Art E - Have your child join this innovative class that teaches children how to look and read art.  This is visual thinking and aesthetic education.  Using the great museums of New York, art dealer and historian Cheryl McGinnis takes children on an incredible journey... a hop, skip and jump through Art History.  4 weeks. 

Cheryl McGinnis is the founder and director of the Cheryl McGinnis Gallerya contemporary art gallery specializing in Asian cross-culture and third generation feminism.  The gallery has been in operation since 1995.  The gallery began as a contemporary salon whereby exhibits were mounted for viewing when the artists were present.  Cheryl would lead the artists and the viewer in conversations about the work.  The salon was a outgrowth of her passion and knowledge of art history and her desire to find the best of what contemporary art had to offer.  She later expanded the salon into a gallery where artist’s talks, salon nights and artists’ studio visits are very much apart of the program.  The gallery has been widely reviewed and has received much press and many of the artists’ work have been acquired by important museums, corporations and private collections.  As a galleriest Cheryl has always welcomed children to all the gallery’s events and thus Art E was created.

About our Program:

Art E for kids was borne out of Cheryl’s love for children, art history and viewing art.  She was proud to curate an exhibit “Through Kid’s Eyes” at Town Hall, Smithsonian, in which she exhibited the work of important contemporary artists (Zhang Hongtu, Margaret Evangeline, Rebecca Riley, Hu Bing)   The children brought their open minds and hearts to contemporary art and not only began to understand it, but to make some extremely wonderful observations, experience deep enjoyment and learn in an exciting environment.  Cheryl feels strongly that children should not wait until high school or college to learn how to read art nor to understand art history. Having studied Art History and Italian Literature at the University of Rome, she was excited to see Italian children learning about art history at an early age.  Reading art is an acquired skill that children learn with ease and joy.  A whole new way of seeing and thinking about the world is opened up for children as they experience the beauty and power of viewing art in the great museums of New York. Children gain an understanding of geography, language, history, politics, deciphering symbols as well as a language for discussing art intelligently.  Cheryl recognizes the immense personal and professional value of understanding art, and as a mother, wanted the same for her own son.  There is nothing quite like seeing a child stand in front of the great masterpieces of art and discuss his observations, knowledge, and interest in the work.  We have literally had crowds of museum goers watch in amazement, and learn a lot in the process.

New York is incredibly rich with art treasures and great museums. Art E is a program in which children can experience, appreciate and learn about the great masterpieces first hand. Reading art is an acquired skill.  Children naturally bring their wonderful curiosity, open hearts and unbounded energy to the experience. We work with children to help enlighten their visual sense, to open their eyes in a way that makes the entire world of art accessible to them. We laugh, learn and have fun as we explore the world’s cultures through art and architecture.