Welcome to the Statewide Art and Enrichment Roster, Hosted by CiTi BOCES
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This directory of artists, presenters and vendors is for contact information only. Please note that all
approvals are determined by individual BOCES and/or District criteria and do not guarantee acceptance of
proposed contracts.
Jeff Mack
I'm an author/illustrator who presents to elementary school students about writing and illustrating humorous picture books, graphic novels, and chapter books. Each of my programs features multimedia presentations about how I make both fiction and non-fiction books. I include a mix of info about my writing and illustrating processes as well as exciting, interactive drawing demonstrations for all ages.
Are you looking to inspire and motivate your students to overcome adversity and achieve their dreams? As a seasoned speaker for large groups and classroom settings, I offer a powerful and personal presentation that will resonate deeply with young people. My topics include advocating against bullying, developing self-belief, curating effective storytelling, and the importance of sharing your personal story. Additionally, I provide practical guidance on effective writing techniques, helping students to develop their writing skills with confidence and clarity.
Drawing from my own experiences of overcoming challenges such as a broken family, poverty, and mental illness, I provide a relatable and inspiring perspective. My goal is to empower students to find their voices, believe in themselves, and create a life where they follow their passions and make a positive impact on the world.
By sharing my story, I aim to offer a lifeline to those struggling, inspire hope, and stress the importance of asking for help. From small writing sessions to public speaking workshops, I offer a unique variety of experiences that will impact any age group!
The Seward House Museum offers a variety of educational experiences for students of all ages and adult learners. We host field trips and group tours between the months of March and December in person. Virtual field trips and live streams can also be scheduled year round. Admission is $6.00 for students in a group. Teachers and bus drivers receive complimentary admission. One chaperone is offered complimentary admission per every twenty students. School tours for November-December and May-June tend to book quickly. Teachers are encouraged to make reservations for these seasons as quickly into the school year as possible.
The Seward House Museum does its best to fulfill special requests for interpretation. If you would like a particular point of emphasis—Civil War, anti-slavery, women’s rights, etc.—emphasized, please give as much notice as possible when booking your trip. Field trips may be paired with Hands-On History workshops in the Museum. Lectures and Hands-On activities can also be brought into classrooms. The Seward House also offers a variety of virtual resources for students, including lesson plans and resource kits. It also hosts an interactive website for 4th and 5th graders that revolves around the legacy of Fanny Seward.
Bring a theater-style grand-illusion show to your school in this interactive magic experience! Not your typical "magic show"...
A little about the show..."The Extreme Magic of Eric" is one of the largest illusion shows in the country (but based out of New York!)! Combining cutting-edge illusions, escapes, cool music, customized lighting, and humorous audience participation, Eric and his assistant bring an illusion show experience to your school! Eric's performances have been seen on NBC's America's Got Talent, live with Jimmy Fallon, at MSG for the Knicks and Rangers, and in Europe, the Caribbean, Times Square and Las Vegas!
We make a student float in the air, make someone disappear while surrounded by students, a Houdini escape, etc. Each show would be appropriately geared to the age of the audience (elementary, middle, or high school).
The illusion show is 100% interactive (one of the only in the country!) with every routine involving student participation…volunteers from the audience assisting onstage and by their seats!
Our website www.ExtremeMagicOfEric.com has more info and videos too! You can also google search "Eric Wilzig" and reads tons of only 5 star reviews from schools across the country.
The #1 Entertainment Choice for your schools:
PTA/PTO Family Fun Night
School Day Assembly
Fundraiser Event
Holiday Program
End of Year “Field Day”
I’ll start each workshop with a slide show of my personal journey into the arts. This will start from my entrance into the arts back in high school where I was guided away from the arts by guidance counselors and administration. I’ve found this to be helpful to mention as many students can relate to this.
My entrance into the arts started in ceramics and has led me to Mould Making, Metal Casting, Fiber & Silversmithing. I’ll discuss how perseverance, determination, hard work, and elbow grease has awarded me with scholarships, grants, shows, and teaching opportunities that enable me to travel to craft schools and residencies to continue making work. I’ll show the evolution of my work and include photos of in-process works from different studios throughout the years.
This introduction will last about 30 minutes concluding with 15 minutes of questions.
I’ll continue with about 20 minutes of demonstrations and disperse materials for hands-on building. At this point, I’ll make my rounds to meet with each student and troubleshoot their project ideas and the best way to construct them. I’ll call the class over to discuss which method of building would be best depending on the desired outcome as there is no one way to make something.
Program Descriptions
Workshop 1: Personification of an Object
First steps into the world of Abstract art by warping reality one object at a time. Students are prompted to give humanistic features/characteristics to inanimate objects to create something that’s never existed before.
