Documenting Deco is an educational program that provides New York City students with the tools to recognize Art Deco architecture and design and understand the importance of preservation. By introducing students to the Deco splendors in their own neighborhoods, this program fosters pride in local communities.

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Through these in-class lessons and walking tours, Art Deco design and architecture becomes the inspiration for students’ own art-making processes, which range from drawings, murals, mosaics, and ceramics to computer-based design, photography, and video.

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Each lesson of Documenting Deco features activities to cultivate knowledge and understanding in various important aspects of design. It offers educators and group leaders an opportunity to connect the arts, architecture, and design to social studies, language arts, science, math, and music activities.

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Through this program, students are given the opportunity to make a personal connection with the visual world around them and see the role they can play in their ever-changing city.

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Documenting Deco offers experiences in living history, and explores how each of us can honor the past while imagining the future, fostering New York’s next generation of architects, designers, preservationists, and design enthusiasts.

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The slideshow to the right shows students participating in the Documenting Deco program over the past few years.

 

See the below lessons for more information.