Do kids even know how to play chess?

I have found the New York Department of Cultural Affairs to be a great resource to learn more about the public art process and see projects with interactive public art components.

“The City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program makes art accessible and visible throughout our city, one of the world’s cultural capitals. Public art serves as an expression of the community, as well as a landmark. These public sites provide an important venue for all New Yorkers and visitors to appreciate artwork outside the traditional museum or gallery setting. Percent for Art projects are site-specific and engage a variety of media—painting, mosaic, glass, textiles, sculpture, and works that are integrated into infrastructure, or architecture.”
-www.nyc.gov

Barry Holden and Nina Yankowitz created “Garden of Games” in 1997 with the materials of: granite, concrete, neon, stainless steel. It is located at the Intermediate School 145, in Queens, NY. I find this project interesting because of the artists’ attempt to create interactive environments with featured granite mosaic inlaid games such as chess and backgammon. This project also features 4 interactive bronze sculptures that educate students on the basic principals of science. I could not find images of the bronze sculptures though the idea interests me more then the mosaic games. I do think it’s interesting to provide students with board games during a time when so many students play digital video games. (this project is 12 years old) Do kids even know how to play chess? I was lucky to grow up with a chess geek of a father and enjoyed family game time with him.