header art design live new york est new feb_23

Art & Design LIVE!
Student Conference & Event

Event Dates:

Wednesday 19th February 2025

Inspire learners future career at our Art & Design LIVE! event held at the prestigious MoMA, widely considered to be one of the most impressive and diverse modern art museums in the world.

Taking a seat in this iconic museum your students will hear from a variety of professionals who have made art their business providing great advice and insight in to the possible careers they could pursue within this sector.  

The aim is not only to inspire their practical work through the sights and galleries of New York, but also take a look at the associated careers the arts qualifications can lead to. This unique opportunity to meet the museum curators and promoters is an exclusive chance to get a glimpse behind the scenes of some of the most famous art institutions in the world.

Students will  have the opportunity to ask questions of our art professionals in a Q&A session.

Prices start from£1175pp

Popular Itinerary

Morning Afternoon Evening
1 Check into UK airport for your flight to New York. Arrive in NYC and transfer to your accommodation. Visit the Empire State Building for spectacular views of the city at night.
2 Brooklyn Street Art Walking Tour, visit The Met, Whitney, Guggenheim or similar. Take in a Broadway show.
3 Art & Design LIVE! Conference event at MoMA. Enjoy an evening meal at a New York restaurant.
4 Free time for sketching & photography whilst sightseeing. Transfer to airport for your return flight (overnight flight).
5 Arrive back at your UK airport.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
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Morning Check into UK airport for your flight to New York.
Afternoon Arrive in NYC and transfer to your accommodation.
Evening Visit the Empire State Building for spectacular views of the city at night.
Morning Brooklyn Street Art Walking Tour, visit The Met, Whitney, Guggenheim or similar.
Afternoon
Evening Take in a Broadway show.
Morning Art & Design LIVE! Conference event at MoMA.
Afternoon
Evening Enjoy an evening meal at a New York restaurant.
Morning Free time for sketching & photography whilst sightseeing.
Afternoon
Evening Transfer to airport for your return flight (overnight flight).
Morning Arrive back at your UK airport.
Afternoon
Evening

Price Shown includes

  • Return flights to New York
  • Accommodation for 3 nights in New York
  • Airport transfers in New York
  • Group travel insurance
  • Entry to the Art & Design LIVE! New York event 
  • Entry to Museum of Modern Art
  • My Tour Manager online trip organiser
  • Locate My Trip online service
  • EST Travel App
  • 24/7 support during your stay in New York
     

Who Is This Event For?

Aimed at Key Stage 4 & 5 students of Art & Design. The event is designed to complement studies across the AQA, OCR, Edexcel, WJEC and SAQ curriculums. It is designed to meet course aims by encouraging students to see the world through an artists eye, build their portfolio and provide inspiration whilst broadening their understanding of careers in the Arts.


Places to Stay


Event Overview & Previous Speakers

Carly McCloskey – Facilitator

Assistant Director, Tourism Sales and Marketing, the Museum of Modern Art. Carly explained the importance of tourism cultivation and sales in the cultural arts.

Michelle Kuo

Curator at MoMA,  Michelle shared the fascinating process involved in putting on the major exhibition “Unsupervised”, by artist Refik Anadol who uses artificial intelligence to interpret and transform more than 200 years of art at MoMA.

Robyn Sayetta

Head of Retail at MoMA, Robyn gave a behind the scenes look at how Van Gogh’s The Starry Night was transformed into a Lego kit now a best seller in the shop.

Gretchen Scott

An experienced Marketing Director managing brand and digital content for major cultural institutions including The Shed, MoMA, the New Museum and now the Met, Gretchen shed light on potential careers in Marketing and Advertising.

Nora Gomez Strauss

Assistant Director of Digital Strategies at the Whitney Museum, Nora shared her knowledge and experience in this area.

Social Media panel

Leading professionals debated the importance of social media in attracting customers to their museums.

Q&A session

Highlight of the event as students had the opportunity to put their questions to leading professionals, in the exclusive setting of the Museum of Modern Art.


Popular New York Visits

Empire State Building Observatory

New York’s famous Empire State building soars more than a quarter of a mile above the heart of Manhattan. Located on the 86th floor, the observatory offers panoramic views from within a glass enclosed pavilion.

Top of the Rock Observation Deck

The newly renovated Observation Deck on the 70th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in the heart of midtown Manhattan at Rockefeller Center. The view itself is unique and astonishing, unobstructed for 360 degrees and stretching for miles in every direction.

Times Square

Immerse your students in "the Center of the Entertainment Universe" in Times Square - one of the world's busiest pedestrian areas and the hub of the Broadway Theatre District.

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

The Statue of Liberty is New York's most symbolic structure. The Auguste Bartholdi statue was given as a gift from the people of France and stands at 111 feet 6 inches from the toe to the crown. In the base of the statue there is an interesting museum devoted to the statue's history.

