LongHouse Reserve Awakens for Spring, on 27 East

May 7

Written By pia leighton

Artist Pia Leighton weaves the “JoyField” installation.
Photograph by Rossa Cole

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Pia Leighton’s Artful, Mindful Method

Serving families in the east end of long island, NY

Whisker & Brush—©

Today we gathered creating a group story. One person started and the rest followed. Very quickly we realized something important: a character who is angry and destroying things can’t just become “good” all of a sudden and marry the

Words and plants both have roots, and today we played with that idea. We talked about mama, a word that grows from a baby sound heard all over the world. Then we became flowers: stretching, blooming, and soaking up sunshine, just like the original me

Today we read a story and worked on creating collages using natural elements and tracing paper. Each child chose their own way of working with the materials, and the results were beautifully varied. Some collages became fully integrated landscapes, w

Even with the snow, the cold, and school closures, we gathered for class today. We read a Buddhist story about a panicky rabbit who believed the world was ending after hearing a loud sound, until a lion helped the animals discover it was simply a pal

The children have been really interested in working in small format, so today we continued with a new idea. I invited them to create a hanging mini art show using markers and one simple direction: teach me something about art.

Each child chose a dif

Today we learned a little about printmaking by creating designs with foam and pencil. The children were amazed by the magic of seeing their images come to life when they peeled them off, and they were excited to add color and personal details to thei

All these years of taking a moment before class to quiet the mind and check in with one another have truly paid off. This group is always willing to listen, to imagine, and to follow through with directions—while still leaving room for their ow

Today we had so much fun reading a book about emotions and sharing moments when we’ve felt mad, happy, sad, curious, in love, surprised, or cranky.

Our class focused on cutting and painting little faces that represented these emotions, while w

I was so happy to reunite with the Wednesday group today. After sharing stories, we jumped right back into painting with acrylics and exploring color combinations, using the tops of shoeboxes as our surfaces. Each child painted their box silver, then

Today we read an old story about a dog who belonged to himself—his name was Crispin’s Crispian. He befriended a boy called Boy’s Boy. I gave the children small ladybugs, which they named Cutie Pie’s Cutie Pie and Juno’s

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