Education
Art Classes & Workshops
Children’s & Family Programs
Access Resources
School Groups
For Educators
Summer Art Lab for Kids
Art Classes & Workshops
CREATE ART LIKE YOU SEE AT THE MUSEUM
Our studio art classes, led by practicing artists, create opportunities for personal expression in drawing, painting, ceramics and fiber arts. Offered on the Museum grounds at The Manes Art Education Center, our classes offer both group and individual instruction for adults, teens and children of all abilities and ages.
Winter-Spring Art Classes
January – June 2025
ADULTS and TEENS
Studio art classes are offered at The Manes Art Education Center.
Participants practice art making with a skilled art instructors alongside classmates in our studios.
Art Workshops
2024
ADULTS and TEENS
In-person studio art classes are offered on-site at the Museum in The Manes Art Education Center.
Participants practice art making with a skilled art instructors alongside classmates in our studios.
Children's and Family Programs
Children’s and Family Programs provide children and their adult companions the opportunity to connect while viewing and making art together. Each week we offer projects that encourage curiosity, experimentation and creative thinking through a variety of experiences and materials inspired by artworks on view in our galleries.
Children and Family Resources
Download a Kid’s Map or Outdoor Adventures guide before your visit, or enjoy NCMA inspired activities at home.
Access Resources
The Nassau County Museum of Art welcomes everyone to visit and explore art in a welcoming and creative learning environment. We recognize the diversity of our general public’s abilities, needs, and interests and offer a variety of customized programs and services to ensure accessibility of the museum to all visitors.
Ask for a sensory kit at the front desk and download a guide and map before your visit.
Free Sensory Tool Kit for Museum and Home Use
Pick up a Sensory Kit at the admission desk when you visit the museum. Kits contain a selection of items that include Texture Squares, Stress Balls, Loofah, Liquid Motion Bubbler, Visual Aids with pictures and guided prompts to lessen the stress from visiting a museum and to make the visit to the museum a richer experience.
Designed to provide a multi-sensory museum experience for people with ASD and their families & care partners, these kits can be used to assist visitors as they explore the art in our galleries and then be brought home to continue the creative experience.
A Social Story
A Trip to Nassau County Museum of Art
Download our Social Guide: A Trip to the Nassau County Museum of Art, which provides an introduction to the museum for first-time visitors, families or visitors with developmental disabilities. Having this prior knowledge helps to alleviate the stress and anxiety often experienced when visiting a new environment. Parents, educators and caregivers can review this guide at home or school to learn what to expect during their visit. The Social Guide is made possible by funding from North Shore Autism Circle.
A Sensory Map
Download our Sensory Map: Tips for Navigating the Museum to identify sensory friendly spaces within the Museum. Use this as a guide for finding spaces that will likely be quieter and less crowded and for finding areas where there is usually seating and where you can take a break. This Sensory Map is made possible by funding from Autism Speaks.
Activities to enjoy when you can’t make it to the Museum
School Groups
Programs For K-16
For the 2024-25 school year, NCMA will offer school programs at the museum with NCMA educators.
Who we are
The Nassau County Museum of Art is located on the former 145 acre estate of the Frick family who lived here from 1919 to 1965. Today, NCMA, a nationally landmarked historic home serves as a fine art gallery featuring three exhibitions a year, a sculpture garden with over 40 large scale works as well as an arboretum with hiking trails throughout. We invite school children of all ages for guided visits to the museum for the changing exhibitions as well as the opportunity to explore the natural surroundings and sculpture garden.
What we believe
At NCMA we welcome and celebrate every voice, as K-12 students connect and respond to works of art through inquiry-based discussion and guided experiences, creating an environment of discovery and reflection. Our exhibitions present a diversity of artists, styles, time periods, and geography and our programs encourage students to see their own life experiences as valued and integral to meaning making. Embracing the goals of DEAI (Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Inclusion) and aligned with the principles of NY State’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework, our school programs seek to develop visual literacy, communication skills, critical thinking, self-expression and tolerance. We are inclusive by design and are committed to providing programs that are accessible for all students. Viewing art through a multi – disciplinary lens, we encourage classes in all subject areas to participate in our programs.
CONTACT US
Please schedule your program 4-6 weeks in advance. For more information please email Michelle Badzim, Manager of School Programs at mbadzim@nassaumuseum.org
Before You Visit
Let us know of any classroom connections you’d like for us to integrate into your visit. Our team of museum educators want your visit to connect with what you are doing in your classroom! You can also let us know if there is anything in particular we need to know about your students.
Remember to check the weather as the day of your trip gets closer. Have students dress appropriately, since there is a chance you will visit our outdoor sculptures or explore our grounds after your visit.
We have no lunchroom facilities available at the museum, and as a nature preserve we ask that any snacks consumed outside be cleaned up.
It helps if students, particularly in younger grades, wear nametags! This helps the museum educator during gallery conversations.
When You Arrive
The Museum’s Saltzman building is a large brick building a short walk from our parking lot. You have 2 options to discuss with your bus driver. You can either have the bus pull up to the front of the Museum for students to arrive directly at the front door, or your bus can park in the parking lot and you can walk up the brick pathway to the front door.
With either choice, the Museum road becomes one way as you pull up to the Museum’s Saltzman building’s doors – buses can continue around the ring road to end up back at the parking lot.
Jackets, backpacks and water bottles will all be left in class bins when you enter or you may choose to leave them on your bus.
Be Careful
Admiring is encouraged, touching is not. Artworks, including outdoor sculpture, may not be handled or climbed for any reason!