Workshop 2: Re-Create Everyday Objects
Students will be asked to bring in 3-5 everyday objects. We’ll discuss different methods of construction, play with scale, and explore the surface through color and texture. Refrain from bringing in objects that are made out of ceramic materials.
Workshop 3: Large Forms inspired by the Ancient World and Today
This workshop focuses on giving students the necessary skills to create large vessels. Students will be asked to find references of Vessels from Ancient Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, or contemporary artists.
-hand-building on a larger scale helps beginner students quickly adapt to the properties of clay and respond to the material quicker than something small. This method of construction [coil-building] is the oldest method of building with clay, allows for lots of adjustments to form and scale for a beginner student, causes you to be attentive to the material.
-Discuss the benefits of hand-building and the freedom/ability to build in a gestural way, why this is helpful.
-Ask students to choose or draw a silhouette to mimic for their vessel
– A blueprint/reference photo is VITAL to making a successful shape, make this mandatory, this will help assist them in achieving the shape they want to.
-brief demo on darting– show them how to edit a shape that’s not going in the direction (shape-wise) that they’re going for.
Workshop 4: Advanced Techniques
Ask students to make an object (sculptural or functional) using the extruder and slab roller. These can be very gestural, architectural, or realistic.
-Demo how to construct a form using slabs slumping/wrapping/template techniques (cut-outs slipped and scored together)
-Emphasize that the appearance of the object will be determined by what method of construction students wish to use (explain and show examples of architectural vs. gestural, organic vs geometric forms, etc.)
-Demo how to use an extruder and how to attach extruded shapes securely together/to the form.
Clay & tools can be provided for an additional fee.
The Story Ship takes audiences on a one-of-a-kind interactive adventure. Each performance blends comedy, theater, magic, music, robots, animation, and immersive video to create an unforgettable experience for kids.
Students don’t just watch—they actively participate by solving puzzles, helping with magic tricks, dancing to upbeat music, and interacting with animated characters throughout the story. With a giant video screen and incredible props, every show feels like stepping into a larger-than-life world.
We currently offer five exciting programs:
Diggery Digger’s Dino Adventure (Science)
The Great Pirate Race (Math)
Aliens Alive! (STEAM)
Super Me! (Anti-Bullying)
The Rainbow Thief (Art)
We offer writing workshops, motivational speaking, Basketball workshops from a former professional. Workshops* can be tailored to audiences at the Kindergarten level all the way up through the High school level.
*Cultural Writing workshop
*Motivational Speech
*Basketball Skills Session
(Played in NBA and Europe)
*World Travel Experiences
(Lived in over 15 different Countries)
*Author visit: author of the book "Love" https://www.amazon.com/LOVE-Willie-Deane/dp/1633084671
NYSATA annually hosts Olympics of the Visual Arts, a creative problem-solving event in which student teams of one or more enter a long-term design solution in one of eight categories and participate in an on-demand design prompt. Teams present a portfolio along with their entry to showcase the research, planning and iterations that led to the final design.
EarthBeat Music presents West African Drum-Dance-Sing Presentations, Workshops and Residencies! Our programs enhance mental health and well-being, foster personal development and encourage creative expressiveness through the powerful, transformative practices of drumming, movement, and singing. We share West African traditional music, which includes diving into the rich history, culture and language, to create more resilient and empathetic communities. We strive to connect students to the Master Musicians - our mentors - from West Africa, as well as other regional visual and dance artists to create a WHOLE experience.
The Children's Museum at Saratoga is dedicated to creating an interactive community that inspires curiosity, sparks imagination, and nurtures discovery. We are committed to serving as a resource for Capital Region school districts and to ensuring that programs and services are accessible to all children. The Museum offers outreach and field trip programs for students from preschool to 6th grade. Each program is designed to meet the needs of each classroom with plenty of opportunities for unique hands-on experiences. Programs correlate to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. They are wonderful additions to classroom curriculum as either an introduction to a lesson or to enhance current classroom units.
The Museum's priority is to make educational programs accessible to all students. We ask that you please share any special needs your students may have ahead of time so that we can accommodate their needs.
For more information about the Museum's program catalog and prices, please check out https://cmssny.org/education/.
Playful Engineers Traveling Maker Space STEAM-Powered assemblies, hands-on workshops, whole-school events, and family nights featuring Rube Goldberg Machines, and other chain reactions, plus Artful Mechanisms - student-built toys made using principals of mechanical linkages and crankshafts. Kids learn real-world maker skills with our latchkey programs. We bring our traveling Maker Space including all materials, and we love working with all ages. Our play-based programs help kids learn while having loads of fun! In-person, and virtual programs are available from single programs to 2 week residencies!
We are a movement of second chances and self-worth through media content, music, school assembly programs and outreaches. Reminding people that it's NEVER too late for a CLEAN SLATE! You are WORTHY to "Rewrite Tomorrow