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Finding an outlet for her creativity and her big imagination

Finding an outlet for her creativity and her big imagination

“My art doesn’t always need to be perfect; however, it always needs to have some type of meaning behind it. I work with many types of mediums. I don’t like sticking with just one. I love using markers because they make my drawings more vibrant and colorful. I also love using watercolors because painting with them is fun and interesting to use. I take my time with each drawing. I like to include a lot of details, colors and value into each art piece. I like my art to be eye candy and to appeal to others.”

— CAW Character Design Intern Tiffany Depeña

characterdesign, cartooning, cartoons, empowerment, graphic arts, high school, out-of-school time, videogamesScott Lucas, Marketing & Communications ManagerMarch 29, 2021Creative Art Worksart education, intern, character, design, youth voice, creative youth development, caw4kids, caw, creativeartworks

Open Exploration

Open Exploration

“Kids at this age can be territorial about art materials. They think in terms of ‘my paper,’ and ‘my paint.’ So, when they are asked to share a single sheet of paper, their instinct is to draw a line down the middle and stick to their side. But when they discover that mixing their colors and joining their lines together can create something unexpected, they warm up to the idea of collaborating.” — Teaching Artist Laura Mychal

Community: Well-Done with a Side of Fries

Community: Well-Done with a Side of Fries

The management team of the popular burger franchise Shake Shack commissioned Creative Art Works to produce a mural that will wrap around the front and side of their new location on 125th Street in Harlem because they recognize the power of CAW’s Public Art Youth Employment programs to connect stakeholders – including our Youth Apprentices – to their communities.

Make Prints with Foam Plates

Make Prints with Foam Plates

As part of our work with schools, we often invite parents to enter more deeply into the learning environment through Family Engagement workshops. These weekend and evening events allow parents to explore art-making firsthand – to experience the curiosity, creativity, and even joy inherent in the process, and to witness it in their children. We can't send a CAW Teaching Artist to your home to lead a Family Engagement workshop, but we can do the next best thing. This week’s blog includes instructions for a simplified printmaking project that you can do at home with your kids. If you enjoy this project, please share your art with us!

after-school, empowerment, integrated, middle school, Multimedia, OST, out-of-school time, ProgrammingGuest UserApril 23, 2019creative art worksart education, active learning, Art, engagement, family, curriculum, Community, caw, caw4kids, DIY, empowerment, Family, printmaking, prints, mistakes, mixed media, n, art, nyc

Good News: You’ve Got Awesome Powers!*

Good News: You’ve Got Awesome Powers!*

Students at Hamilton Grange Middle School are studying Greek Myths in their English Language Arts class. While Greek gods had awesome powers they also had human flaws. To better understand how fictional characters can have complex personalities, these same students will be creating their own versions of gods with a mixtures of powers and flaws in a CAW integrated painting and drawing class.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Many Hands Make Light Work

CAW Youth Apprentices from Queensbridge Houses and Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement came together one Saturday to beautify "Baby" Park in Queensbridge. An outpouring of community support created a memorable day and a mural that will last for many years.

empowerment, Mural, OST, out-of-school time, Out-of-school-time, Public Art Youth Employme, Public Art Youth Employment ProgramDaniel Bergman, Program DirectorSeptember 19, 2018Queensbridge Baby Parkapprenticeship, apprentice, active learning, artsed, art, Queens, Long Island City, Long Island City Partnership, Queensbridge Houses, Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement, Baby Park, Handball, Jimmy Van Bramen, New York CIty, NYC City Council, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYCHA, mural, Department of Youth and Community Development, education, empowerment, Family, Community, 12th congressional district, Carolyn B. Maloney, park, caw, caw4kids, creative art works, creative youth development, creativeartworks, creatourfuture, nyc, n, youth development, youth employment, public art youth employment program, Public art employment, structuretone, sherwin-williams

Short Films, Worthy Subjects

Short Films, Worthy Subjects

The most important connections in our lives are the ones closest to home. This summer, our Multimedia Team created five short films about nonprofits and other organizations that work to improve the quality of life in our city. The subjects include pianos in public places, a grass-roots effort to make improvements to a local city park, an ambitious plan to create murals in Upper Manhattan of 314 North American birds threatened by climate change, and a program that brings soccer and poetry to young NYC residents. Of course, there is also a documentary about Creative Art Works summer Public Art Youth Employment program.

