Love to learn but hate the classroom? With spring blossoms in the air, it makes it real hard to stay indoors. Lucky for you, the menu of New York’s educational offerings that lie outside the typical indoor academic setting is long (and exciting).
From walking tours to museum exhibits and restaurant excursions, this season you can free your mind, body and spirit.
Here are our picks for the cultural, architectural, artistic and healing lessons that our region uniquely offers.
FOR THE FITNESS FOCUSED
“How to Ride a Bicycle – Fun for Beginners”
Learning Annex
It’s never too late! Riders will be able to train on a mountain bike in Riverside Park in this three-part class that will cover the basics. You’ll learn how to balance, steer, stop, change gears and more. You’ll also learn safety guidelines. June 7, 9:30-11:45 a.m.
Info: learningannex.com
“Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training”
Omega Institute
Ready to take your yoga passion to the next level? This month-long intensive training class will deepen your practice, and get you certified to teach this style of yoga. The training also includes a Spring Ecstatic Chant event with special guests; April 27-May 23.
Info: eomega.com
CREATIVE JUICERS
“Art: Drawing and Painting”
Cooper Union
Even if you’ve never put charcoal to paper, students of all levels examine structure, proportion, light and shadow and learn quick sketch techniques and more finished drawing using pen, pencil and ink. Classes meet at Grand Central, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the American Museum of Natural History. June 7-Aug. 2; Sat. 2-5 p.m.
Info: cooper.edu
“Art History: Glories of the Old Masters: Painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”
Indulge your appreciation for the great European painters (Botticelli, Rembrandt, Hals) and their work. Students follow the development of European painting from the Renaissance to the Neoclassical period. All classes are held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. June 7-July 12; Sat. 2:30- 4 p.m.
Info: metmuseum.org
“Summer Institute in the Berkshires”
Darrow School
Nestled amongst the Shaker buildings of Mount Lebanon, NY, the Darrow School’s Joline Arts enter provides an ideal environment in which to create. The 12,000-squarefoot facility offers panoramic views of the Lebanon Valley, spacious studios, workrooms and classrooms that support and inspire creativity. Designed to foster experimentation in art making, these programs in painting, sculpture, woodworking, ceramics and photography offer unique opportunities for developing a strong body of work.
Summer 2008 courses include Intermediate to Advanced Drawing, Figure in the Landscape, Watercolor Landscape Painting and Landscape Photography.
Info: darrowschool.org
CITY SLICKERS
“Skyscraper National Park: New York City”
Municipal Art Society of New York
Instead of staring down at your notebook, look up, up, up! Matt Postal’s eight monthly walks focus on the skyscraper, from its origins in Lower Manhattan to Norman Foster’s recently completed Hearst Tower.
Info: mas.org
“The Heart of the City: Grand Central Terminal & The Urban Railroad Station”
Municipal Art Society of New York
Imagine Midtown Manhattan without Grand Central Terminal. Unthinkable, right? Great railroad stations are often not just a gateway to a city, but its beating heart. Study how cities are made livable with such locomotives. Compare Grand Central to the old Pennsylvania Station, and ponder what the projected Moynihan Station could mean for the future of New York. May 28, 6:30-8 p.m.
Info: mas.org
“Architecture of New York”
The New School
Acquaint yourself with the philosophy and forces that have shaped our city. Using the city as a classroom, physically experience NYC architecture and its urban environments. Learn how to identify and understand architectural styles in the context of social, economic and technological currents. The introductory class will take place at Parsons’ Village campus. Subsequent classes will be onsite at various Manhattan locations; begins May 20.
Info: newschool.edu
“On the Sidewalks of New York City”
NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Through lectures and walking tours, this course explores the still visible remnants of towns and cities that once made up New York City, including the company town that was absorbed into Queens, the middle-class apartments in that borough, worker and experimental housing in Brooklyn and evidence of Manhattan’s Dutch landscape; May 28-July 2; Weds. 6-8 p.m.
Info: scps.nyu.edu
FASHION AND FOOD
“Inside Fashion: Behind the Label”
NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Students will have the opportunity to visit various fashion companies with headquarters here. Visits to a handbag resource, a jewelry showplace, a millinery operation, a sportswear site, a fashion designer’s studio and a beauty flagship take you behind the labels to learn how products are designed, marketed and promoted.
Info: scps.nyu.edu
“Raw Food & Healing Herbs”
Omega Institute
Ready to get raw? Celebrated herbalist teaches everyone, from beginner onward, about how to use herbs, raw food and essential oils to improve common health conditions such as insomnia, fatigue, depression, low immunity and addiction; June 6-8.
Info: EOmega.com