ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM
with area schools and at the Edward Hopper House

Our Arts Education Program engages nearly 500 local students in grades K-12 in interdisciplinary, multi-media fine arts projects focused on the recurrent themes, distinctive aesthetics, and defining aspects of Edward Hopper's work. Each session includes a pre-lesson in the classroom, a visit to the Edward Hopper House (on some occasions a hands-on project with our friends at Rockland Center for the Arts) and a post-lesson in the classroom to strengthen student understanding. The culminating project is led by an artist-in-residence in the school for one, two, or three contact sessions. 
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The program has been a great success.  "What an exciting opportunity to work with Edward Hopper House and learn more about the painter in this creative, curriculum based partnership," said Martha Ryan, principal of Strawtown Elementary School.  

Edward Hopper House is excited to partner with these schools:

• Blue Rock School
  West Nyack NY
• Sleepy Hollow High School
  Sleepy Hollow NY

• MacArthur Barr Middle School
  Nanuet NY
• South Orangetown Central School District, Orangetown NY

• Pomona Middle School
  Pomona NY
• Dwight-Englewood School
  Englewood NJ

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The Edward Hopper House Arts Education Program was initially funded with proceeds from a benefit last October sponsored by Ellis Sotheby's International Realty.  

Memoirs in a Bottle

Edward Hopper House – South Orangetown Middle School Partnership 2018

50 South Orangetown Middle School students worked with Edward Hopper House educators to explore narrative storytelling within the context of Edward Hopper’s art, house, and life experiences. Students made connections to their own lives as well as to the lives of senior citizen residents of Dowling Gardens through art making, story-crafting in creative writing, and interactive dialogue throughout the duration of this multi-lesson program.​

In the classroom, students learned techniques of narrative writing, imagining a backstory to Edward Hopper's painting of a young couple on his front porch, "Summer Evening." in the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, students viewed the important collection of Edward Hopper art, memorabilia, furniture, and the house itself - learning to think critically about how these objects may have related to Edward Hopper’s art and life.

On a visit to Dowling Gardens, residents shared stories about their lives with the students.  inspired by a message in a bottle that Edward Hopper found on the shores of the  hudson River, and kept as a treasured object, students listened to and sketched on a bottle their senior citizen’s stories. These objects became present day "Memoirs in a Bottle" which were then exhibited in the South Orangetown Middle School Gallery. 

​HIGHLIGHTS

• Students receive an interactive three-part lesson that introduces them to Edward Hopper, expands their artistic analysis skills, encourages the students’ artistic creativity.
• Themes covered include: narrative and mood within art, correlation of artistic and literary devices, conceptualizing reality, and oral to visual representation.
• During the pre-lesson the students complete a worksheet of essential questions that provide us with the first set of data needed to track their growth and progress.
• The museum visit allows the students to view artwork in person. Work done during this lesson provides data for the progress the students made since the pre-lesson, whether or not they are understanding the key concepts.
• Two weeks later the school hosts the post lesson to wrap up the lesson and perform an activity with them. This lesson provides insight on how much of the knowledge from the previous two lessons was retained by the students.

OUTCOMES

• ​Each student furthers their ability to analyze and interpret art.
• Appreciation for Edward Hopper and his local influences.
• Stronger understanding of the elements of art and ability to identify them within a work of art.
  
• Excitement about creating their own works of art and utilizing the elements discussed.