Community Programs & Partnerships
The Noguchi Museum is committed to developing strong relationships with individuals and organizations throughout Queens and New York City. In this spirit, the Museum partners with community-based organizations to offer workshops that meet the needs of each group of participants.
The Museum actively seeks new, ongoing partnerships with organizations such as community centers, libraries, senior centers, and hospitals. Program costs are variable and subsidies may be available. All programs include at least one visit to The Noguchi Museum; they may take place entirely at the Museum. For more information, or if you are interested in discussing ways in which The Noguchi Museum might collaborate with your organization, please call 718.204.7088, extension 205.
Program Partners
Below is a list of current and recent program partners; click and expand on a program for more information.
Queens Library Family Literacy Program at Ravenswood Family Center
The Ravenswood Family Center provides English Language classes, literacy support, and other services to immigrant families. The Noguchi Museum has collaborated with the Literacy Center for a number of years, developing programs collaboratively to serve adults, children, and families.
As part of their approach to offering job readiness training, they have worked with families to explore possible areas of economic independence, such as clothing design and piñata making. In Spring 2010, The Noguchi Museum supported this initiative by working with ten women to look at Isamu Noguchi’s approach to designing lamps and furniture, and encouraging new and often abstract approaches to piñata design. Each participant made three piñatas. View photographs of finished piñatas here.
During Fall 2011, families looked at garden-related proposals on view in the exhibition Civic Action, and created their own sculptural indoor garden holders. View photographs of the final gardens here.
Phoenix House
Phoenix House works with individuals, families, and communities affected by substance abuse and dependency. In October 2010, residents of Phoenix House in Long Island City visited The Noguchi Museum for four 3-hour workshops. These sessions focused on identity and abstraction, and challenged participants to create works of art which related to an exploration of their own identities and relationships.
Project Luz
Project Luz is an organization developed specifically to help Spanish-speaking adult immigrants connect to their new communities through the lens of a camera. During Fall 2010, The Noguchi Museum worked with forty Project Luz members, developing new ways of looking at and connecting to the life and work of Isamu Noguchi.