Central Park

One of the great pleasures New Yorkers and tourists enjoy is getting away from it all in Central Park. Stretching 51 blocks between 59th and 110th streets, this 843-acre area, green rectangle has served its city well since 1859. From famous statues to castles, there is so much to see within this pastoral landmark.

Ice Skating at Wollman Rink

Wollman Rink provides 26,600 square feet of ice for skaters in the winter. Wollman Rink, located near the Parkside Avenue/Ocean Avenue entrance to Central Park, is open for ice skating from late November through March. The Rink features a snack bar, skate shop, skate rental and free lockers.

Guggenheim Museum

The museum contains Solomon R. Guggenheim’s excellent collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. It features works from artists of the 19th and 20th century including: Brancusi, Braque, Calder, Chagall, Robert Delaunay, Giacometti, Kandinsky, Klee, Leger, Miro, Picasso and Van Gogh. The amount of artwork on display is significant and the best way to spend the day effectively is to plan. The building itself is also worth seeing as its spiral form is truly unique and is the only building in New York designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses more than three million works of art from all over the world across history.

It is almost impossible to see everything in one day: the two million square feet too much for even the most organised visitor. Instead of wandering through all the galleries, visiting one of the themed exhibitions is a good plan.

Visit the MoMA between September 2024 and January 2025 and experience the Life Dances On: Robert Frank exhibition. Explore Robert's artistic journey across mediums including photography, film and books, as well as his dialogues with other artists. An experience sure to spark your students imagination! 

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) contains the finest and most comprehensive collection of 20th Century Art in the world. The contemporary design is a masterpiece of glass spaces and high ceilings creating the perfect setting for its collections of modern art. The MoMA also has revolving series of retrospectives of past masters and shows from leading artists today.

The museum’s collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated and artists books, film and electronic media. At the heart of the Museum is the four story Marron Atrium. The permanent collections feature some of the famous works of Jasper John’s Flag, Van Gogh’s The Starry Night and Picasso’s Les Demoiselles dAvignon as well as Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings. The museum offers a great experience for those wishing to submerge into modern art.

Whitney Museum of American Art

The Whitney Museum of American Art sets itself apart from other museums with its unique architecture but also with its interior. The museum is one of the world’s leading establishments of 20th century and contemporary art of the United States. The museum focuses on the works of living artists and is celebrated for presenting important exhibitions and for its renowned collection which compromises over 19,000 works by more than 2,900 artists. The museum often hosts controversial exhibitions that serve to measure the historical importance of American Art and mirror the present culture. The Whitney Biennial, the museum’s signature exhibition, has always provoked intense debate and become an important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States.

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

The Smithsonian’s National Design Museum is well worth a visit for both its content and its architecture. The museum is housed in Andrew Carnegie’s old mansion; this beautiful building has the image of a university campus, with a cast iron fence enclosing the courtyard with grass and trees. The museum’s exhibits in large part focus on work that gives everyday items like furniture, computers and toothbrushes a more unique appearance, adding form to the function. They also have exhibits that cover architecture and graphic design.

The renovation of the museum provides the opportunity to redefine the museum’s experience and inspire visitors to take the opportunity to bring out his or her inner designer before, during and after their visit. The museum’s collections and exhibitions are using ground-breaking technologies that inspire learning and experimentation. This new experience is specifically designed to engage all audiences - students, teachers, families, designers and the general public. Andrew Carnegie used the third floor of his Fifth Avenue mansion as a gymnasium where he practiced his golf putting. The current owner, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, have put in a small mini golf green there. This is a playful gesture to honour a piece of the building’s history and add to the image that the museum can be fun for everyone, not just specialists.

Frick Collection


The opulent residence that houses this private collection was designed by Carrere and Hastings, the same architects who worked on the New York Public Library, for industrialist Henry Frick. The mansion has been preserved on Millionaire’s Row and makes for the perfect setting for such an incredible collection of European painting and decorative arts. A true work of art in its own right: the low stone building and courtyard take up almost an entire city block, with its marble fireplaces and decorative columns the mansion is something to marvel at.


Following Mr Frick’s death in the early twentieth century his private art collection was turned into a museum. The permanent collection includes world-class paintings, sculpture and furniture by the likes of Rembrandt, Varmeer, Renoir and French cabinet maker Jean-Henri Riesener, with most of the collection being classic sixteenth to eighteenth century pieces. The free self-guided tours are a great extra that helps navigate through the collection.
 

Museum of Arts & Design (MAD)

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) explores the blurred zone between art, design and craft today. The museum focuses more on the contemporary creativity, and the developmental ways in which artists and designers from around the world transform materials through a range of different processes; from artisanal to the digital.

