The Project Gallery works with local communities and modern artists responding to our collections. It is located to the left of the main entrance at York Art Gallery and you can apply for free entry during normal gallery opening hours.

Teenage Art School

June—September

Come and experience the creativity, hi—tech and exploration of traditional art techniques produced by Teenage Art School. This year's free exhibition is currently on display in the Project Gallery until late September. Our experimental five—day course for children between 14 and17 years runs yearly, studying different topics and approaches to help young people develop their skills as artists.

Bouts Artist in Residence

October—December

York Art Gallery is pleased to be working with a student artist from York St John's University to produce fine art visuals in response to Making a Masterpiece: Bouts and Beyond. Using the exhibition as a starting point for inspiration, our students will create their own art—work in the Project Gallery. See how artists make images and work on techniques in this developing studio and display space.

This exhibition has been developed as a funded partnership with The Bowes Museum and Bristol Museum.

It was the day after Christmas 33 years ago. My wife gave birth to our first child. We were full of appreciation to have Joseph John Mazzella II , also called JJ, sleeping peacefully in the cradle(摇篮)next to our bed.

We had been on the road showing off our little baby to all of the grandparents and great—grandparents. It had been a busy Christmas and hard on my wife who was still recovering from her operation. Now we were back in our tiny flat trying to get a few extra hours of sleep before starting the day.

Just then I heard JJ stirring in his cradle. I leaned over and picked him up before he started to cry and then carefully stole out into the living room so that my wife could keep sleeping. I picked up a bottle and sat in our rocking chair with JJ in my arms. I rocked quietly and fed him in the living room while he looked up at me with his loving eyes. I spoke softly to him but also felt a little nervous and scared as I watched him. How was I going to take care of him? I was a new father and had no idea what the future had in store for us. I rocked and rocked. But luckily, I had so many elders to help me.

After a few minutes I saw the sun slowly rising in the sky outside my window. The bright light was shining down from the heavens making the freshly fallen snow shine with beauty that touched my soul. As I watched it, my fear escaped and I felt such a sense of peace, harmony, love and joy. The Christmas spirit had entered my heart and I smiled. I knew then that whatever the future would hold, it would be smooth as long as I kept love in my heart. New life is precious and I believed my child would be grateful, too and bring us new sunshine in the future.

You may have noticed particular bright night skies recently as we experienced a full moon. NASA reported the event, called the Wolf Moon, began Thursday afternoon and ended Saturday morning. But did you notice any changes in your personal sleep patterns in the days leading up to the full moon?

As the latest full moon was beginning, a new study was released suggesting that a full moon can affect human sleep cycles. Researchers confirmed that the nights leading up to a full moon have more natural light available after the sun goes down.

The new research found that in the days before a full moon, people go to sleep later in the evening and sleep for shorter periods of time.

The moon takes 27. 3 days to go around the Earth, but it takes 29.5 days to complete a full cycle from New Moon to New Moon. The new study measured the sleep patterns of test subjects as the moon progressed through at least one whole 29.5—day cycle. Some subjects were tested through two moon cycles.

On average, people involved in the study slept about 52 minutes less on nights before a full moon. They also went to bed about 30 minutes later. The research showed that people had the latest bedtime and the shortest amount of sleep during the nights that were three to five days before a full moon.

The study involved 98 individuals living in three different indigenous communities in Argentina. Each local community had different access to electricity. One countryside community had no electricity access, while a second had only limited access. A third community was in a more populated area and had full access to electricity.

The scientists say further research is needed to help explain other possible causes for the changes in sleep patterns in the test subjects. Such causes could involve biological differences in individuals or social patterns within communities.