Recently, a new collaborative artwork, Potential Futures #15, by celebrated artist Azikiwe Mohammed and 6th- and 7th-grade students at Quest to Learn Middle School was unveiled in a common space of the school.

This artwork marks the culmination of our Art Off Line pilot, which consisted of 15+ weeks of in-school programming led by High Line staff members and teaching artist Steph Costello, Azikiwe Mohammed, and partner teacher at Quest to Learn, Chris Schilling, that used High Line Art and the park as a springboard for imagining a brand-new artwork for the school.

The students guided the process from start to finish. Early on, they gave feedback about potential artists to then-High Line curator Melanie Kress, bringing NYC native artist Azikiwe Mohammed into the project. An early brainstorming session with Azikiwe helped the group arrive at the themes of outer space, nature, and nature in space as a jumping-off point. Students did math games, visited art galleries, learned about the art curation process from High Line experts, and took pen to paper to create elements that appear in the final artwork. In each session, Azikiwe and other adults worked closely with the students to create a vision that reflected the students’ interests and the spirit of the school itself.

A close-up of the individual panels of the mural, featuring the students’ drawn creative elements. Quest to Learn students proposed the guiding themes of the mural, arriving at outer space, nature, and nature in outer space. The finished mural features imagery found in nature like butterflies and leaves, concepts from space like a diagram of a black hole and a spectrum of light, and beyond to include humorous elements like a baguette floating in space.Photo by Liz Ligon

Potential Futures #15 extends beyond the faux-stained glass windows to include the surrounding walls and ceiling, resulting in an immersive installation for the school’s common area.Photo by Liz Ligon

The resulting immersive installation designed by Azikiwe features a colorful mural punctuated by the students’ own illustrations, expansive wall panels, and colorful decorative sound baffles, which altogether create a cozy, inspiring space that brings a taste of the outdoors into the school and provide them with a dedicated sanctuary for reflection and learning outside of the classroom. It was such an exciting moment for the High Line team to be able to unveil this artwork to the students who had worked so hard on this project and to our school partners.

Reflecting on his work with the students, Azikiwe Mohammed says, “Making spaces for / with people who have been othered is at the core of what I aim to do. Sometimes that space is a shared mental space, other times it is more physical. Potential Futures #15 combines both of those spaces into an offering made for / with the same people who will be using it most, the students of Quest to Learn. Working with the students to bring the outside into their inside is something I hope they will enjoy going forward as much as I did in its making.”

Here are some of our favorite reactions from the students:

Sasha
This project transformed my view of art and the purpose it serves. It allowed me to express my creativity, my feelings, and my emotions with others, and make something beautiful that other people can look at.

Hex
I feel like this project really showed me that art is not just a product of humanity, but also humanity within itself, and also community within itself. [Seeing the final product] makes me more excited and prideful about my school. And the fact that I helped create it is a feeling that makes my soul smile.

Elliot
It was amazing working with a professional artist. It felt really fulfilling and rewarding to see the final artwork—the space is a lot calmer and soothing.

Some of the Quest to Learn students who participated in the design of Potential Futures #15. Clockwise starting from the far left: Elliot, Renn, Sasha, Orion, Archer, and Hex.Photo by Liz Ligon

Teacher Chris Schilling shared his thoughts on the impact of this initiative: “Working specifically with Azikiwe was great because it was a chance for our kids to see someone who looked a lot like them be successful as an artist. He made them feel as if their designs were just as important as his, and he understood that he was working in collaboration with them. It was their design that he was bringing to life—that encouraged a lot of them to really engage and participate. At Quest, we always focus on ‘career and college readiness skills’ so this was a perfect example of something that you might do in a high school class, a college class, or even in a job: having to collaborate with people across different organizations with different ideas and different talents in bringing the whole thing together. Some students are more artistic than others, but they all were able to contribute on a level that made them feel successful.”

Art Off Line was a rare opportunity to bring together an artist, teachers, and cultural workers to collaborate on a grand scale. From left to right High Line School Programs Manager Claudia Dishon, artist Azikiwe Mohammed, and partner educator Chris Schilling.Photo by Liz Ligon

A partnership rooted in community

The benefits of arts education are multitudinous. A recent large-scale, multi-school study in Texas in 2022 showed how arts education has surprising positive ripple effects for elementary and middle school students. Across the 42 schools studied, students with more arts-rich experiences did better in writing, had more compassion for others, were more engaged at school, were more likely to have higher education aspirations, and were less likely to get in trouble at school. And a 2017 study by the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania showed that getting people of all ages connected with cultural resources in their own communities increases community health and well-being, student success, and even decreases crime.

It’s clear that arts education is key to the overall success of students, yet many schools across the country struggle with funding to provide consistent arts education. Arts organizations and nonprofits like the High Line have an opportunity to supplement what schools are able to offer, which can have an even larger impact for students when the programs are created collaboratively with students, teachers, and administrators; and the curricula intersect with other areas of study, like math or reading.

The reimagining of our in-school programs started in late 2019 when our newly hired School and Family Programs Manager Claudia Dishon started looking for ways the High Line, as an anchor institution on Manhattan’s West Side, could better support students in our community. The park’s public art and horticulture are incredible learning resources that she looked to leverage to benefit students. The High Line is also able to provide teaching artists; real-world experts amongst our staff, like our horticulturists and art curators; and other resources to schools and students that would not be possible without our support. Claudia assessed local schools—including ones the park had relationships with historically—to see where educational partnerships with the High Line could be the most needed and have the greatest impact.

Quest to Learn—a middle school on 18th Street, just blocks from the High Line—was a perfect candidate. Their innovative, non-traditional approach to education and their openness to collaboration with the High Line made them an ideal partner.

The new partnership with Quest to Learn kicked off in early 2020, with Claudia wrangling teaching artists to bring hands-on, High Line-inspired arts education to the school’s classrooms. In March 2020, as the pandemic hit New York City and schools moved to remote learning, Claudia and her team pivoted quickly to continue providing virtual classroom interventions at a time when many similar partnerships that schools had fizzled. Following the ever-changing needs of students and the restrictions of the pandemic, our educators facilitated field trips to the High Line, assembled art kits so students could have the supplies they needed at home to be creative, and even offered the park as an outdoor classroom space. Today, we’re back to doing in-school and on-the-park sessions with Quest to Learn students, which kicked off earlier this month and will continue through the end of the school year.

Our work with Quest to Learn Middle School is just one of the many ways the High Line collaborates with local schools to provide hands-on real-world arts, science, and horticulture experiences in and out of the classroom. You’ll also find us in James Baldwin High School and Quest to Learn High School. Our High Line Teens show up as teaching assistants for these in-school partnerships, and the high schools help bring teens into our Teen Employment Program as well.

From the youngest visitors who attend our summer family programs with their caregivers to the college-bound teens in our Teen Employment Program, our education team is constantly looking for ways the High Line can leverage itself as a resource for young people. Thank you for all the ways you help make this work possible.

Special thanks

Thank you to partners at Quest to Learn including Chris Schilling, Kathy Ringrose, Christine Duenas, Celia O’Donnell, Billy McCarthy, Robles Cesar, Charlie Lovejoy, Marianne Kiernan, Nick Fiore, Quest to Learn Assistant Principal, Brian Pew, and Quest to Learn Principal, Marina Galazidis, and all the families who supported along the way.

Thank you to teaching artist Steph Costello and High Line Teen Teaching Assistant Brandon Sanchez.

Thank you to former High Line Art Curator, Melanie Kress.

Support

Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen.