News

HELP US SAVE AFTER SCHOOL AND CHILD CARE FROM BUDGET CUTS

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

TAKE 5 MINUTES TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR VITAL PROGRAMS SERVING 47,000 KIDS & FAMILES IN NYC

The Educational Alliance's after school & child care programs are at risk of facing budget cuts that could affect 47,000 children and families across New York City. Join us in the Campaign for Children, a citywide advocacy campaign to raise awareness of the importance of these vital programs. Watch the above clip from WPIX News about the proposed cuts to our after school program at P.S. 142.

**Take 5 minutes to email the Mayor and City Council by clicking here.

**To learn more, visit www.campaignforchildrennyc.com

NEW TEEN THEATER SUMMER INSTITUTE AT 14TH STREET Y

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

NEW TEEN THEATER INSTITUTE AT THE 14TH STREET Y

2-Week Summer Program in Acting, Musical Theater & Playwriting with Programming Provided By Amas Musical Theatre, MCC Theater and Red Fern Theatre Company

The 14^th Street Y?s artist fellow program ? LABA, the National Laboratory for New Jewish Culture ? joins with top downtown theater talent to offer a unique teen theater experience in the heart of New York?s East Village. The Teen Theater Summer Institute (TTSI) will take place from July 9-20, 2012 for teens entering 9^th through 12^th grades.

Only blocks from where Jonathan Larson was inspired to create his modern day Bohemian characters from Rent, the 14^th Street Y is the home of a state-of-the-art black box theater and arts program, and hosts numerous innovative Off-Off Broadway theater companies year-round.

For two weeks, teens will study with theater experts from a variety of fields and perspectives. LABA artists will bring their experience with ancient texts, providing inspiration for contemporary work to the teens in a series of workshops. Programming by Amas Musical Theatre, MCC Theater, and Red Fern Theatre Company will provide discipline-specific instruction in the areas of musical theater, acting, playwriting and theater for social justice (or Tzedek.

Teens will be able to customize their program with the choice of classes and focus. TTSI is the only summer program where teens can get a variety of expert instruction from award-winning theater companies, plus cultural programming from innovative 14^th Street Y artists, in one place.

On Sunday, July 15, teens will be invited to a workshop called ?How to take a show from your living room to Times Square? with the creative team of Twilight: The Unauthorized Musical Parody. The workshop will be three hours long and include a concert. The camp will conclude on Friday, July 20, with a performance for family and friends.

Teens will leave the Institute with new skills, a network of fellow theater artists, and an enhanced understanding of the power of theater for social causes.

Participating teens will also receive a Summer Teen Membership to the 14^th Street Y, which includes more than 40 fitness classes a week, and access to our gym and pool. Our staff of fitness experts will be visiting the Teens to discuss fitness training for the performing arts.

Throughout the two weeks, the teens will have visits with theater professionals, including talent agents, stage managers, and directors, providing mentorship and educational opportunities.

*To learn more and register, visit www.14StreetY.org/teen

About The 14th Street Y

The newly renovated 14th Street Y provides Manhattan?s East Village residents with a variety of community programs including a Fitness Center, Aquatics Program, a Preschool, Baby & Toddler classes, After School programs, Sports Leagues and Arts & Culture programs. The Y is part of The Educational Alliance, a non-profit Jewish agency that serves people of all ages from every ethnic, religious, and socio-economic background. The Y is located at 344 East 14th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues.

ART SCHOOL CONTINUES "ON LOCATION" CLASSES THIS SPRING

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0500

THE EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE ART SCHOOL CONTINUES "ON LOCATION" ART CLASSES THIS SPRING

Downtown Manhattan Art School Continues Adult Classes in 3 New Satellite Locations in East Village and SoHo in April

New York, NEW YORK (Feb. 2012) ? The Educational Alliance Art School announced that its art classes for adults will continue ?on location? at new, satellite locations during the organization?s 22-month renovation of its flagship building on the Lower East Side. The upcoming spring session begins on April 15th.

The Art School will now offer classes in two new, convenient neighborhoods ? the East Village and SoHo. Ceramics and painting classes will be offered in new studios at the Sirovich Center, located at 331 East 12th Street near 1st Avenue. Stone carving and clay sculpture classes will be conducted at the Compleat Sculptor, located at 90 Vandam Street in SoHo. Graphic Novels classes will be conducted at the 14th Street Y, located at 344 East 14th Street near 1st Avenue. Beginning drawing classes will be offered at each of these sites. Two of these locations, the Sirovich Center and 14th Street Y, are part of the Educational Alliance.

