Combining art with history, students gain an understanding of history while improving their visual art skills. During the program, students have open discussions about how the artifacts reflect that time, and the techniques and elements of the art. In addition, they create projects in relation to what they have learned. For instance, they made three-dimensional sculptures after observing different art pieces that the Native Americans used.

St. Gregory the Great Elementary School on the Upper West Side is joining the program, said Principal Donna Gabella, who added that many students, teachers and parents involved at her school are very enthusiastic. “They loved learning about the Lenape Native Americans and have just finished creating their own village,” she said.

“I don’t think we had anything like this when I was in elementary school,” said Nathalie Casthely, parent of a fourth grader and member of the Parent Association. “I love that our kids are having this kind of experience. You can see in their eyes how engaged and interested they are. This is exactly the kind of enrichment program for which our Parent Association works so hard at fundraising.”
The New York Historical Society started the Art of History pilot program during the 2011-12 school year. Gabella announced that the school will offer it again next year and will expand to other grade levels.

“We live in NYC, which is such a vital, dynamic place, and we are fortunate to have so many diverse cultural and educational resources close by and we want to share these opportunities with our students,” she said.

TIBET HOUSE ART EXHIBIT
Tibet House U.S. is opening the free multimedia art exhibit Sacred Vision, Separate Views: Contemporary Perspectives in Buddhist Art on Dec. 6. Be sure to find your way to the Tibet House, located at 22 W. 15th St., to capture firsthand the “installations, live performance art, video, sculpture, paintings and drawings from six NYC-based contemporary emerging artists.”

The artists, James Walton Fox, Valley Burke Fox, Shigeru Oyatani, E. Elizabeth Peters, Wesley Simon and Jayoung Yoon, promise a spiritual journey through Buddhist tradition with modern interpretations. The opening ceremony, which will be held Dec. 6 from 6-8 p.m., features a special performance called “Clearing the Mind,” a Zen-like artistic meditation involving art and thought. On Dec. 7 from 4-9 p.m., Wesley Simon and Valley Burke Fox will present “A Line in Space,” which is billed as a contemporary interpretation of traditional Tibetan sand drawing aiming to demonstrate the fine “sand made” line between creation and destruction.

SYMPHONY SPACE CO-FOUNDER SHEFFER DIES AT 76
Symphony Space co-founder Isaiah Sheffer died Nov. 9 after a celebrated theatrical career. The 76-year-old Bronx native was best known for masterminding “Selected Shorts,” a nationally syndicated radio program in which actors read short stories at the Broadway and West 96th Street performance space, and “Bloomsday on Broadway,” an annual reading of Ulysses by James Joyce.

When Sheffer first booked Symphony Space in 1978 to stage a marathon Bach concert with conductor Allan Miller, it was a derelict movie theater. He and Miller spent the next decade raising money and fighting for ownership to transform it into a multi-theater performance venue.

“He took a crummy building in a crummy neighborhood and turned it into a vibrant center for the arts,” Symphony Space President and CEO Cynthia Elliott, whom Sheffer called “a partner in crime,” told West Side Spirit. “He welcomed not only the community, but audiences far and wide.”

Sheffer recruited a great variety of performers throughout his 32 years as artistic director, an eclecticism that Elliott said demonstrated his broad interests and passion for sharing them. “Isaiah was a huge intellectual without being stuffy or condescending or academic,” she explained. “Symphony Space reflects that real depth of intelligence, but also warmth and a welcoming atmosphere.”

Elliott noted that Sheffer also had a killer wit. In one bit, during a routine pitch for donations in the intermission between the theater’s selected shorts, he promised the audience, “For the right amount of money, we’d be happy to rename a staff member for you.”

“He was very funny, very mischievous,” Elliott said. “Symphony Space has always had a bit of an offbeat edge to it because of him.”

Sheffer died of complications of a stroke, his wife told the New York Times. A memorial service at Symphony Space will be held for him on Dec. 17 from 5-7 p.m., with tickets available to the public on Dec. 10.

Compiled by Max A. Goldstein

Friday, June 11

Young Picassos—Arts in Action, an after-school arts program and summer camp, sells color prints of student work. Proceeds support a scholarship program for children who need financial need. Little Shop of Crafts, 711 Amsterdam Ave., 212-864-4833; 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Free admission.

Saturday, June 12

Classical—Swedish conductor Ragnar Bohlen leads the New England Symphonic Ensemble in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45, with soprano Ingela Bohlin and baritone Stephen Gaertner. Michel Brousseau conducts the U.S.
premiere of the Saint-Remi Solemn Mass, a recently discovered work by the French composer Theodore Dubois. Carnegie Hall, West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, 212-247-7800; 8 p.m., $35 to $95.

