Empire State Partnership
Community Connections Program
The Antique Boat Museum has established a partnership with the Thousand Islands Central School District for an Empire State Partnership program funded by the New York State Council on the Arts. Community Connections is an Arts-in-Education program that works with students in grades K-5 at the Guardino and Cape Vincent Elementary Schools. Students learn about their local history and culture through curriculum aligned units infused with the arts. Each grade level works not only with their teachers and the Museum educator, but also local artisans to complete a traditional art project which is exhibited at the Museum.
Kindergarten classes paint a mural of the River with a local painter. The project helps the students begin to identify their home area and describe the unique features of living in the 1000 Islands. Grade 1 students learn about fish printing as a way to record the size of fish and also as an art form. Students work with a skilled printer and also learn more about the area's rich fishing culture with a fishing guide.
Grade 2 students research local duck species and then work with a professional decoy carver to produce their own duck decoys. The students use the study of decoys to learn more about ecology and their local community.
Grade 3 students work with a decorative paddle artist exploring painting and souvenir paddles as a tool for studying popular images of area landmarks, boats, and flags. As they create their own paddles, students reflect upon their own culture today as well as its history.
Grade 4 classes focus on the St. Lawrence skiff with a traditional boatbuilder helping the students learn about the process and terminology of boatbuilding. Students build their own model Skiffs using many of the same techniques used in a traditional boatbuilding class. While making their model skiffs, the students learn about the history of the 1000 Islands region.
Grade 5 students work in teams to build models of St. Lawrence River boathouses with an architect. This project enhances their social studies curriculum, focusing on the rise of steam, rail, and big business in the 1800s and their influence on the towns of Clayton and Cape Vincent.
EMPIRE STATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM GOALS1. Students and teachers understand the impact the St. Lawrence River has on inhabitants in the past, present, and future.
2. The Antique Boat Museum partnering with the TI Central School District infuses the arts and culture of the St. Lawrence River into the elementary curriculum.
3. The partnership between the Antique Boat Museum and the TI Central School District builds capacity to deliver elementary Arts in Education programs.
Visit Click here to learn more about NYSCA.
To contact the Museum Education Department:
Email lnadolski@abm.org
