Our Fair City: Building a More Equitable New York

View of New York City overlooking train platform
Photo by Mark Hallum courtesy of Bronx Times Reporter/Schneps Media.

The past eight months have provided astonishing lessons in urban transformation. We’ve come to appreciate how fragile even a great city is and how sturdy it can be. When the virus swept through, New Yorkers beat it back, turning one of the most dangerous spots in the nation into one of the safest—temporarily, at least.

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Voting Rights Programs for Students and Educators

Banner image with portraits of Sarah J.S. Tompkins Garnet and Mabel Lee, and image of Harriot Stanton Blatch and Rose Schneiderman

As we approach Election Day 2020, join the Museum of the City of New York for the following FREE Workshops for Educators and Adults and Students in grades 2–5 and 6–12. These virtual events will explore the women’s suffrage movement in NYC, the fight for full suffrage led by women of color, and the ongoing movement to expand voting rights today.  

Full credits for the image above from left to right: Sarah J.S. Tompkins Garnet, c. 1860, Courtesy of the Photographs and Print Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Public Library / Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations; Mabel Lee, 1915, Courtesy of the Barnard Archives and Special Collections; Harriot Stanton Blatch and Rose Schneiderman, 1915, Courtesy of the Rose Schneiderman Collection, Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Archives, New York University.

Education programs in conjunction with Beyond Suffrage: A Century of New York Women in Politics are made possible by The Puffin Foundation Ltd. 

Professional Learning programs are made possible in part by …a chance… fund, inc.

The Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center is endowed by grants from The Thompson Family Foundation Fund, the F.A.O. Schwarz Family Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Endowment, and other generous donors.

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Virtual Student Workshops

Three elementary students gathered around a tablet screen in the museum, learning digitally
Students learning digitally in the Museum’s Future City Lab
In this virtual workshop, students will hear from multidisciplinary artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya and examine the resiliency of New York's Asian American and Pacific Islander community and their solidarity across past and present activist movements through the stories of Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X.

Questions? Email schoolprograms@mcny.org 

Workshop Sessions

Supporters

The Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center is endowed by grants from The Thompson Family Foundation Fund, the F.A.O. Schwarz Family Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Endowment, and other generous donors.  

For more information about the Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center, and additional funder credits, please click here.  

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Past Event: Another City: New Meanings in New York's Public Spaces

Protesters walking over the Brooklyn Bridge
Copyright © 2020 Mark Clennon Creative, LLC. All rights reserved.

Socially distanced lines. Masked protests in the streets. Parking-space dining. These are some of the striking scenes that have emerged in 2020, indelibly impacting the landscape of New York, and creating "Another City."

Save when you purchase tickets to the entire series! If you are interested in purchasing tickets to the entire series after 10/14, please email programs@mcny.org.

Entire Series (four sessions):
$90 General Admission
$80 Seniors, Students, and Educators*
$70 Museum Members

Single Session:
$25 General Admission
$20 Museum Members

Recordings of each conversation will be sent following the events to registrants. 

*Please note that there is no Senior, Student, Educator price for single sessions.

Black and white photo of protestors walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
Event Wednesday, October 14, 7:00pm

Protest City

Consider how moments of protest and social unrest have remade New York City's public spaces—and how, in turn, public space has shaped the movements that have helped transform our world with architect Mabel Wilson, photographer Mark Clennon, and New Yorker writer Vinson Cunningham.
Empty street - Times Square
Event Wednesday, October 21, 7:00pm

Empty City

Writers Garnette Cadogan, Luc Sante, and Vinson Cunningham discuss the impression that emptiness has left on the city in the past, and consider representations of this moment and how they influence how we think about public space.
Photo of people eating outside at Miss Lily's Jerk Shack
Event Wednesday, October 28, 7:00pm

Everyday City

Consider 2020's transformation of everyday life from SoHo to 125th Street, Fifth Avenue to Fordham Road, to find out what our new street life might yield. With architect Susan Chin, critic Kate Wagner and New Yorker writer Vinson Cunningham.
A fountain with a statue holding the Puerto Rican flag
Event Wednesday, November 11, 7:00pm

Celebratory City

How do parades and public celebrations mark the "arrival" of previously marginal groups, while keeping open the possibility of more confrontational political action in the future? With photographer Ricky Flores, journalist Ginia Bellafante, and New Yorker writer Vinson Cunningham.

Partners

Special thanks to the AIA NY, Design Trust for Public Space, and The Municipal Art Society.

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1220 Fifth Ave at 103rd St., Open Sat & Sun 10–6, Mon, Thur, & Fri 10–5
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Education

Virtual Field Trips

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Examining Equity in New York City

A visitor to the Museum of the City of New York's Activist New York exhibition examines artifacts about the history of social change in the city.
Filip Wolak, MCNY

Educator Workshop Series: Examining Equity in NYC

The Frederick A.O. Schwarz Center's Examining Equity in NYC series focuses on uncovering and honoring the historical roots of today’s movements for change. Join fellow educators to examine how New Yorkers have challenged inequality in our city and radically reimagined our social institutions, from schools and healthcare to housing and work. 

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MCNY Kids Create

Stetheimer Dollhouse - Kids Create
Marissa Martonyi

Art-Making and Discussion with MCNY

See. Discuss. Create! Dive into the Museum's collections and exhibitions and make your own artistic works.

Stream these free sessions to see highlights from the Museum’s collections and exhibitions, hear behind-the-scenes stories from the artists, and take part in interactive, art-making activities.

Recommended for ages 7 and older. All ages are welcome. Sessions are intergenerational and family members are encouraged to join and participate together.

Supporters

Family and Community Engagement Programs are made possible in part by the Margaret S. Ogden and Stephen A. Ogden Memorial Fund, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Sy Syms Foundation, and the Frank J. Antun Foundation. 

The Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center is endowed by grants from The Thompson Family Foundation Fund, the F.A.O. Schwarz Family Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Endowment, and other generous donors.  

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Anxiety and Activism: Help the Museum Collect Artifacts to Document the Unprecedented Events of 2020

Tuesday, July 7, 2020 by Lindsay Turley

By Lindsay Turley, Director of Collections

Lindsay Turley oversees projects involving the stewardship and access of the Museum's collections objects.

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Mitchell Hartman, “Defiant” 2020 © Mitchell Hartman
City Arts Wednesday, April 1, 2020

#CovidStoriesNYC

We invite everyone to share photos—taken from an appropriately socially-distanced perspective—documenting personal experiences during this challenging time. Post those images on Instagram using the hashtag #CovidStoriesNYC, and tag @museumofcityny.
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