A section of WHSAD's cardboard city Courtesy WHSAD

Two Local Schools Featured at Arts Night at the Armory

Since the spring of 2010, Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design (WHSAD) has had the pleasure of partnering with the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan to provide internships, field trips, and artistic programming for students and the community. This year’s events culminated on Monday night at a special “Arts Night at the Armory” showcasing the work of WHSAD, PS 110, and MS 244.

Some of WHSAD’s partnership with the Armory this year was supported by a grant from the New York State Council for the Arts, which allowed for teaching artist Drew Petersen to visit WHSAD weekly in the spring to work with students on projects related to the current Armory exhibition Tom Sachs’ Space Program Mars. Students created a seven minute video with Petersen’s help to demonstrate the possibilities of Mars colonization. Additionally, students created visions of Martian buildings by using computer technology to alter photos they had taken during the school’s annual field trip to Philadelphia.

Other WHSAD student work on display on Monday night was created in the school’s Preservation Arts and Technology classes. In the 11th grade preservation class this year, students studied scale and spatial relationships and used this knowledge to construct a city landscape inspired by buildings around the world. Another class created full-scale furniture out of cardboard; it was strong enough to sit on! In the 10th grade classes, students made colorful stencils inspired by the arts and crafts designs of the Armory’s historic rooms.

Throughout the 2011-2012 school year, a dozen WHSAD students have been interning at the Park Avenue Armory, supporting their artistic programming and educational workshops. Student interns at the Park Avenue Armory have worked over the last two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other artists during their Armory exhibitions.

In addition the Park Avenue Armory, WHSAD students have also participated in internships at the Historic House Trust of NYC, Green-Wood Cemetery, World Monuments Fund, Robert Silman Associates, A. Ottavino Stoneworks, and Landmark West!

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