Venture / Classes
Summer School
By E.J. Ruskin
Summer in New York City: a great time to dive into a class that’s challenging, timely, funky, or just a good conversation-starter (or -ender). What follows is a list that varies widely in terms of price, time commitment, and the benefits of coordination. Here’s hoping that something will spark your interest.
Keep in mind that there are hundreds of summer classes available in NYC, especially at our numerous colleges and universities. Give them a call, log onto their Websites, ask a friend for a recommendation, or choose one from the list below. I was looking for local opporunities, but couldn’t resist including the shoe-making program in London.
Have fun. Enjoy your homework. And don’t forget that our local greenmarkets have lovely, shiny apples for your teachers.
Voiceovers
The New School, 66 West 12th Street, has an Introduction to Voice-Overs (NCOM0301), for $480, covering voice-over work for commercials, cartoons, television, and radio. You’ll learn how to read copy, make a demo tape, acquire an agent, and break into the field.
(212) 229-8903
www.newschool.edu
Hypnotherapy Certification
At the NLP Center of New York, 24 East 12th Street, you’ll learn self-hypnosis, mutual hypnosis, and multiple-trance inductions. The Center states that people take the course for personal development, and to acquire greater depth and flexibility as a communicator, as well as to become certified as an Ericksonian Hypnotherapist. Hypnosis: Personal Development and Practioner Certification Training (Level 1). $1,095.
(212) 647-0860
info@nlptraining.com
Become an appraiser (or learn to think like one)
NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Study, 145 Fourth Avenue, offers a summer intensive Certificate Program in Appraisal Studies in Fine and Decorative Arts (X03.9502), for $3,600
Capitalizing on New York City’s arts resources, museums, galleries, and auction houses, the program is for prospective and practicing appraisers as well as dealers, collectors, and interior designers. It also addresses career possibilities.
(212) 998-7253
www.scps.nyu.edu/arts
What Jesus had to say about money
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, 175 Ninth Avenue, says that money is the last conversational taboo left in America. Its seminar, Stewardship, Your Money, and Your Life ($375), reviews many things Jesus had to say about money. This continuing-education class explores ways to engage groups in safe, skilled conversations about the role of money in our spiritual lives, and strategies for keeping it in its proper place.
(212) 727-3907 • www.gts.edu
Can’t find the perfect shoe?
The London College of Fashion, 20 John Princes Street, London, UK, offers several short, shoe-making courses. (Hand-Sewn Shoes (£1370), and Design and Construction of a Ladies’ Mule (£474), captured my interest. So did the part about “studying” in London.) The courses cover a wide range of shoe-design matters, from the basic terminology and processes involved in making footwear to closing (stitching the upper); preparing the insole; lasting (shaping the leather); and attaching the heels and soles. Make sure that the course you’re interested in will in fact be given this summer. www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/shortcourses/26121.htm
Want the inside scoop on the New York housing market?
Become a licensed real-estate salesperson. The New York Real Estate, 132 West 36th Street, Institute offers daily sessions, mornings, afternoons, and evenings; $265. You’ll need to take 12 sessions (which will cover the required 45 hours of class-room study). These sessions are independent of one another; they may be taken in any order that fits with your schedule. Call the school for additional information.
(212) 967-7508 • www.nyrei.com
Time to (re)familiarize yourself with a broad spectrum of visual arts?
Consider signing up for Exporing the Visual Arts (ART 266), at Marymount Manhattan, 221 East 71st Street. It will introduce you to new ways of looking at the visual arts through visits to art museums and galleries, film and video screenings, and a selection of readings. $1,794.
(212) 517-0400 • www.mmm.edu
Free Kayaking!
The New York Downtown Boathouse, 241 West Broadway, offers Walk-up kayaking. They give you a life jacket, a kayak, a paddle, and some tips on paddling — and send you out for a 20-minute paddle. The only requirement is that you know how to swim. It’s offered weekends, holidays, and many weekday evenings. Introductory Kayak Classes a short informational session on a wide variety of kayak-related topics, is given every Wednesday evening. Most of them take place on the water. Call for more details, including weather-related cancellations.
(646) 613-0740
info@downtownboathouse.org.
E.J. Ruskin is a sculptor and freelance writer.