This session?s class offerings will include: ceramics, cartooning for graphic novels, portrait drawing, oil painting, abstract painting, stone carving, portrait clay sculpture, and much more. To learn more, stop by the Art School?s Open House on Wednesday, April 4th at 6-8PM at the Sirovich Center (331 East 12th Street) to meet teachers, learn about classes, visit the studios and see who else might be taking classes with you! (Open House is only at the Sirovich Center location.)

Registration opens on March 1st and runs until classes are filled. To register, visit www.edalliance.org/artschool, call 646-395-4235 or email artschool@edalliance.org

SPECIALS: Register by March 29 to receive the Early Bird discount ? $20 off!

GIFT CERTIFICATES: Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Gift certificates to the Art School are also available.

To learn more about the Educational Alliance Art School, visit the website at www.edalliance.org/artschool and the Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/eaartschool

To learn more about the renovation of the Educational Alliance?s flagship building, visit www.edalliance.org/197eastbroadway

NBC UNIVERSAL FOUNDATION GRANTS $40,000 TO OUR YOUTH PROGRAMS

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

THE EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE RECEIVES $40,000 FROM NBC UNIVERSAL FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT YOUTH PROGRAMS

The NBC Universal Foundation recently presented the Educational Alliance with a grant of $40,000 to support the organization?s award-winning youth development programs. Pictured above, Lynda Baquero, news correspondent for NBC New York and Russell Makowsky, Board of Trustees Chairman, The Educational Alliance.

The NBC Universal Foundation awarded $200,000 in total to five local New York City area non-profit organizations at the check presentation held on Tuesday, August 2, 2011.

About The Educational Alliance

The Educational Alliance is a community-based non-profit organization offering a wide range of programs in Downtown Manhattan, including early childhood education, after school activities, senior centers, meals for the homeless, an art school, subsidized housing, and addiction and mental health services. The Alliance is a Jewish organization and proudly serves people from all ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds.

ART SCHOOL LAUNCHES "ON LOCATION" CLASSES THIS WINTER

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

THE EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE ART SCHOOL LAUNCHES "ON LOCATION" ART CLASSES THIS WINTER

Downtown Manhattan Art School Brings Adult Classes To 3 New Satellite Locations in East Village and SoHo in January 2012

New York, NEW YORK (December 2011) ? The Educational Alliance Art School announced that its art classes for adults will continue ?on location? at new, satellite locations during the organization?s 22-month renovation of its flagship building on the Lower East Side. The upcoming winter session begins on January 30th, 2012.

This session?s class offerings will include: ceramics, cartooning for graphic novels, portrait drawing, oil painting, abstract painting, stone carving, portrait clay sculpture, and much more. To learn more, stop by the Art School?s Open House on Wednesday, January 18th at 6-8PM at the Sirovich Center (331 East 12th Street) to meet teachers, learn about classes, visit the studios and see who else might be taking classes with you! (Open House is only at the Sirovich Center location.)

Registration opens on December 15^th, 2011 and runs until classes are filled. To register, visit www.edalliance.org/artschool, call 646-395-4235 or email artschool@edalliance.org

SPECIALS: Register by January 13^th to receive the Early Bird discount ? $20 off!

HOLIDAY GIFTS: Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Gift certificates to the Art School are also available.

CLASSES FOR YOUTH: Courses in digital photography, drawing, painting, comics and ceramics will be offered for students aged 10-18 beginning the first week in February. For more info, visit www.edalliance.org/yap

To learn more about the Educational Alliance Art School, visit the website at www.edalliance.org/artschool and the Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/eaartschool

To learn more about the renovation of the Educational Alliance?s flagship building, visit www.edalliance.org/197eastbroadway

GROUNDBREAKING ON THE RENOVATION OF 197 EAST BRODWAY

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

THE EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE BREAKS GROUND ON GUT RENOVATION OF ITS FLAGSHIP BUILDING

A Historic Moment for the Lower East Side Community Organization

The Educational Alliance held a ground breaking celebration on Tuesday, November 22^nd at its flagship building, located at 197 East Broadway on the Lower East Side. The 122-year-old nonprofit kicked off its first-ever gut renovation this month ? with the goal of creating the quintessential urban community center. Photo identification (left to right): NY State Senator Daniel Squadron, Judy Rapfogel (chief of staff for NY State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver), Richard Cantor (Chairman, Educational Alliance Capital Project), Robin Bernstein (Educational Alliance President & CEO), Russell Makowsky (Chairman, Educational Alliance Board of Trustees), US Representative Carolyn Maloney.

