NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Battery Park City Parks Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that oversees the maintenance of 36-acres of parkland in Lower Manhattan. Its landscape follows the Hudson River from the habor, incorporating Robert F. Wagner, Jr Park in the south and North Esplanade Plaza and Nelson A. Rockefeller Park in its northern border. 

Holding live music, arts and cultural festivals as well as workshops and educational events throughout the year, BPCPC transforms its parks into concert halls, theaters, art studios and classrooms for the families and students of New York City. Events in the parks help to join together the surrounding residential community of Battery Park City, which like the parkland, developed largely in the early 1990s.

Free weekly art classes for adults, children and preschoolers are held from May 1 through October 31, and there is a four-week intensive summer course for Teen Art Portfolio Development. Open to all, BPCPC's drop-in art programs and classes use varying media including watercolor painting, charcoal and pen drawing, collage and sculpture. All art supplies are provided by BPCPC. While adults work individually (though engaging in group critiques), children often collaborate on large-scale group projects. With the guidance of BPCPC staff, and frequently using recycled materials and supplies, children transform pounds of clay and giant cardboard boxes into fanciful cities, animal menageries and other creative projects. 

For a free program calendar, call (212) 267-9700 or e-mail info@bpcparks.org. Click here to see a map of the area.