KoKo NYC

KoKo NYC is an art-based science and engineering program for kids. We are the arts education branch of the non-profit community art gallery Open Source Gallery. We teach in more than fifty in-school and after-school classes in elementary and middle schools across NYC, serving more than 1,000 students each week. KoKo recognizes that children are natural inventors, innately curious about the world around them. Our mission is to support that curiosity by providing the opportunity and introducing the skills needed to explore their original ideas and learn to think like inventors and engineers. In KoKo workshops, kids are invited to use real tools and tinker with unorthodox and repurposed materials to bring their ideas to life. The use of repurposed materials as the foundation of KoKo’s building supplies engenders environmental awareness as well as a spirit of innovation. Students learn to make art from their environment, to see “trash” as an opportunity to create something new. Many classes also utilize open source technology to teach kids about circuitry, programming and other scientific concepts through the process of creation.