After School and Collaborative Programs

Cultural After School Adventures: Young Curators

Exhibition Laboratory

Teaching American History Grant Partnerships

Cultural After School Adventures:

Young Curators

 “Young Curators” turns classes of students into curators through 10-week in-school residencies with a BHS educator.  Students become the historians as they explore primary sources from BHS’s collections in order to uncover the history of their school and neighborhood.  Since launching this program in 2006, BHS has worked in collaboration with ten different schools on sixteen different projects. Each “Young Curators” program culminates in professionally designed, historian-vetted exhibit panels that can be displayed prominently in schools for continued learning. BHS “Young Curators” residencies are typically funded by Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) grants from New York City Council Members. BHS applies for funding in partnership with NYC public school administrators starting each spring. Want to hear more? Call 718.222.4111 ext. 241.

To hear about the work of the 2012 “young curators,” check out these blog posts by educators at P.S. 276 and P.S. 312.

Exhibition Laboratory

Exhibition Laboratory, or Ex Lab, as it is known by its participants, is an after-school program in which students from Cobble Hill High School of American Studies, Brooklyn Technical High School, The Packer Collegiate Institute and Saint Ann’s School learn the process of curating an exhibit from start to finish. With the help of Brooklyn Historical Society staff, students mine the collection for art and artifacts, conduct extensive background research, write the explanatory text which will illuminate this history, and choose specific graphic design elements to complete the look and feel of their exhibit.

The students in Ex Lab 2012 worked together to curate Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics, which explores photographic portraiture and the impact of technological advancements on the way people have taken pictures over time. Click here to check out visitors’ photos from the exhibit at our Storify page.

Teaching American History Grant Partnerships

Between 2001 and 2012, BHS has been involved in over twenty Teaching American History (TAH) grants in partnership with the NYC Department of Education, local universities and cultural organizations such as Brooklyn Museum, City Lore, The Gotham Center for NYC History, Museum of the City of New York, The New-York Historical Society, and Weeksville Heritage Center to develop and implement staff development programs for teachers. Together, classroom teachers and our staff develop strategies for integrating rich primary source materials into the classroom. Though the federal government has curtailed funding of new TAH grants, BHS is available to host single days of existing grants. Additionally, exemplary professional development workshops created for TAH grants may be enacted with alternative funding sources.  Learn more about how to plan a customized professional development workshop here.