Education at Socrates

About

Socrates Sculpture Park offers educational programming that explores art making and celebrates shared experiences in Socrates’ unique environment.

We work with experienced artists, educators, naturalists, horticulturalists, and cultural producers to develop workshops that inspire and challenge all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds.  Recently, we’ve made inflatable sculpture performances with schools, tiny robots from found materials with families, removed an infamous monument, had space-age fashion shows, and we are planning some experiments with healing gardens and bioplastics.

Our educational programming is inspired by the extraordinary diversity of Queens, the natural cycles of the park, and the world-class exhibitions we host. All of our educational programs are free.

Programs

Field Guide: Art, Ecology, & Mindfulness Workshops–>

Designed for all ages, this program is offered in the spring, summer, and fall on select Saturdays and combines art-making with natural materials, gardening, experiments in sustainability, and a celebration of the senses!

Socrates x Noguchi Field Guide–>

Connect with nature through art making in a series of hands-on workshops led by Noguchi Educators at Socrates Sculpture Park. Participants engage in group conversation and experiment with varied media including drawing, printmaking, suminagashi, and poetry.

Socrateens–>

Teens accepted into this intensive art making program that takes place after school on a weekly basis over the course of one academic year, are paid a stipend of $100/month to create artwork and learn about the art world.

Sculpture Studio–>

Socrates partners with local middle and high schools to bring students on field-trips to the Park where they create experimental art projects like inflatable sculpture performances.

AH-YES Program–>

The AH-YES Program is a summer program employing teens at Socrates Sculpture Park. The program aims to provide hands-on experience, mentorship and encourage individual growth, while working together as a team. Our dedicated teens will learn to problem solve, get creative, and use their hands to create a greener and more conscious world.

Support

Free education programs at Socrates Sculpture Park are made possible with generous support from Con Edison, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation with additional support provided, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.