NEW YORK, NY.- Today Learning Through Art, the Guggenheim Museum’s pioneering arts education program, launches A Year with Children 2020. The annual presentation, now in its 49th year, has been adapted to an e-book format since the museum is currently closed. The multimedia e-book features over 1,000 artworks created by students in grades two through six from the 12 public schools across New York City’s five boroughs who participated in LTA during the 2019–20 school year. The e-book may be viewed and downloaded free of charge.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Guggenheim’s Learning Through Art program was founded in 1970 by Natalie Kovner Lieberman in response to the elimination of art and music programs in New York City public schools. LTA encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and collaborative investigation at the museum, in the classroom, and beyond, and has served nearly 150,000 children over the last 49 years. In the 2019–20 school year, 11 teaching artists facilitated 17 residencies in 12 New York City public schools. They worked closely with classroom teachers to develop projects that promote visual literacy and connect ideas and themes to the school’s curriculum.

The participating schools are: from the Bronx, PS 86 (Kingsbridge Heights); from Brooklyn, PS 8 (Brooklyn Heights), PS 9 (Prospect Heights), and PS 188 (Coney Island); from Manhattan, PS 28 (Washington Heights), PS 38 (East Harlem), and PS 145 (Harlem); from Queens, PS 219 (Flushing), PS 130 (Bayside), PS 144 (Forest Hills), and PS 317 (Rockaway Park); and from Staten Island, PS 48 (Grasmere).

LTA immerses students in the creative process, prompting them to view themselves as artists. At the start of the academic year, each student is given a sketchbook and an artist’s apron, imbuing a sense of ownership over their work. Throughout the program, teaching artists demonstrate practices similar to those that they use to spark their own creativity. Students’ investigations are also inspired by the Guggenheim exhibitions they visit during the school year, including modernist artworks on view from the Thannhauser Collection and an exhibition of sculptures by Constantin Brancusi. When viewing art, students participate in inquiry-based discussions that elicit careful observation and interpretation. Despite the closure of New York City schools this spring, teaching artists have continued to engage with students through digital lessons that direct students in independent art projects that require only simple and accessible materials. Partner schools have also been able to participate in free live virtual tours of the museum led by our team of educators.

E-BOOK OVERVIEW
As a result of the museum’s temporary closure due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, A Year with Children 2020 will take place in the digital realm. The multimedia e-book features over one thousand examples of student artwork; 52 videos and audio tracks of teaching artists, students, and classroom educators; snapshots of residencies; and project descriptions. It also contains documentation of the annual exchange with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, where students in Bilbao and New York share their experiences in art making through correspondence and photos.

The students embark on a year-long exploration of processes, materials, and techniques to express their singular artistic visions, incorporating multimodal approaches, including text, music, games, and collaboration. By understanding foundational concepts, students are able to experiment with a wide variety of media to consider essential questions such as “How are we connected to the natural world?” or “How can we tell a story without words?” and develop responses through a process of seeing, dialogue, and creation. The works published are expressions of that process.

A Year with Children 2020 is organized by Greer Kudon, Director of School Programs; Amy Boyle, Manager, Learning Through Art; Emmy Goldin, Associate Manager; Michelle Wohlgemuth Cooper, Education Associate; and Lara Tootleman, Education Coordinator.

Cyra Levenson, Deputy Director and Gail Engelberg Director of Education and Public Engagement at the Guggenheim, stated, “The new format for this venerable and vital arts education program was developed in response to the museum’s closure, and we are proud to continue our commitment to Learning Through Art by offering this publication to an expanded, digital audience. A Year With Children honors the learning over the past school year that has developed not only in the classroom and in the museum, but also in our homes. ”