Hope and Balance is the eighth project Creative Art Works has created for our long-standing partner, the New York State Family Court and the third for the Bronx Division. The three interconnected panoramas will be installed in the third floor courtroom of Bronx Family Court, which is the largest and grandest courtroom in the building. This is a first for any CAW artwork in either the Bronx or Manhattan division — previous works have been displayed in the lobby or waiting rooms.
Read More“I think that a lot of people are scared to start. I know a lot of people here were scared to start painting, because they were afraid to mess up the mural, because this was a project for the people. But I think it's okay to try new things. And it's okay to just let yourself have fun while working. You always want to make sure that you're doing a good job, but you can still have fun and not stress yourself out so much. I feel like you should do something that you actually care about, because you get more out of it, just emotionally and mentally and physically. You enjoy it more.”
Read MoreThey call themselves the “Bodega Cats.” They are eighteen NYC residents between the ages of 16 and 21 who gathered in East Harlem to paint a massive mural in the atrium of The Crossing, an L+M / Invesco mixed-income residential development. These Youth Apprentices represent the cultural, ethnic, religious, and gender diversity of our city, but they dedicated their summer to creating a work of public art that, “preserves the history, culture, diversity, intergenerational unity, and flavor of East Harlem.”
Read MoreWith just one week left to finish their projects, Creative Art Works Youth Apprentices are rushing to meet deadlines. Public art teams are turning design proposals into finished art. Multimedia teams are crafting persuasive social justice messages through film, animation and graphic art. Read a roundup of selected highlights from our fast-paced summer Youth Employment Program.
Read MoreStudents in Creative Art Works’ Digital Design class at PS/MS 278 took a deep dive into manipulating images and text. Students worked in Pixlr, a free software similar to Adobe Photoshop. Each project focused on a specific aspect of digital design, including collage, masking, and manipulating type. The results were beautiful, surreal, funny, and often thought-provoking. Presented within is a selection of artwork along with some recorded statements by the artists themselves.
Read MoreMaria Castro is in the seventh grade at Hamilton Grange Middle School and a participant in Creative Art Works in-school digital art program, where she has been creating posters that promote social justice issues that matter to her. Maria says her opinions have been shaped by her family and her teachers, but she has also been influenced by the social upheaval happening around the world in recent years.
Read MoreRead More“It was something new that I wanted to try and it was totally different than what I expected. It was great learning about my strengths and weaknesses and discovering a love of photography. But mostly, I loved working with a lot of new friends. Our art had a lot of personal meaning behind it and it was surprising to hear other students telling so many stories about their art.”
CAW Youth Apprentice Natajha Graham
Creative Art Work’s Remote Digital Public Art Youth Employment Program was the first remote job for all of our Youth Apprentices, and what a job it was! In addition to learning serious skills for the digital workplace, they grappled with challenging topics and crafted compelling messages about social justice issues, including racial and gender equality, animal rights, domestic abuse, child labor, climate change, family separation, mental hygiene and drug addiction, and the rising cost of health care. The quantity and quality of the work produced is staggering.
Read MoreThis summer, Creative Art Works is offering a Remote Digital Public Art Youth Employment Program that employs more than 40 teens and young adults from all over New York City. This digital art and photography apprenticeship is designed to build real-life employment skills for the digital age. It also gives Youth Apprentices (YA’s) a voice in the conversation about some of the social justice issues that have gained momentum in the past year. The work is intense, with daily deadlines and regular feedback from fellow YA’s, CAW teaching staff, and guest commentators from major branding, graphics and media companies.
Read MoreAccording to a study by the Wallace Foundation, middle school students say they want three things from an art program: they want to learn real skills from real teaching artists in a real art space. Last fall, Creative Art Works hit the trifecta at two after-school programs in The Bronx. Students at MS 45 created their own comic book characters in the Cartooning and Anatomy class, while students at IS 254 explored a variety of techniques in a formal drawing class. Both these semester-long programs were taught by CAW Teaching Artists and offered a deep dive into a single subject.
Read More"Most of us took this job in order to make money, but something else came out of it – we also helped our families, we contributed to the Bronx Renaissance. I learned that when a community comes together and we work hard, we can get something done, and the whole community will be improved by it, they will enjoy it, and they will respect it."
– CAW Youth Apprentice Gabriel Bono
This summer, Creative Art Works hired a Shay Epps, a former Youth Apprentice, to work as our Field Correspondent for our summer Public Art Youth Employment program. Shay was our eyes and ears on the ground, visiting all six of our worksites on a regular basis until she became a familiar presence. Shay demonstrated a gift for capturing candid photos and honest interviews. We asked her to reflect on her experiences.
Read More“This art is magnificent.…when our families see this art, they too will be positive instead of negative. They too will be hopeful instead of hopeless. Your art is beautiful. You are bringing beauty to our families. Your art is interesting. When they're waiting for their cases to be called, they now have something to contemplate. Your art is inspiring. Your art is thoughtful. Your art says “Yes!”
- Bronx Family Court Judge Karen Lupuloff
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreAlexander Calder is probably best known as the inventor of the “mobile,” a type of kinetic sculpture carefully balanced so it can move freely. Calder’s sculptures can be seen all over the world, but the reason we chose him for inspiration for a stay-at-home project is because he often made art out of things he found around the house or on the street, such as wire, yarn, fabric, recycled cans, and scraps of metal or wood. He often worked with very simple tools or no tools at all. In fact, he made many sculptures out of nothing but some wire using just his hands.
Read MoreGoing back to school to earn your high school diploma can be a struggle; so can wrestling with complex issues of social justice. In a CAW integrated art class at Innovations Diploma Plus High School in Manhattan, students are challenged to do both.
Read MoreCreating a short animated video is a whole lot of fun. It’s also a whole lot of work. Bringing a few seconds of animated video to life requires hours of planning, patience, and persistence. In this Creative Art Works’ after-school program, students learned the many skills needed to bring their creative vision to life.
Read MoreCAW 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.