The museum’s permanent collection has a global scope focusing on art, craft and design from 1950 to present day. The exhibition program on display at the museum is focused on exploring and illuminating issues and ideas, whilst highlighting the creativity and craftsmanship of the limitless possibilities of materials and techniques, that have the potential to be explored by imaginative and innovative artists. The museum is great for students as the mission is one of education. The new museum facilities include classrooms and studios for masterclasses, seminars and workshops for students, families and adults. The open artist studios engage visitors and enhance the exhibitions through experiencing the creative process.

The museum also has a 144-seat auditorium where lectures, films and performances are held on a range of topics affecting the world of contemporary art, craft and design. The museum is a fantastic eye-opening trip for students to explore all the dimensions of art.

International Centre of Photography

The International Center of Photography (ICP) was founded in 1974 and is both a museum and one of the largest schools of photography in the world. The museum plays host to a range of exhibitions, collections and publications as well as offering complimentary activities such as workshops, seminars, symposia and certificate and degree programs, making ICP dynamic and unique among photographic institutions.

The ICP is ideal for students as its mission is to present photography’s vital and central place in contemporary culture, and to lead in interpretation of issues central to its development. This makes it ideal for any budding photographers who want to be immersed into the photography world. The International Center of Photography Museum Store also offers a wide range of best-selling and hard to find photography books from around the world.

9/11 Memorial Museum

Opened in 2014, the museum explores the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting the impact of those events and exploring 9/11’s continuing significance. It demonstrates the consequences of terrorism on individual lives and its impact on communities at local, national and international level. The museum is growing a permanent collection of artefacts, stories, photos, video and other materials.

Watch a Broadway Show

Make the most of your stay by rounding off the day with a Broadway show. The best value tickets are available for mid-week performances and can be combined with dinner in a nearby restaurant before the performance.

Examples of current shows on offer are: Aladdin, Wicked, Chicago, Mean Girls, The Phantom of the Opera and Beetlejuice. 

There are other shows/plays on offer not featured. All are subject to availability - so book early for your favourite show!

Circle Line Tour (Boat Cruise)

This cruise circumnavigates Manhattan Island allowing you to see all its highlights (dependant on length of cruise chosen) 3 rivers, 7 major bridges, 5 boroughs, over 25 world renowned landmarks and, of course, a magnificent close-up of the Statue of Liberty. Beverages, food and souvenirs are available on board.

Basketball and Ice Hockey Matches

Tickets to the New York Knicks Basketball and New York Rangers Ice Hockey Games range from $25 and upwards depending upon availability.

One World Trade Centre Observation Deck

The Freedom Tower is a 104 storey building that stands on the World Trade Center site in Manhattan - giving amazing views of the city.  Interactive exhibitions reveals the transformation of New York City from unsettled lands to today’s remarkable forest of skyscrapers.   Ascend the 102 floors to the observation deck in under 60 seconds in one of five sky pod elevators!

RiseNY

RiseNY pairs museum-style galleries with an amusement park-quality ride.

Begin your adventure with an immersive film by an award-winning documentarian that transitions to an interactive self-guided walkthrough tracing tipping points in history that helped shape Music, Fashion, TV, Theater and more in each dedicated gallery:

  • Discover the rise of Wall Street and The New York Stock Exchange in the Finance Gallery.
  • Learn the history of mass media with Telsa’s Coil in the TV/Radio Gallery.
  • Understand the law of physics through the Otis elevator brake in the Skyline Gallery.
  • Visual, language and performing arts come to life in the Fashion, Music, Broadway and Film Galleries.


Then, board an extraordinary elevator experience that transports you to a spectacular virtual soaring ride! Feel the rush of wind in your hair as you “fly” over the world’s most stunning skyline.

Summit OV

Explore three levels of mind-bending multi-sensory immersive experiences. With magnificent views over the Manhattan skyline, Summit takes the concept of an “observation deck” to entirely new heights.

Edge

Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere, a marvel of architecture, engineering, and technology with panoramic views of New York City. Edge combines the pulse-quickening excitement of leaning out over a 100-story outdoor balcony with the warm welcome of elevated food & beverage service in a unique social space.

There are free downloadable STEM resources to take students on a virtual adventure into NYC’s newest and most forward-thinking neighbourhood. Get students thinking like community builders and changemakers by harnessing the Design Engineering Process, a simple tool you can use to elevate Reach for the Sky resources and ground student explorations in project-based learning.


Study themes

  • Art, Craft & Design
  • Photography
  • Textile Design
  • Three Dimensional Design
  • Graphic Communication

What you say

The service we received was outstanding. The organisation and smooth running of the trip was exceptional. Taking 43 kids to NYC is no easy task but EST definitely helped to make the process smooth and ensured the students had the time of their life.

St Aidans CE High School 

The whole process from the initial consultation to the final trip was outstanding. The trip was perfect for the students and provided them with a trip of a life time. The walking tour of the financial district was awesome and highly recommended we learnt so much.

Gateacre School 

Thank you for your professionalism, flexibility, time and support which made the trip such a success! 

Cathedral Academy