cartooning, empowerment, integrated, Multimedia, Mural, Public Art Youth Employme, Public Art Youth Employment Program, public speaking, Summer Programs, Summer Youth Employment P, SYEPScott Lucas, Marketing & Communications ManagerSeptember 6, 2018Creative Art Worksaprrenticeship, art, active learning, art education, animation, apprentice, apprenticeship, Department of Youth and Community Development, education, empowerment, galebrewer, Harlem, Hamilton Grange, HGMS, Inwood, Inwood Community Services, integrated learning, Bill_Perkins, Jacob Schiff School Campus, Jacob Schiff Park, Mark Levine, park, PAYEP, PAL, SYEP, summerjobs, summerjobstories, summer, creativeartworks, caw, caw4kids, creatourfuture, public art youth employment program, Public art employment, youth employment, story, structuretone, sherwin-williams, Washington Heights, Audubon, multimedia, mural, film, video, student photography, story-telling, Vanessa Gibson, vimeo, w, New York CIty, NYC, NYCDYCD, poetry, creative art works, youth development, Ydanis Rodriguez

Rising to the Top

Rising to the Top

The 18 Youth Apprentices who designed this mural wanted to offer a message of hope and unity to the young people of the South Bronx, and to inspire them to pursue their passions and make healthy life choices. This message informs the symbolism of the mural. As a storm clears behind them, two PAL kids, supported by lily pads, work together to unlock the magic of their potential futures. The water illy symbolizes resilience and strength, as it gestates in the mud and rises to the top of the pond to bloom as a beautiful flower.

Lightning Strikes Twice

Lightning Strikes Twice

Our first set of "lightning interviews" were recorded on only the second day of our summer Public Art Youth Employment program, when our Youth Apprentices were just starting to get a handle on their job responsibilities. We're now past the halfway point, so our young painters and videographers have some experience under their belts. They know their jobs. They know their projects have tight, non-negotiable, deadlines. They know that there are high expectations.

And they are rising to the occasion.

Six Reasons to be optimistic

Six Reasons to be optimistic

“How can you NOT be optimistic about the future when you spend your days working with young people?” This summer, we’re going to try to bottle the experiences of our Youth Apprentices the way you might catch a firefly in a mayonnaise jar. Between now and the middle of August, we will be posting regular "lightning interviews" on our social media and in our newsletters. Read on for a six flashes of inspiration.

Lines of Communication

Lines of Communication

In the internet age, when social media platforms allow young people to instantly broadcast their thoughts and opinions to the world with a just a few taps on their smart phone, face-to-face conversations can seem quaint, if not downright low-tech. Yet impromptu speaking is a skill that both kids and adults use every day in school, with friends and family, and on the job. In January, students in CAW after-school art workshops had a chance to talk about their art to friends, family, teachers and administrative staff in RL (real-life) at culmination events.

A Time and Space to Be a Kid

A Time and Space to Be a Kid

This fall, Creative Art Works is offering some of New York City’s most vulnerable youth an opportunity to connect with themselves and their community, develop their own voice and, simply enjoy a healthy and creative experience. CAW is providing two after-school art programs to young children and teens living in the Children’s Center, a transitional residence run by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) for young people who are awaiting foster care placement.

Meshack Merills Brings Down the House

Meshack Merills Brings Down the House

"...Our mural began and we finished the plan,
And I just want to say how proud that I am.
I’m blessed for my God, blessed for my people,
Blessed to be up here rather down there with evil.
Blessed to be on the mural that’s mentioned,
The mural that brings out attention,
The mural that we have invented,
This is our Ascension!"

empowerment, Mural, Public Art Youth Employment Program, public speaking, Summer Programs, SYEPScott Lucas, Marketing & Communications ManagerSeptember 6, 2017PAL Harlem Centeryouth employment, youth development, creative youth development, public art youth employment program, public speaking, Public art employment, Art, art ed, aprrenticeship, apprentice, art education, PAL, Harlem, West Harlem, caw4kids, Community, caw, creativeartworks, education, Inwood Community Services, Catholic Charities, structuretone, State Street, sherwin-williams, NYC, NYCDYCD, NYC City Council, NYCDCA, crowell&MoringFoundation, childrensaidsociety, nycdca, self-portrait, Department of Youth and Community Development, DYCD, summerjobstories, kids, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Mark Levine, mural, SYEP, creative art works, poetry, publicspeaking, summer, ascension

On the Job with CAW Youth Apprentice Cyrell Primo

On the Job with CAW Youth Apprentice Cyrell Primo

"...our final proposal to the client was all of our ideas put together... We sorted. We found a way to put it all together, so now everyone’s satisfied with what they see."

CAW Summer Youth Apprentice Cyrell Primo shares her #SummerJobStories and touches on the intersection of music, art and ideas.

Spring Awakenings

Spring Awakenings

All art-making is an act of communication. The processes that surround exhibiting artwork — the development of artists’ statements, the receiving of feedback and recognition — are essential elements in supporting the development of a sense of agency: the belief that intentional, creative action can transform the world around us.