Classroom Connection is Watermill’s series of school workshops and residency programs with offerings tailored to all age groups and learning abilities. These school programs are informed by the New York State Learning Standards, are rooted in Watermill’s multidisciplinary artist programming, and our unique on-site collection of art and artifacts. Schools may book a single field trip/engagement or schedule an in-school residency program that includes multiple visits by a Watermill educator to the classroom, visits to The Watermill Center, and a culminating exhibition or performance. 

Programs below can be customized as one-off engagements or full residencies and are adaptable for different ages and abilities.

Clementine Hunter: Marking Memories (Focus: VIsual Art, History, Community, SEL)
Participants will learn about the life and work of Clementine Hunter (1886 – 1988), one of the most prominent black folk artists of the American South, by exploring the 25+ Clementine Hunter works displayed in our collection. They will also visit our “Clementine Hunter House,” a replica of the food storage building on Melrose Plantation where Hunter lived. Clementine Hunter described her paintings as “memory markings.” In this workshop, students will learn about Hunter’s art practice as well as her social, cultural, and historical context. Students will generate and refine their own artistic ideas using her work as inspiration, creating their own “memory markings.”

From Western Union to The Watermill Center: A Laboratory of Communication & Innovation (Focus: History, STEAM)
Long Island has a surprising and often untold history of innovations in telecommunication. The Watermill Center itself was once a Western Union Laboratory, where the high-speed fax machine, the night flight simulator, and light-transmitted voice communication were invented. Students will explore the history of human communication and how the Watermill Center continues this legacy as a laboratory of the today. *This program was made possible by a generous grant from The Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation.

Life At Watermill (Focus: Visual and Performing Arts, College, Career, & Civic Readiness)
Students will experience The Watermill Center as our artists do – as a site of inspiration and creativity. Engaging with the full scope of our space and resources, Visits will include an educator-led tour of the collection, exploration of our grounds and gardens (weather dependent), and the opportunity to engage and create with an Artist-in-Residence. 

The Library of Inspiration (Focus: Humanities, History, Visual Arts, Anthropology)
The Watermill Center boasts an extraordinary collection of over 8,000 artifacts and works of art from antiquity to the present. Students will have the opportunity to explore the collection, focusing on how art has shaped identity and social life across cultures and throughout history. Students will create their own artworks based on “artifacts” that represent their personal identity and the legacy they wish to leave behind. 

Inclusion Arts aims to create an inclusive learning environment at The Watermill Center through a series of programs curated for individuals with physical, intellectual, or medical disabilities, as well as those who struggle with mental health. These programs are designed to help participants build skills and express creativity through workshops and residencies. All are highly customizable and seek to provide a nurturing and safe environment for people of all ages and abilities to explore their emotions and creative impulses with a focus on community and well-being. Offerings include: 

Finding Your Voice – Mental Health: This theater and play-based program uses creative play, theater games, improvisation, and other art mediums to help individuals find a sense of community in an often fractured society. Through this program, they will learn about coping strategies, mental health resources, paths to recovery from trauma through art, and learning to advocate for themselves and others.

Making Meaning Through Movement: This multidisciplinary arts program invites participants to take part in a multi-week workshop series exploring the creation of visual and performative work focused on a theme, such as love, connection, friendship, etc. Past participants have expressed these themes through paintings, photography, dance, and film. 

Sensory Friendly Tours (available upon request): Sensory Friendly Tours increase access to The Watermill Center through accommodations made for neurodiverse visitors. Natural lighting is used when possible, ambient sound is kept to a minimum, and materials will be made available prior to guest arrival to give attendees time to review and plan their visit.

Professional Development workshops offer educators the opportunity to learn new methods of integrating the arts into their curriculum. Led by our staff or a member of our international community of teaching artists, these multidisciplinary workshops are designed to benefit all K-12 educators looking for resources and a fresh approach in the classroom. CTLE credits are applicable. 

The Watermill Center invites schools to participate in on and off-site visits.  Our custom-designed programs meet the needs and goals of educators and students, and can include tours of the building and grounds, interactions with the collection and library, activities with our Artists-in-Residence and workshops crafted in collaboration with teachers.

One Saturday per month, families are invited to take part in all-ages arts workshops and tour of Watermill, led by our staff or one of our Artists-in-Residence. These events are open to the public, creating access to unique learning experiences available only at The Watermill Center.

The Watermill Center’s international Artists-in-Residence engage with the community through this series of workshops that explore the creative process. Participants encounter new ways of experiencing the world around and within themselves through the lens of various artistic disciplines and practices. Past workshops have focused on theater, dance and movement, folk arts, writing, costumed performance, circus arts, animation, martial arts, and music.

YARP offers K-12 students the opportunity to engage in workshops centered on creativity, critical thinking skills, social-emotional learning, and civic and college readiness. 

YARP (ages 8-12): In this after-school program, students engage with one of the international Artists-in-Residence at Watermill, The Robert Wilson Archive, The Watermill Center Collection and Study Library, as well as the building and grounds. Drawing inspiration from The Watermill Center’s mission, YARP focuses on expanding creativity, creating unique investigations, and developing the artistic self. 

YARP Teens (ages 13-18): Through a series of multidisciplinary workshops, students will explore the intersection of art and activism by working with teachers and artists to learn how to be a voice in their community and beyond. YARP sessions culminate with a final project of public works by the students. Community service credit available for these sessions.