Public Art for Public Schools »

Michele Cohen is director for the Public Art for Public Schools program of the New York City School Construction Authority. She holds a Ph.D. in art history from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and is the co-author with Margot Gayle of The Art Commission and the Municipal Art Society Guide to Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture.

Stan Ries is an architectural photographer based in New York.

Michael R. Bloomberg is mayor of the City of New York.

What makes a good schoolhouse? Beyond the basics of classrooms and library, a good school inspires students and teachers and enhances the learning environment through its architecture and its art. Nowhere is this principle better demonstrated than in the New York City school system, the largest in the United States, where a collection of more than 1,500 artworks has been assembled over nearly 150 years. This extraordinarily diverse group ranges from stained glass by Tiffany Studios to vast mural cycles commissioned by the WPA to modern and contemporary works by Hans Hofmann, Ben Shahn, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, and Vito Acconci.

Education has been a priority for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and school construction and public art have expanded dramatically under his leadership. New school buildings have been commissioned from noted architects including Polshek Partnership, Pei Cobb Freed, and Arquitectonica, with installations by Tony Oursler, Sarah Morris, and James Casebere.

Public Art for Public Schools provides a comprehensive and insightful account of the history and future of this program, lavishly illustrated with archival images from the Department of Education and handsome new photographs by the noted architectural photographer Stan Ries, which were specially commissioned for this publication.

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1
Before City Unification: School Design and Decoration in the Early Years

Chapter 2
Dawn of a New Century: C. B. J. Snyder, Master Builder and Art Patron

Chapter 3
Beautifying Schools in the Progressive Era

Chapter 4
The New Deal Comes to Public Schools

Chapter 5
Modernism: Redefining Schools in the Post–World War II Years

Chapter 6
The Civil Rights Era and Beyond

Chapter 7
Reshaping Schools: Improved Design and Percent for Art

Chapter 8
Into the Twenty-first Century

Afterword

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

Credits