Sunday, June 13

Science Up Close—The Milstein Science Series brings together Jarod Miller, host of the television series Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller, with scientists from Audubon of Florida, who work in the everglades, to discuss that area’s ecosystems. The presentation includes live animals, such as alligators, crocodiles and a Burmese python. The American Museum of Natural History, Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, first floor, West 79th Street and Central Park West, 212-769-5100; noon to 4 p.m., free with museum admission ($9 to $16).

Beloved Berries—Zion St. Marks Church hosts an “Erdbeerfest,” or strawberry festival. Enjoy delicacies like “Erdbeertorte,” a German strawberry pie, as well as coffee, tea, music and a raffle. Zion St. Marks Church, 339 E. 84th St., 212-288-0600; 1 p.m., $10 suggested donation.

Sound Garden—The West Side Community Garden hosts free concerts every Sunday for the next six weeks, starting today with Mary Cherney, David Nadal and Julia Marion, who perform on Renaissance flute, guitar and bassoon. The concert series runs through July 25, and will include jazz, opera and other genres. West Side Community Garden, West 89th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, www.westsidecommunitygarden.org; 4 p.m., Free.

Martyr’s Muses—Amuse, a 16-voice women’s ensemble, presents Missa São Sebastiã, by 20th-century Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. The program, led by guest conductor Phillip Cheah, includes complementary works of plainchant, Renaissance and contemporary polyphony. St. Ignatius of Antioch, 522 West End Ave., 212-580-3326; 4 p.m., $15 to $20.

Monday, June 14

Idol on Stage—Lakisha Jones, a 2007 American Idol finalist and star of Broadway’s The Color Purple, makes her New York debut at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency. Jones sings selections from American Idol, Broadway hits and her new single CD, So Glad I’m Me. Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Ave., 212-339-4095; 8:30 p.m., $30 to $50 plus $25 minimum.

Book Club—Aimee Bender, author of an Invisible Sign of My Own, discusses her latest novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Bender is interviewed by Heidi Julavits, a novelist and co-editor of The Believer, and Kate Burton performs a selection from the novel. Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, 212-864-5400; 7:30 p.m., $20.

Good Cause—O’Neals’ restaurant hosts a gala cabaret evening to benefit the Westside Crime Prevention Program and the Tamar Lynn Safe Haven Project. The program encourages merchants to offer help and protection to children who are in trouble on the streets of the Upper West Side. Critically acclaimed entertainers John Carelli, Shana Farr, Insuk Kim, Melanie Long, Emily Ross-Johnson, Mary Ann Mootos, Jacqueline Thomps and David Maiullo are scheduled to perform. O’Neals’, 49 W. 64th St., 212-787-4663; 6 p.m., $75 to $150.

Tuesday, June 15

Mentors in Action—The group Free Arts NYC hosts its annual “Art from the Heart” gallery exhibition. The evening includes a performance by Story Pirates, a children’s theater troupe that acts out short stories written by kids in the weekly mentor program. A short awards ceremony follows, after which the crowd is shown 300 works by participating students. Free Arts NYC is a non-profit that offers educational arts and mentoring programs to under-served children and families in the New York City area. On view through Aug. 22. El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Ave., 212-831-7272; 5 p.m., Free.

International Studies—Husband-and-wife power couple Kati Marton and Richard Holbrooke participate in a discussion focused on international challenges facing the nation today. Marton has reported from Soviet-ruled Hungary and Holbrooke is now a special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Obama administration. New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, 212-868-4444; 6:30 p.m., $20.

Wednesday, June 16

Western Classic—The 29th annual celebration of James Joyce’s Ulysses follows Joyce’s hero, Leopold Bloom, as he makes his way through an ordinary day in Dublin. The Bloomsday on Broadway performance features film and Broadway stars, including Ira Glass, Stephen Colbert, Colum McCann, Malachy McCourt, Marian Seldes, John Shea and Tony Roberts, and is staged by Isaiah Sheffer. June 16, 1904, is the most famous fictional date in literature, marking the day when Leopold Bloom walked around Dublin in the pages of Ulysses. Since 1981, hundreds of acclaimed actors have joined avid Joyceans, writers, critics and scholars on stage at Symphony Space to read selections from the book that heralded the birth of modern literature. Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, 212-864-5400; 7 p.m., $20 to $25.

Discovery Day—New York’s largest community arts school, The Kauffman Center’s Lucy Moses School, opens its doors to the public for its second annual “Discovery Day.” Children ages 4 and older can try out a wide range of instruments, such as
the violin, cello, flute, clarinet and piano, under the guidance of the school’s faculty members. Lucy Moses School, 129 W. 67th St., 212-501-3360; 4 to 7 p.m., Free.

Thursday, June 17

Literary Classic—Budding theater stars in the Kids Company perform in Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka. Fifty children ages 6 to 14 take part in the production, while teens ages 14 to 18 work on the set, lights, sound, costumes and production management. West Side YMCA, Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, 5 W. 63rd St., 212-875-4100; 7:30 p.m., $30.