SCHEDULE & REGISTRATION
CTLE Cultural Arts Workshops are a component of the JOURNEY Arts in Education program. JOURNEY partner school districts may send an unlimited number of teachers to these workshops dependent upon availability. *
These workshops are opportunities for teachers to expand knowledge and gain valuable teaching ideas and techniques through cultural arts professional development programs.
The Huntington Arts Council is a certified sponsor for NYSED for Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE). Five courses are being offered this year, three hours each, a total of 15 CTLE hours, including some Language Acquisition hours.
For questions, please contact:
sgutierrez@huntingtonarts.org, 631-271-8423 x114
*Workshops are FREE for teachers in JOURNEY school districts. For all others, the cost is $50 per workshop.
CTLE workshop schedule for Fall 2026
This series is part of the JOURNEY Arts in Education program, in partnership with these school districts: Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Harborfields, Huntington, Kings Park CSD, Northport/East Northport, Plainview/Old Bethpage, South Huntington and Westbury.
The CTLE’s are FREE for educators in JOURNEY Partner districts. $50 per session for educators outside the program and teaching artists. Workshops are subject to change; space is limited, registration is required. Links will be available shortly.
These workshops take place at the Conklin Farmhouse and Barn, 2 High St, Huntington, NY 11743. The HAC’s CTLE Series transforms professional development into something extraordinary: a space where cultural history and artistic practice merge, offering educators both CTLE credits and a creative awakening. Thank you to the Huntington Historical Society for sharing their space with us, www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org/.
Fall 2026 CTLE Workshops
september 29, 2026, 4:30-7:30 PM
RaÃces de la Tierra: A Papier-Mâché Mask Workshop Honoring Nature Through Caribbean Culture and Art with Kimberly Zambrano (SoyKimz)
Limited enrollment: 15 participants
What does the land remember? What stories live in the foods we grew up eating, the plants our families tended, the landscapes that shaped who we are?
In this hands-on workshop, educators explore the intersection of cultural identity, environmental stewardship, and artistic expression through the lens of Caribbean heritage. Rooted in the folklore, symbols, and natural world of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, participants will create papier-mâché masks representing guardians of nature, drawing inspiration from TaÃno sun and spiral symbols, coquà frogs, hibiscus flowers, mangroves, tropical birds, palm trees, and ocean life.
The session opens with a guided reflection inviting educators to reconnect with their own relationships to land, food, and tradition, and to consider how those connections live in their students’ lives too. From there, participants move into the creative process, building layered, symbolic masks that honor both the natural world and the cultural stories passed down through generations.
Throughout the workshop, educators will explore strategies for bringing culturally responsive, place-based storytelling into their own classrooms, supporting student voice, environmental awareness, and cross-cultural understanding through art.
This workshop addresses NYS Learning Standards for the Arts, supporting educators in guiding students to create original artwork that reflects personal and cultural identity, interpreting and analyzing how art conveys meaning across cultural contexts, and relate artistic practices to broader social, cultural, and environmental perspectives.
Participants will leave with:Â A completed mask, adaptable lesson frameworks for multiple grade levels, and strategies for centering student identity and cultural heritage in standards-aligned art instruction.
october 6, 2026, 4:30 - 7:30PM
Color, Fire, and Culture: The Ancient Art of Enameling on Copper with Jo Wadler
Limited enrollment: 15 participants
This hands-on workshop introduces participants to the art of enameling on copper, a process that fuses finely ground glass to metal through high heat, while relating the medium to its rich societal, cultural, and historical traditions. Participants will explore the unique properties of vitreous enamel and learn fundamental techniques for preparing copper, applying enamel, and firing pieces in a kiln. Participants will begin with a brief overview of the rich history of enameling, perceiving and analyzing how the medium has carried meaning across civilizations from ancient Egypt and Greece to Rome and the Byzantine Empire, and interpreting how each culture’s use of color, symbol, and ornamentation reflects its own values and traditions. Teachers will create an enamel pendant while gaining an understanding of the technique of enameling on copper, including metal preparation, enamel application, color layering, and kiln firing, drawing on this cross-cultural history spanning Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine traditions to inform and inspire their own artistic choices. Through hands-on exploration, participants will investigate the unique interaction of glass, metal, color, and heat, and the relationship between metal and glass. By the end of the session, participants will gain both technical knowledge and practical experience with a medium that has captivated artists and craftspeople across cultures for over 3,000 years. No prior enameling experience is required. This workshop is designed to inspire creative exploration while building technical skills and confidence with this versatile and engaging medium, offering educators a model for bringing cultural history and global artistic traditions into their own classroom practice.
What will be provided:Â Copper disc, enamels, klyr-fire, plastic shot glasses, trivets, sifters, jump ring and a kiln will be provided.
What participants need to bring:Â Mask, clean never used watercolor brush, pencil for notes, cordage for necklace or your choice of necklace to place your pendant on will be provided by the participants.