About the Renovation

Building: Educational Alliance is a new, forward-thinking renovation project that preserves our historic flagship building's exterior while completely rebuilding the interior ? ensuring a new home befitting the dreams of everyone in our downtown Manhattan community. Located at 197 East Broadway, our flagship is 122 years old ? as old as the agency itself. By incorporating visionary design and impressive space planning, it will be transformed from a deteriorating, inefficient community service facility into the Lower East Side's quintessential urban community center, to serve families for the next century and beyond. The center will bring together people of all racial, ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds to build community and create more opportunities for everyone. To learn more, visit www.edalliance.org/197eastbroadway

9/11 EXHIBIT TRANSFORMS GALLERY INTO MEDITATIVE SPACE

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 07:00:00 -0400

EMBODIED LIGHT: 9-11 in 2011 - An Installation by Tobi Kahn

Exhibit On View: September 9th - November 23rd, 2011

In this commemorative exhibit, the gallery will be transformed into a meditative room for visitors to reflect on remembrance, loss and the human spirit. Sculptural shrines, memorial candleholders and a floor relief will reference the specific tragedy of 9/11/01 and be a universal reflection on loss, remembrance and hope. Tobi Kahn is creating a sacred space consisting of seven shrines, each encompassing an abstract figure, bracketed in solitude by an architectural structure; seven sculpted memorial lights; and two charity boxes made of the plaques like those engraved in chapels with the names of the dead?but blank in ceaseless grief. The exhibit will also include three meditations by writer Nessa Rapoport on the wall opposite the shrines.

In the center of the gallery will be a floor relief comprised of thousands of wood remnants from art Kahn made in the decade since 9-11. From above, their overlapping shapes and the patterns they form of refracted light suggest an aerial view of the city?s density, loss, and sustenance. In a ritual Kahn created, sculpted memory blocks for the 220 floors in the two towers were given by hand, ceremonially, to New Yorkers chosen by the artist in spring 2011, and then returned to him with a drawing or inscription that evokes their memory of the day. In changing patterns, obscuring and bringing to light distinct memories, the blocks will be continually rearranged over the length of the exhibition.

Dates of exhibit: September 9?November 23, 2011

Gallery Hours: Monday?Thursday, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, Friday?Sunday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm

Location: Ernest Rubenstein Gallery (197 East Broadway between Jefferson and Clinton Streets

Contact: Walter O?Neill, Director 646-395-4236

CENTER FOR BALANCED LIVING HOSTS OPEN HOUSE ON SEPT 26TH

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 07:00:00 -0400

OPEN HOUSE AT THE EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE'S

CENTER FOR BALANCED LIVING

FREE Interactive Classes, Cooking Demos & Group Meditation at Specialized Health & Wellness Program for Adults 55+

Are you 55+ and looking to get fit and meet like-minded adults? The Educational Alliance Center for Balanced Living (CBL) is hosting an Open House this month to offer a glimpse & a taste of what the CBL is all about!

This free event will feature: interactive tap, jazz & NIA class demos, meet n? greets with instructors ? including theater, zumba, tap, jazz, NIA, meditation and yoga; healthy cooking demos with fresh produce from Monkshood Nursery & Gardens, an organic farm in upstate New York; group meditation exercises; and free refreshments.

The CBL offers empowering classes, workshops and social events focused on fitness, health & wellness and arts & culture for adults ages 55 and up. Now in its 2^nd year, the Center has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, New York Daily News and NY1 News for its innovative programming.

OPEN HOUSE Special: Visitors who register at the Open House will receive a free gift! CBL membership costs just $90 per year, and includes unlimited daytime, evening and weekend classes, plus social events and access to open swim at the 14th Street Y. To learn more, visit www.edalliance.org/balancedliving

Event: Open House @ Center for Balanced Living

Date: Monday, September 26^th, 2011

Time: 1:00PM ? 4:00PM

Location: Center for Balanced Living ? 331 East 12^th Street (Between 1^st and 2^nd Avenues)

Cost: FREE!

