Dear Parents and Students:
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Welcome to Looking is Learning.  I began my career in art as a galleriest and curator.  In the early days of my work, as one of the first gallerists to identify the cultural and visual importance of Chinese Contemporary art and the cross-cultural exchange prevalent in the work, I exhibited curated exhibitions in a salon format.  The salon was a place where viewers could come and discuss the work with the artists.  The salon was based on the notion of a conversation about art. An exchange of ideas, views and opinions.  The evenings were dynamic, exciting and helped people feel connected to art based on what they saw and discussed.  
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I quickly realized that what we were missing in education as a culture was the conversation to art.  Fine art had been held aloft in heady gallery spaces, ivory-tower collections and museums.  Young people often were taught some form of art making in elementary school but beyond that, were not exposed to art in their educations.  How are we going to create a culture in which art is looked at, deciphered and discussed if children are not growing up looking at it as a common practice?
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Art is evidence.  It is the experience of history as it happened and happens.  Looking at art is experiencing that history.  I ask students what do they see.  It is the first question.  It is where we begin.  It is where the student finds their voice.  It is where I, based on their observations, find a pathway into the student to begin to understand how they learn and what is important to them.  From this point, we decipher and discuss the culture from which the piece was created and its importance to the history.  
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All cultures have had a need and desire to express themselves visually.  From the earliest cave painting to the present moment, humankind have been telling their story since the beginning.  There is no better way to learn history and to deepen our understanding of cultures than through the simple act of observing.  When you look you learn.  You learn about the art, object, map you are looking at and you learn about yourself.  
I have found that one of the most important aspects of learning is what the student is able to learn about themselves through active observation.  Young students gain tremendous confidence as they realize how powerful their observations are.  As they observe and decipher art work that they had no prior connection and realize that they not only understand it well, they unlocked the key to it from their own practice of observation, they feel empowered in their education.  
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From our youngest students, 8 years old to teen agers, college and graduate students, looking is learning is an enrichment program that created life long learners, museum goers, who become global citizens with a deep appreciation for the cultures of the world.
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We are thrilled to be sponsored by the New York Foundation of the Arts so that we can offer scholarships to students.
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Please feel free to reach out to discuss creating a pod or private class on zoom, in a museum, in the park (spring, summer and fall.)