986
www.cmany.org

The Dialogue of the Imagination

Begun in the Fall of 2001, the Touchstone Center initiated its major three year project, The Dialogue of the Imagination, in collaboration with the College Preparatory Programs at Queens College and Townsend Harris High School. Designed as a series of seminars and conversations with students and teachers from Townsend Harris, The Dialogue of the Imagination engages scholars and practitioners from different disciplines, such as science, the arts, history and education, to share their understanding of the necessity of the imaginative process in order to demonstrate the role of the imagination in all aspects of learning and teaching. Speakers and schedule for the first year were:

Overview workshop/discussion with all participants: October 19th, 2001

The Artistic Imagination with Ellen Dissanayake, author of What Is Art For?
November 6, 2001

The Historic Imagination with Calvin Martin, author of The Way of the Human Being
January 28, 2002

Concluding dialogue with all participants
March 25, 2002

For the second year of the project the guest speakers will be:

The Scientific Imagination with Ursula Goodenough, author of The Sacred Depth of Nature
November 5, 2002.

The Mythic Imagination with Melissa Heckler, editor of Who Says? Essays on Pivotal Issues in Contemporary Storytelling
January 31, 2003

Explorations in Imaginative Thought

Taking place at the Abrons Arts Center of the Henry Street Settlement in New York City, this two-year series of discussions and participatory workshops for educators will be exploring the various strains of imaginative thought that have been important in the development of Touchstone Center's work with children and teachers since its inception in 1969. During the first year of the project in the winter of 2002, the following workshops and their speakers took place:

Drawn on Stone: The Paleolithic Imagination with Calvin Martin
Sunday, January 27, 2002, 10 to 4 PM

Singing to the Sky: The Indigenous Imagination with Melissa Heckler
Sunday, March 10, 2002, 10 to 4 PM

Workshops for the second year of this project in 2003 are:

Listening To Waters: The Intuitive Imagination with David Rothenberg
Sunday, January 26, 2003
10 to 4 PM

The Voice of the Tree: The Poetic Imagination with Cecilia Vicuna
Sunday, April 6, 2003
10 to 4 PM

To register for these workshops, please email The Touchstone Center, rlewis212@aol.com or phone the Center at 212-831-7717.

Workshops to be Given in the Fall of 2002 by Richard Lewis

The Bird of Imagining: Developing A Thematic Residency of Imaginative Thought, 1:30 to 3 PM, October 26, 2002, Face to Face, New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, Riverside Church. For further information (212) 642-5979 or www.nycaieroundtable.org

The Poetry of Imagining: A Workshop for Elementary Teachers and School Librarians, 10 to 12 PM, December 14th, 2002, Central Children's Room, Donnell Library Center. For further information (212) 621-0252

Learning and The Imaginative Experience

The Touchstone Center is pleased to announce a series of new programs focused upon supporting the role of the imaginative experience within learning. These programs have grown out of the Center's concern with the importance of preserving the life of the imagination in a time when many educational priorities are shifting away from the need of all children to express themselves through their inherent imaginative abilities.

It is the Center's belief that learning is most meaningful when a child's imagination is engaged and recognized as crucial to a deeper understanding and use of knowledge - in all its variety and complexity. In addition the Center advocates the primary role of the imagination as an inherent biological process - contiguous with the child's instinctive desire to learn.

The programs the Center are offering will act as a means for teachers, parents and children to be supported, through a variety of interdisciplinary projects and programs, that can be initiated by different persons in a variety of learning and educational settings. The series is divided into four distinct programs: Special Projects, The Consulting Program, The Professional Development Program, and The Weekend Workshop Series. Funding is available, through matching grants provided by the Center, for interested persons and schools.

Special Projects

The aim of the Special Projects Program is to work with an individual teacher in a school interested in exploring a long term thematic project based on the Touchstone Center's on-going exploration in imaginative thought and expression. Projects will be developed collaboratively with the teacher, and will involve a member of the Center's staff working with the teacher's classroom for a total of six visits. Two other planning meetings with the participating classroom teacher will also be scheduled.

The Consulting Program

The aim of the Consulting Program is to support projects initiated by classroom teachers who are concerned with sustaining the imaginative experience as vital to all aspects of learning. The role of the consultant would be to help teachers identify how the overall process can be given structure and meaning; to act as a stimulus and catalyst for aspects of the process within the classroom; and to reflect with teachers on the overall impact of the project on the life of children and the significant learnings that took place. Seven meetings in total.

Professional Development Program

The aim of the Professional Development Program is to offer after-school workshops to help teachers and other persons who work with and care for children, the opportunity of exploring, with the staff of the Touchstone Center, the imaginative life of children within a variety of educational settings. These workshops, which can be shaped according to the needs of individual schools and institutions, will reflect the interdisciplinary work of the Center in its commitment to nurturing the imaginative capacities of children within schools, museums and environmental centers.

Examples of the kind of the workshops the Center will offer are: To Read: Imagining the World; Speakings: The Many Voices of Language; In The Meadow of our Thoughts: Developing Imaginative and Poetic Understandings in the Classroom; and Living By Wonder: The Role of the Imagination in Childhood Learning.

Weekend Retreat Program

The aim of the Weekend Retreat Program is to offer an extended interdisciplinary arts workshop experience for persons interested in the relationship between imaginative thought in childhood and the natural world. Entitled Childhood, The Imagination and The Natural World, this program will take place over a two-day period and will be located in a setting conducive for both reflection and practical application. The program will be conducted by various staff members of The Touchstone Center in conjunction with the Director of the Center.

For further information about these programs please contact:

The Touchstone Center
141 East 88th Street
New York,NY 10128
212-831-7717
rlewis212@aol.com

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