Phone: 646-395-4526

Website: www.edalliance.org/balancedliving

OPEN GREEN HOUSE AT THE 14TH STREET Y ON SEPTEMBER 18TH

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:00:00 -0400

FREE "OPEN GREEN HOUSE" AT THE 14TH STREET Y

Celebrating Greening with Recycled Activities, Live Music, Urban Oasis & More!

The 14th Street Y takes its annual Open House to a greener pasture on Sunday, September 18th! In addition to the fabulous & FREE concerts, activities and fun that?s traditionally featured, the Y will be celebrating greening successes from the past year, and educating the community on the easy ways to lessen their carbon footprint and support local businesses every day.

Scheduled to appear: Composting from Lower East Side Ecology, greening education from Teva, presentations from GROWNYC, Relaxing Urban Oasis with Fair Trade coffee and delicious organic juices, and local sustainable and organic vendors from the neighborhood that are making a difference. Vendors will include: Vokashi, Birdbath (the Green Bakery), Curly?s Vegetarian Lunch, Ciao for Now, Vaya Bags, Prem Soaps, Green Toys and many more!

Lots of fun for kids & families of all ages! Other featured activities will include: music from a solar-powered DJ, recycled art gallery exhibit, repurposed arts & crafts projects for kids, healthy lunch demonstrations, concert for kids on the roof featuring the Y?s own Rock-a-Baby, Tim Kubart of Tim and the Space Cadets, and Meredith Wright of SweetBeatz, plus walks through our rooftop city garden & creative play on our rooftop playground.

Event: OPENgreenHOUSE at the 14th Street Y

Date: Sunday, September 18th

Time: 10:00AM ? 3:00PM

Location: 344 East 14^th Street (Between 1^st and 2^nd Avenues)

Cost: FREE!

Ages: All Ages

Phone: 212-780-0800

Website: www.14StreetY.org/opengreenhouse

Directions: L to 1st Avenue; 4, 5, 6, Q, N, R, or W trains to Union Square

About The 14th Street Y

The newly renovated 14th Street Y provides Manhattan?s East Village residents with a variety of community programs including a Fitness Center, Aquatics Program, a Preschool, Baby & Toddler classes, After School programs, Sports Leagues and Arts & Culture events. The Y is part of The Educational Alliance, a non-profit Jewish agency that serves people of all ages from every ethnic, religious, and socio-economic background.

ART SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE ON SEPTEMBER 14TH

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 07:00:00 -0400

FREE OPEN HOUSE & DEMONSTRATIONS OF ART TECHNIQUES!

Discover Your Creative Side and Win Free Gifts at the Educational Alliance Art School OPEN HOUSE on Sept. 14th

Come to the Educational Alliance Art School?s FREE Open House to learn about courses, talk with teachers, see the studios and watch demonstrations of various art techniques. Art demonstrations will include: Welding (steel sculpture), Portrait Drawing, Pottery wheel throwing and Stone Carving. Free gifts will be given out throughout the evening ? donated from local art shops Pearl Paint and Utrecht Art Supplies.

Event: OPEN HOUSE & Free Art Demos

Location: The Educational Alliance Art School - 197 East Broadway (Between Jefferson & Clinton Street)

Date: Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Time: 5:30PM − 8:00PM

Cost: FREE

Website: http://www.edalliance.org/artschool

Phone: 646-395-4235

Directions: Trains: F, D, J, Z, M; Buses: M9, M14A, M15, M22

CLASSES: Ceramics, Drawing, Figure Drawing, Portrait Drawing, Abstract Painting, Realistic Painting, Watercolor, Clay Sculpture, Stone Carving, Welding steel sculpture, Collage, Beginning Sculpture, Photography and more.

COST: From $175 to $295 -- Get $20 off if you register in-person at Open House or before May 27

The most active stone carving studio in New York City with over 40 stone carvers each week. Our studio has 12 tall windows overlooking a park.
One of the few welding studio in NYC open to amateurs and artists.
Free studio time ? unlike any other adult art continuing education program we let students use the studios outside of class time
A place for beginners and accomplished artists (Louise Nevelson took her first sculpture class here; one summer Kiki Smith used the pottery studio)