Annual Education Fund

The Center for Architecture’s Learning and Engagement Department offers a wide range of programs for schools, teens, families, and community partners, including two-hour family workshops, weeklong summer studios, semester-long classroom residencies, and community programs. Through these experiences, learners explore design principles and build essential skills like design thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. Our goal is to nurture understanding of the built environment, develop visual literacy, and inspire active civic participation in communities near and far.

As we plan for the 2026–27 school year, we want to share what your support made possible last year. Together, we reached roughly 5,000 students and adults, and achieved these milestones:

• Provided over $40K in scholarships and financial aid to students and schools in need.
• Led Learning By Design:NY residencies in 107 New York City public school classes, many at low-income Title I schools serving students with specialized instructional needs, including multilingual learners.
• The Center for Architecture’s Design Educators and Learning and Engagement team developed new residency programs, including Survival Architecture and Infrastructure, while continuing to refine existing curricula to support New York City’s Wit & Wisdom framework.
• Supported high school students pursuing architecture careers by teaching fundamental skills such as sketching, drafting, and hand model-building, and by guiding portfolio development and conversations with professionals through programs such as weekend Teen Workshops.
• Engaged intergenerational audiences through monthly Family Programs featuring hands-on art and model-building activities, gallery tours, and design challenges.
• Placed 38 teens from 22 high schools in 17 NYC architecture and design firms through our career-exploration program, Discover Architecture.
• Built strong relationships across the NYC Public Schools system through teacher professional development workshops with the NYCPS Arts Office and District 75. These multi-session PDs introduced STEAM and design-thinking strategies to more than 50 NYC public school teachers and informed a citywide presentation reaching over 570 art educators.

Throughout the 2026–27 school year, we’re committed to keeping these opportunities accessible to all and expanding our impact, and that’s where you come in. Your generous donation will help our team develop new curricula, fund student scholarships, and sustain discounted partnerships with low-income Title I schools.

Looking ahead: Why Design? exhibition

For the fall Learning and Engagement exhibition, Why Design?, we will be highlighting our community partnership program, Justice By Design. In collaboration with the Queens Public Library and funded by the Queens District Attorney’s Office, this program brought Far Rockaway youth together with professionals from Bolt Architecture and the Center for Architecture for hands-on design workshops focused on justice, equity, and reimagining their urban environment.