Magic Box Productions
 
Media Arts Matters

*Visit "Tech Tips" for fun project tips and ideas!

Visual literacy, the language of the 21st century, is an essential tool for all students in the age of digital media. Magic Box is one of the few organizations to bring media arts instruction to children of all ages.

Photography and video are powerful digital communication tools, helping students make connections across all academic disciplines, think creatively
and make collaborative strategic decisions to solve problems.


 

 

New Videos
 
 
Click here to see a video of our student photographers at work behind and in front of the camera!
 
Click here to see a video of our students teaching other kids how to become
video reporters!
 
 
News
Focus 2012: 
Children's  Photography and Video  Exhibition
 
Come uptown for FOCUS 2012, the fourth annual exhibit of award-winning student
photography and animation, with an opening reception on
March 12, 2012 at 6PM
at 25 CPW Gallery,
located at 25 Central Park West and 62nd St.
Admission is free but reservations are required. 
The exhibit is open to the public March 13-19, from 1-7 p.m.
 
Jiawan's flower in sun
 

Featuring more than 50 photographs,  animations and documentary videos created
by Magic Box students aged 7 to 17, the exhibit showcases the power of young artists’ eyes
as they focus on the spaces, places and people of NYC.

Parents and children can join in the fun at the
Focus Family Photography workshops, offered at
11 a.m. and 2 p.m on Saturday and Sunday, March 17-18.
Admission to the workshops is $10/person;
call (914) 630-0256 as reservations are strongly suggested.

FOR MORE INFORMATION contact Susan Helbock, info@magicboxproductions.org, (914)630-0256

TELLY AWARD FOR Magic Box
The documentary video MS 223: The Power of Arts Education has been honored with a 2010 Bronze Telly, an award that recognizes the very best local, regional and cable television, video and film productions, from an international field of more than 13,000 entries.

Commissioned by The Center for Arts Education, the ten-minute documentary, which premiered at the 2009 Grantmakers in the Arts National Conference, was produced and directed by MBP Executive Director Nelle Stokes.  It shows how MS 223 in the Bronx, a rising urban middle school formerly identified as the most dangerous middle school in New York City, is undergoing a transformation through the arts. MS 223 is one of four partnership schools in the School Arts Support Initiative (SASI), created as a partnership between The Center for Arts Education and The New York Times Company Foundation, supported by the U.S. Department of Education and other generous contributors.

 
BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

Each year Magic Box Productions reaches thousands of children throughout the five boroughs and Westchester, helping students and teachers use media arts to tell their own original stories. With more than 2,500 participants in over 20 schools Magic Box continues to help educational systems, students and teachers bridge the digital divide.

What our students and educators have to say.....


"Using a camera is so exciting that my hand shakes when I touch it. Photographs help me save the moment of happiness. Photography is the magic of light writing!"
-Anonymous Student

"The kids really have a stake in the final product. They learn skills they can use in other classes too.  I began to think of my computer lab as an “editing room.”"
-Teacher

Holiday Gifting Program
This holiday season, Magic Box Productions will again offer a way for you to support our work and find a gift for someone special on your holiday list.  ‘Give the gift of good’ by purchasing beautiful prints of our students’ award-winning photographs starting in late November!   Help Magic Box by visiting our "Support Us" page.

 

Inside Magic Box

Magic Box welcomes:

Office Administrator, Susan Helbock
Susan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree many years ago and has been doing photography ever since. She now has two sons and her own event and portrait photography business, in addition to her job at Magic Box. You can view her work or contact her at her site.

Grant Consultant, Tanya Nadas

Tanya holds an MA in Communications and Mass Culture and specializes in Educational Grant Development. Prior to her work in grant development, Tanya was a researcher, writer and developmental editor on several non-fiction books.

Teaching Artist News
:

Tali Hinkis recently received a NYSCA grant for individual artists, a NYFA fellowship for interdiscplinary work and a Van Lier fellowship from Harvestworks. Her recent exhibits include State of the Art NY, URBIS, Manchester, UK, and Reinventing Ritual at the Jewish Museum (upcoming).

Brian Buckley has returned from Santa Fe, New Mexico and Germany on a two-show tour of his photogram project “Instant Shadows”, where he spoke at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Siegen, Germany. His Photograms have also been exhibited in: (selected) New York City, Brooklyn, Long Island, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Pennsylvania, Birmingham, England, and Bucharest, Romania. Outside of education and creating art, Buckley does creative editorial and advertising photography for: (selected) L’Oreal, New York Magazine, Legno Veneto Floors, the Daily News, Corcoran Real Estate, Zink Magazine, Art Business News, Direct Art, the New York Post…
Some Links:

http://www.brianbuckleyphotoinc.com
http://www.brianbuckleyphoto.com 
http://www.buckleypictures.printroom.com
 
Meet our Board:

Carmel Corcoran, a native of Ireland, graduated from the law school of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin. In 1986, she moved to New York and became a member of the New York Bar.  Carmel is a partner with the law firm of Jones & Jones, O’Connell, and is the mother of two public high school students. Carmel joined the Board of Magic Box in 2008 as she shares our mission of improving and expanding arts in education.

Our thanks to the following for their generous support: 

Center for Arts Education
Cushman & Wakefield
Katzman Ernst Family Foundation
Legal assistance provided by Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council
New York State Council on the Arts
Pearl Foundation
Sharp Electronics
Funded in part by the Tribeca Film Institute Camera-to-Classroom Fund
Women’s Enterprise Development Center


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Approved Sole Source Listing Application Vendor, New York City Department of Education