Art
The purpose of the Art Department is:
-to engage students in meaningful, hands-on projects which will expose them to various materials and techniques, while drawing parallels to historic and contemporary art
-to engage students in regular class critiques, Socratic discussions, and participatory activities to stimulate interest in the subject
Ms. Laura I. Blau has been teaching upperclassmen art at Millennium Art Academy since 2009. She has led the afterschool Career Visions art club, as well as other extracurricular activities, including on-campus beautification murals and installations.
Ms. Blau has helped Millennium Art Academy to win a number of awards in the Bronx, the City, and Nation-wide. Consecutively, over the past four school years, her students have won countless awards in the National Scholastic Art Competition, the local Congressional Art Competition, and NYC's prestigious P.S. Art competition.
In 2012 Ms. Blau received a grant from a prestigious law firm in the Rockefeller Center Compex. She worked with a select group of Millennium Art Academy students, and created work for an exhibition held at their midtown location. The works which were chosen for the law firm's permanent collection of student art were printed in a publication which circulated in both London and NYC.
Ms. Blau comes from a diverse educational and work background. She began her undergraduate studies at Cornell University, earning a Bachelors of Science in Textiles & Apparel Design, as well as a Backelors of Fine Art in Printmaking, from Cornell University (2002, 2003). She worked as a designer in the fashion industry for several years, until she decided to pursue her higher education. She enrolled in a Master of Fine Arts program at Pratt Institute, and continued there to earn her Art & Design Education certification. She has taught in NYC public schools ever since.
St. John’s University, Jamaica NY, Class of 2002Bachelor’s Degree in Fine ArtsMajor in Graphic Design & Minor in PhotographyAs a university we commit ourselves to academic excellence and the pursuit of wisdom which flows from free inquiry, religious values and human experience. We strive to preserve and enhance an atmosphere in which scholarly research, imaginative methodology, global awareness and an enthusiastic quest for truth serve as the basis of a vital teaching-learning process and the development of lifelong learning. Our core curriculum in the liberal arts and sciences aims to enrich lives as well as professions and serves to unify the undergraduate experience. Graduate and professional schools express our commitment to research, rigorous standards, and innovative application of knowledge. We aim not only to be excellent professionals with an ability to analyze and articulate clearly what is, but also to develop the ethical and aesthetic values to imagine and help realize what might be.Herbert H. Lehman College, Bronx NY, Class of 2008Masters in ArtMajor in Painting & Minor in Advanced Digital MediaLehman College serves the Bronx and surrounding region as an intellectual, economic, and cultural center. Lehman College provides undergraduate and graduate studies in the liberal arts and sciences and professional education within a dynamic research environment, while embracing diversity and actively engaging students in their academic, personal, and professional development. Lehman College is committed to providing the highest quality education in a caring and supportive environment where respect, integrity, inquiry, creativity, and diversity contribute to individual achievement and the transformation of lives and communities.Monroe College, New Rochelle, 201330 credits in Culinary ArtsMonroe College provides professional, career oriented higher education to students from diverse backgrounds. We proudly offer access and opportunity to motivated students who desire to enrich their lives in a personalized and supportive environment. We provide caring and effective teaching and sustain faculty who are passionate, knowledgeable, and dedicated to student success. We build on these strengths to prepare graduates for successful careers. We provide unmatched personal service to our students, who are our first priority. We are committed to student success and provide a challenging academic environment with appropriate support so all students can achieve their fullest potential.