This spring, art students from Sleepy Hollow High School are experiencing what it’s like to create in a professional art studio thanks to a Community Arts Residency grant through the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
The Public Schools of the Tarrytowns received a two-year grant that includes a $50,000 cash prize and allows them to use the 900-square-foot studio at The Pocantico Center’s David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center in Tarrytown for art projects for three months each year.
In 2026, art and art club students are using the theme “Stories We Shape: Honoring Culture Through Collective Art” to explore identity, culture and community through an immersive sculptural residency.
Read more in our schools: This Sleepy Hollow High School program fosters environment of kindness.
On a recent afternoon, art club students were molding small clay pieces to attach to their large clay pennants before being fired in a kiln, then painted. Each pennant reflects their personal story. When completed, the collection will be strung together with wire to make a large-scale collaborative piece that will be installed at the high school.
“If you’re an artist and you’re working in a professional studio, your mind shifts and you start working differently,” said art teacher Jane Lawrence. “You start making bolder moves, and I wanted my students to take that opportunity and run with it.”
Artists-in-residence also have access to the sculpture collection and a chance to learn from staff at The Pocantico Center. Elly Weisenberg, the senior manager of Public Programs and Residencies at The Pocantico Center, said the residency also gives students insight into a career in the arts.
“Whether you’re an artist or an arts administrator, there’s so many ways that this residency can help develop students when they think about their futures in the creative arts,” said Weisenberg.
A school year is 180 days, with no two days and no two schools exactly alike. The students differ, the teachers differ, school cultures differ. Here, our photographers find what makes our school days anything but ordinary, the people and programs and events that make a difference, school day in and school day out.
Check back to lohud.com for our lohud in our schools feature each Monday.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Sleepy Hollow HS students create art at The Pocantico Center residency program
Reporting by Tania Savayan, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
