NYU Art + Education Community Practice

Peoples Lower East Side Curriculum Project

In collaboration with our community-based partner Fourth Arts Block (FAB), NYU Art+Education graduate students in the Critical Pedagogy, Artists and the Public Sphere class participated in a semester-long fieldwork project to create a collection of curriculum for the People’s Lower East Side website. Inspired by FAB’s mission to strengthen the cultural vitality of the Lower East Side we identified four themes to explore through creative and critical engagement and artistic inquiry:

1) Gardens, Parks and Public Spaces;

2) Immigrant Communities, Language Access and Sanctuary;

3) Urban Planning, Architecture and Preservation; and

4) Housing Affordability and Displacement.

Image of a classroom with students standing around a table discussing and gesturing

Each curriculum was designed to engage LES residents, students and teachers, families and other stakeholders and researchers with relevant historical knowledge, opportunities for personal and collaborative reflection,  and an exploration of current, lived realities of the Lower East Side from diverse perspectives. Students drew from class discussions about critical pedagogy tenets, relevant artist projects and educational examples to inspire others to see and re-see the Lower East Side through these themes. Each curriculum includes a range of discussion prompts to promote critical thinking, creative activities that suggest extensions to action, related resources, and opportunities to learn through different modalities/senses and reimagine a LES that is inclusive and responsive to diverse community perspectives.          

  • ‘ROOTED’ in the Lower East Side (exploring the theme of Gardens, Parks and Public Spaces):
  • Downloadable file here:  

Image of curriculum cover with title: Rooted and image of an urban landscapeImage from a curriculum that has text and an image of a geodesic dome and garden

  • LES History and Diversity (addressing the realities of Immigrant Communities, Language Access and Sanctuary):
  • Downloadable file here:

Image of curriculum page; title reads: Lower East Side History and Diversity with flowersCurriculum page reads: Cultural Assimilation vs. Cultural Preservation

  • What Makes a Place Special? (investigating Urban Planning, Architecture and Preservation):
  • Downloadable file here:

Image of the front of the curriculum, title page reads: What makes a place special? with an image of urban buildings in the backgroundImage from the curriculum with text that reads: A brief history of the Lower East Side with 2 historic photographs

  • Reclaiming Space: Exploring Resistance to Gentrification in the Lower East Side (unpacking Housing Affordability and Displacement):
  • Downloadable file here:

Image of curriculum cover with title: Reclaiming Space and images of apartment buildings and people protesting in the backgroundImage from curriculum that says: What is a home? and has prompts for reflection and a hand drawn image of a building

The semester ended with a presentation and celebration of our curriculum at Fourth Arts Block.

Image of students presenting in front of a large screen in a dark theater spaceGroup photograph of members of the class