Lantern Community Services provides a wide variety of artistic, cultural, and fitness opportunities for the clients in our buildings. These services build community, reduce social isolation, and promote physical and emotional wellness. As with all Lantern programs, our work in this area meets the distinctive needs of low-income families, people living with mental illness, children, and youth.
Arts
Lantern arts classes—led by expert instructors—provide an environment of creativity and openness, resulting in artistic expression, stress reduction, and community building. Classes include Art Therapy, Creative Writing, Dance, Digital Photography, Film Making, Jewelry Design, Knitting, Storytelling, and Visual Art.
We are a Community Partner of the Museum of Modern Art. With MoMA, we created the short film Self > Selfie, featuring Lantern youth and their exploration of social media. Through Creative Engagement funds from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Lantern collaborated with Eryc Taylor Dance and DJ IBG to design and produce Mobilize, an original dance work. We are a hosting partner of the New York University Art Therapy Department.
Culture
We celebrate our diverse community with cultural events and workshops that incorporate all of Lantern’s special programs. Our clients engage with a broad community through regular trips to New York City’s array of museums and other cultural and recreational venues. In 2017, our residents attended over 125 special events and trips.
Fitness
At Lantern, an active lifestyle is an integral part of overall wellness. We offer classes in Body Conditioning, Boot Camp, Yoga and Zumba. We have three full-scale Fitness Centers available for group and individual use.
We are a hosting partner of Shape Up NYC, the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation citywide fitness program.
sound.space
sound.space is a collection of original musical and visual art created by formerly homeless artists, inviting dialogue through performances in public spaces. In spring 2018, violin/vox/freestyle composition artist Mazz Swift and improviser/composer Sam Kulik conducted song writing workshops with 13 Lantern artists, resulting in new musical works featuring Swift, Kulik, Jessica Pavone, bass, and Rohin Khemani, drums.
During the same period, through Lantern’s partnership with MoMA, artist Kerry Downey led workshops interweaving poetry and art-making using cardboard strips. Several of the songwriting participants also worked with Downey to generate ideas around lyric-writing. The individual pieces of cardboard art will be woven together to create a tapestry, a visual accompaniment to the musical performances. The songs and tapestry will be introduced at a public performance in Washington Square Park on September 12, 2018, and be fully revealed at Lantern’s Art Showcase at ImageNation’s Raw Space on September 26, 2018.
sound.space made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.