Heckscher Museum of Art

Purpose: Serving as Centers of Community Engagement The Heckscher Museum of Art is located at the western end of the north shore of Long Island. Currently, the museum reaches 7,000 students in 40 school districts and 11 private schools through its School Discovery program. However, the township of Huntington has a rapidly growing minority population and relatively high levels of households below the poverty level, and many schools and after-school programs are unable to participate in museum programs because they lack the resources to visit the museum. Image and Imagination: A Community Museum Educational Collaboration is an outreach pilot program targeted to this audience-more than 1,000 middle school children (in the pilot program) in schools and after-school programs at community centers. The program consists of six units that introduce students to a variety of media, techniques, and cultural influences. Students will learn about the collection and the inner workings of the museum, create and exhibit works of art, and develop Web-based "virtual galleries." The program will promote family-based learning and will feature a reception and recognition event at the museum. In the future, the museum intends to expand the program to reach more than 5,000 students each year.