The Chemung River School Project, initiated in 1994, was spearheaded by the Arnot Art Museum. This nine-month multidisciplinary collaborative program combines fourth grade science, natural and social history, and ecology curricula with writing, performing and visual arts.

 

The Chemung River School Project integrates all of these concepts into a thematic whole with the river at the center and the arts as the vehicle used for expression of information learned. It places emphasis on the environmental concerns of the Hudson River School, a group of 19th Century landscape painters, and how this relates to the future of our own Chemung River.

 

Students have the opportunity to recognize the balance, which exists between local history, ecological communities, and the dynamic impact of past and living artists on society.  Students use the arts as a vehicle to express their understanding of nature, especially as it relates to the Chemung River. The Arnot Art Museum works with the Chemung County Historical Society, Tanglewood Nature Center, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, and the following school districts: Elmira, Elmira Heights, Horseheads, and Chemung.  Poets, visual artists, musicians, historians, naturalists and water environmentalists serve as instructors.

 

Following the culmination of the project year, in May, a student exhibition featuring visual art and writing is exhibited at the Chemung Valley History Museum. The exhibit is curated by the Project’s visual artists.

 

This nationally recognized program has been the recipient of the following grants: New York State Council on the Arts, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

When the program began in 1994 there were two Elmira City Schools involved, Booth Elementary and Riverside Elementary. The combined classrooms had 200 4th graders. The following year, two more schools joined. The project has grown to include 14 classrooms from five elementary schools, representing four school districts. Since the project’s inception over 3,000 children have benefited from this project.

 

Instructors:                                                                

Visual Artists