October 13, 2026, 4:30-7:30 PM
Welcome Quilt: Stitching Together Community with Nellie Wu
Limited enrollment: 15 participants
Inspired by The Welcome Quilt Project, this hands-on workshop invites educators to explore collaborative quilt-making as a meaningful tool for community building in the classroom. Participants will examine the rich tradition of signature and friendship quilts through historical examples and children’s literature, including The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco and A Quilt for Elizabeth by B.J. Troyer. These texts offer a compelling entry point for conversations about memory, belonging, and the ways visual art can preserve personal and cultural identity across generations.
From there, participants will design their own quilt blocks reflecting personal identity, family traditions, or shared values, gaining direct experience with the creative process they will bring back to their students. The workshop also addresses classroom adaptability: participants will learn simple quilt-making techniques that can be modified for a range of grade levels, including fabric marker application on pre-cut squares for settings where sewing is not feasible. Whether sewn, collaged, or assembled from fabric scraps, the resulting quilt becomes a collective artwork that celebrates each student’s place in the community.
Throughout the workshop, participants will engage with core visual arts practices, including responding to works of art with intention and cultural context, connecting personal and community narratives to the creative process, and presenting student work as a meaningful reflection of shared identity. Educators will leave with adaptable materials, classroom strategies, and inspiration to use collaborative fiber arts projects as a vehicle for social-emotional learning and artistic expression across all grade levels.
October 20, 2026, 4:30-7:30 PM
Cultural Storytelling Through Gelli Plate Printing with Luanda Lozano
Limited enrollment: 18 participants
Discover printmaking as a gateway to cultural identity and self-expression. In this hands-on workshop, printmaker Luanda Lozano guides educators through Gelli plate printing — an accessible, press-free technique that transforms simple materials into vibrant, one-of-a-kind monotypes.
Drawing inspiration from Caribbean visual culture, native plants, organic textures, and personal narrative, participants will build multilayered, multicolored prints using water-based inks, stencils, masks, and found objects on archival and mixed-substrate papers. The process mirrors the full artistic arc: generating ideas, refining work, and reflecting on how visual choices communicate lived experience.
Grounded in culturally responsive teaching, the workshop equips educators with concrete strategies for supporting multilingual learners and integrating printmaking into interdisciplinary lessons. Participants will explore how art connects to societal, cultural, and historical contexts and leave ready to bring those conversations into their own classrooms.
Suitable for middle and high school educators at all experience levels. All supplies provided.
October 27, 2026, 4:30-7:30 PM
Cultural Traditions of Altars, Vessels & Sacred Space with Jessamyn Go
Limited enrollment: 12 participants
Join artist Jessamyn Go for a mindful clay workshop rooted in the rich cultural traditions of altars, vessels, and sacred objects, forms used across history for remembrance, reflection, and ritual.
Participants begin by perceiving and analyzing how artists across cultures and time periods have used material forms to convey meaning and cultural significance, grounding the experience in the NYS Learning Standards for the Arts in Visual Arts. From there, the creative process unfolds as participants generate and develop original artistic ideas, designing a wall-hanging altar or altar plate for a personal sacred space of memory, intention, or storytelling.
Through foundational hand-building techniques including rolling slabs, shaping forms, and joining clay, participants refine and complete shrine-like works rich with personal symbolism. Time permitting, participants may also craft a small ritual object such as an offering bowl, ember plate, or incense holder to accompany their altar piece.
Throughout, participants synthesize personal experience and cultural knowledge to inform and inspire their work, engaging the full range of Creating, Responding, and Connecting artistic processes outlined in the NYS Visual Arts Learning Standards.
This workshop invites educators to experience clay as a tool for mindfulness, cultural connection, and creative expression that translates directly into meaningful, standards-aligned classroom practice. Suitable for high school educators at all experience levels.
All supplies are provided.
Participants should bring a cardboard box to safely transport their project home and will need access to a kiln in their school studio to fire their finished work.
2026 -2027 Journey Partner School Districts
- Cold Spring Harbor CSD
- Commack UFSD
- Harborfields CSD
- Huntington UFSD
- Kings Park CSD
- Northport-East Northport UFSD
- Plainview-Old Bethpage CSD
- South Huntington UFSD
- Westbury UFSD
Teacher Feedback
Native American Music and Dance Workshop (10/5/20 – Louis Mofsie) – The stories helped to put the artistry into perspective. – Anonymous
A Peace of Hate – Art through Collage, Painting and Poetry (10/19/20 – Dr. Nichelle Rivers) – She was an excellent presenter and got everyone involved, even the virtual people! – Anonymous
Mask Making for DÃa de los Muertos (10/26/20- Miguel Cossio) – I like the projects and I would love to try them with my students, they were very age appropriate. – Anonymous
Improvisation- YES! The Art of Risk! (11/2/20- Dr. Thomas Manuel) – This presenter was dynamic and personable and had so many useful things that could be applied to any area of discipline. At first I thought it was going to be geared more towards music teachers but in fact it transcended all subject matter and the ideas and content could be applicable in your own personal life as well as different subject matters whatever one may teach. Very worthwhile workshop! – M.M.
Building Trust Through Process – A Two Part Workshop (11/9/20 Urban Bush Women) – Thank you for putting this workshop together. The Urban Bush Women are phenomenal. They did a great job in such a challenging environment. Thank you for hosting!! – Anonymous