Woodlawn Conservancy

Woodlawn's signature program, bridge to crafts careers, successfully taught two cohorts of young people ages 18-24 to make them job ready in masonry preservation and landscape restoration. The masonry cohort began in the spring of 2022 and the interns learned how to clean and point mausoleums as well as build scaffolding. Seventeen interns successfully completed the program and all interns received the following certifications: osha-30, 10 hr. Site safety, jahn mortar, man lift operations and building stationery scaffolding. At the conclusion of the program, 2 interns were selected to participate in a year-long apprenticeship at Woodlawn, working under the guidance of Woodlawn's master craftsmen. (see more on schedule o)the landscape restoration cohort was held in the fall of 2022 and 28 interns completed the cohort. Interns learned tree identification, turf maintenance, hand pruning and the use of hand-tools such as pruners, hand saws and string trimmers. Interns received the following certifications: osha-30, 10 hr. Site safety, man-lift operations, first aid/cpr and flagging. Interns from this cohort have gone on to employment with columbia university, the high line, battery park, and the davey tree company.both the masonry and landscape cohorts support the mission of enhancing Woodlawn as a national historic landmark.in the summer of 2022, Woodlawn Conservancy hosted 14 students from bronx international high school in the summer youth employment program historic preservation summer school. This 6-week program introduced high school juniors and seniors, all recent immigrants to the us, to historic preservation, and landscaping through a curriculum of sketching, measuring, photographing, researching, mosaic making and visiting historic sites. This program is integral to the recruitment of interns for the bridge to crafts careers program.

The Woodlawn Conservancy presents an on-going calendar of tours, concerts, lectures, and special events, as well as partners with bronx-based arts groups that need presentation space. Public programs include women's history tour, black history month tour, jazz heritage tour, art and architecture tours, author talks on recent books about notables buried at Woodlawn, and jazz concerts. In 2022, the Conservancy commissioned "the Woodlawn suite" by victor goines that memorialized many notables buried at Woodlawn through music. A free concert of the Woodlawn suite was presented on-site in june of 2002. (see more on schedule o)the Conservancy also participates in nyc-wide events including jane's walk and open house ny. Program partners include jazz at lincoln center, ny transit museum, nyc audubon society, bronx arts ensemble and the bronx historical society. There were about 70 public events in 2022.another signature program of the Woodlawn Conservancy is the placement of flags on the graves of over 8500 veterans each year at memorial day. This community based effort honors the sacrifice of those who served our country. The Conservancy welcomes approximately 100 community volunteers to assist in this effort.