Classes and guided tours this spring will lead you through New York's rich architectural history. Learn about the creation of many of the world's best known landmarks and buildings and the people behind them.

Ginny Poleman illuminates the history of the city's most visited park and how it came to exist in the middle of Manhattan nearly 165 years ago in Secrets, Myths, and Legends of Central Park (13181) on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Pair the illustrated lecture with her Walking Tour: Central Park North: North Woods, Conservatory Garden, Harlem Meer (13185) on Thursday, June 12, 2025. Visit the newly renovated Conservatory Garden and the gate that once adorned the mansion of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. See the New Harlem Meer Center, a state-of-the-art facility that replaces and better integrates the former Lasker Rink and Pool into the landscape.

On Thursday, April 10, 2025, Poleman strolls down the prestigious avenue that once served as the home address for America's titans of business. Learn about the prominent American families such as Pulitzer, Vanderbilt, and Frick that lived there in Walking Tour: Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue (13183).

Continue with Poleman's studies on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Secrets, Myths, and Legends of the Empire State Building (13182). A defining feature of the city's skyscape, this building was the world's tallest for forty years and built in record time after the stock market crash.

Next, take in charming pre-Civil War townhomes, hidden parks, and a public library within a nineteenth century courthouse as Poleman introduces Walking Tour: Historic West Village (13184) on Thursday, May 8, 2025. After that, compare the past to the present while learning about the Star of Hope monument from 1912, the small but meaningful Holocaust Memorial from 1990, and why General Worth is buried outside a cemetery as Poleman leads Walking Tour: Madison Square Park Monuments and Sculptures (13186).

Anthony Robins returns with a celebratory, illustrated lecture over Zoom and four exquisitely mapped walking tours featuring the distinctive style of art deco.

Art Deco's First 100 Years (13265) meets on April 28, 2025, officially declared “World Art Deco Day,” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Paris International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts from which deco takes its name. April also marks the 60th anniversary of New York City’s Landmarks Commission, which now protects the deco treasures that give the city so much of its identity – the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, but also apartment buildings, airline terminals, night clubs, even churches.

The four tours in Robins's Art Deco NYC series cover the East 40s (13176) on Friday, April 25, 2025, the East 50s (13177) on Friday, May 30, 2025, Murray Hill to Gramercy Park (13178) on Friday, June 27, 2025, and Central Park West (13179) on Friday, August 1, 2025.

On Tuesday, April 15, 2025, Riva Blumenfeld takes students through the new exhibit within the mansion formerly owned by Andrew and Louise Carnegie. Walking Tour: Making Home — Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt (13125) explores the influence of design on the geographical, cultural, and social perspectives of "home" in the United States, with different themes on each floor. Domestic spaces, experimental utopian visions, alternatives to single-family construction such as cooperative living are illustrated through 25 debut installations.

Thank you to all who were able to attend our special community event on Thursday evening -- especially Jonathan Aubrey and our guest of honor, Al Roker!

Week of April 6, 2025

Architecture

• Secrets, Myths, and Legends of Central Park (13181)

Art Appreciation

• Virtual Tour: The Art Institute of Chicago (13191)
• Pop Goes the Portrait (13206)

Arts & Crafts

• Zen Design Doodling (13195)
• Landscape Painting with Oil Pastels (13196)

Computers, Technology, and the Internet

• Introduction to Cloud Storage Using Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive (13094)

Fitness and Dance

• Fit Blast: Cardio, Strength, and Abs (13137)
• Walk 15® (Monday mornings online: 13107; Tuesday mornings in-person: 13106)
• Sit and Be Fit: Chair-Based Body Sculpting (Tuesday afternoons: 13138; Thursday mornings: 13139)
• Movement to Music (Tuesday mornings in-person: 13132; Tuesday mornings online: 13311; Thursday mornings online: 13135; Friday mornings in-person: 13133; Friday mornings online: 13134)
• Body Sculpting (13142)
• Total Body Workout with Bands (13141)

Hobbies and Edutainment

• New Features in Apple's Photos App with iPhone's iOS18 (Tuesday morning: 13109; Wednesday evening: 13110)

Literature and Film

• Book Chat with Anna Katsavos: Revisiting The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald (13152)

Writing

• Finding Your Voice through Memoir Writing (13245)

Walking Tours

• Walking Tour: Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie at the Met (13059)
• Walking Tour: Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue (13183)

Week of April 13, 2025

Walking Tours

• Walking Tour: Making Home — Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt (13125)
• Walking Tour: European Wing at the Met (13210)

All upcoming classes through end of March are listed in the Printer-Friendly, Interactive Version of our Spring/Summer 2025 Catalog. New classes are added in real time.

Class times are for the Eastern Time Zone. Please check regularly for additional options to keep you engaged and learning, whether from the comforts of home or through our expansive number of in-person options.