No running, jumping or gum-chewing in the building
All backpacks, packages, water bottles, coats and umbrellas must be left in the coat room upon entering
Please remember that this is a nature preserve; do not engage in any behavior that may harm or damage the wildlife or vegetation that resides here. Please remove any litter you or your group may create
Keep in Mind
An art museum is a place for reflection; please engage in quiet discussion as other groups and individuals concentrate on the exhibitions
We want your visit to be enjoyable and rewarding. With your cooperation we can continue the tradition of welcoming all visitors who love the museum as much as we do!
EDUCATORS
Visit us online or on-site
Professional Development K-16
The museum offers both live, online professional development workshops as well as on-site professional development workshops. Workshops are designed to engage teachers and administrators in participatory and meaningful experiences. NCMA’s education staff tailors workshops to meet individual classroom needs. All programs serve to introduce the museum as a resource for teaching, classroom learning and self care.
Teachers receive CTLE credit and a certificate of participation for all Professional Development Workshops.
Please contact Michelle Badzim, Manager of School Programs: mbadzim@nassaumuseum.org
On-site Professional Development
Museum Galleries and Sculpture Garden
Professional Development workshops are tailored to the needs of educators and administrators, K-16, in all disciplines. NCMA’s Professional Development workshops focus on how to use works of art as a resource for teaching. The workshops are object/art centered; inquiry based and are designed to engage viewers in a participatory and meaningful experience. Discussions in the galleries are facilitated by education staff and methodologies used are open-ended and multi-disciplinary. Educators will discuss the connections between what they learn during the workshop and their discipline.
Includes the following:
- Teachers will leave with sample activities that can be used in the classroom.
- Teachers will receive an Educator’s Resource Packet with images and a study guide.
Half Day – Half day: $900.00 for up to 30 teachers; Hands-on workshop for additional $100.00.
Full Day – $1,800 for up to 30 teachers and administrators; Hands-on workshop for additional $200.00.
Please contact Michelle Badzim – mbadzim@nassaumuseum.org to inquire.
Scout Programs
Summer Art Lab for Kids
Join us for a memorable summer experience at the Museum. Registration for Summer 2025 opens in February
Summer Art Lab 2025
Ages: children entering kindergarten Fall 2025 through age 10
July 7-August 1 | four weekly sessions
Monday-Friday | 9 am-12 pm
Location: The Manes Art and Education Center
Instructor: Einav Dembin
*Includes all artmaking materials
Member pricing applies to Dual / Family, Senior Couple Memberships and above. Click here to become a member.
Get ready for an extraordinary summer of creativity, adventure, and exploration! Our Summer Art Lab program returns with four one-of-a-kind, week-long sessions, offering a unique blend of indoor and outdoor art-making experiences that you won’t find anywhere else.
This summer, young artists will draw inspiration not only from the Nassau Museum’s current exhibition but also from the stunning sculptures scattered across our 145-acre nature preserve. They’ll have access to beautiful nature trails, where the great outdoors becomes part of their creative journey. In addition, students will enjoy exclusive, private experiences in the museum itself, allowing for a truly immersive connection with art and history.
Whether wandering our serene trails or creating in the hands-on studio at the Manes Art and Education Center, Art Lab offers an inspiring space for young minds to thrive. Led by our talented educator Einav, each session is thoughtfully designed to spark curiosity, challenge students with new materials, and push the boundaries of their creativity.
With experiences tailored to different age groups, there’s something for every young artist. Families can choose to sign up for one week or multiple weeks of exploration, with all art supplies included.
This program is truly unique—offering a combination of private access to the museum, the beauty of nature, and exciting art-making that can’t be replicated anywhere else. Don’t miss out on a summer full of imagination and unforgettable experiences!
Enrollment is limited to 15 students per session and pre-registration is required. Register for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 weekly sessions!
*If session is full, email edembin@nassaumuseum.org to be put on the waitlist
This year, we’re exploring the exciting world of entertainment in the arts! Each week, you’ll dive into a new theme—from expressing emotions with color to designing stage scenes—drawing inspiration from the museum’s exhibition. Register for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 weekly sessions!
Week 1 (July 7-11) – Feelings in Focus: Art as Emotion
Express your emotions through art! Use color, texture, and form to bring feelings to life. Draw inspiration from the museum’s exhibition on entertainment in the arts, where you’ll see how artists capture emotions in their work. You’ll also have the chance to visit the museum to explore these pieces up close and spark your own creativity!
Week 2 (July 14-18) – Star Power: Icons of Fame
Explore celebrity culture by creating portraits and mixed-media pieces of iconic figures in music, movies, or sports. Inspired by the museum’s exhibition on entertainment in the arts, discover how artists portray the phenomenon of stardom in different styles, from pop art to realism. You’ll also visit the museum to see these fascinating faces come to life in the artwork on display!
Week 3 (July 21-25) – Art in Motion: Capturing Energy
Explore how movement can be captured through art! Whether creating dynamic compositions, studying motion, or experimenting with kinetic art, find inspiration in the museum’s exhibition focused on entertainment in the arts. You’ll visit the museum to see how artists have captured energy and movement in their works!
Week 4 (July 28-Aug. 1) – The Show Must Go On: Art and Performance
Dive into the world of theater, dance, and performance art. Design dramatic scenes, costumes, or set pieces for a performance, inspired by the museum’s exhibition on entertainment in the arts. You’ll also visit the museum to experience how art and performance come together in powerful ways, sparking your own creative designs!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SAL 2024
Support Our Education Programs
Please consider a donation today for the Museum’s Public and Educational Programming