2025 Character Design Program

About the Character Design Program

Creative Art Works’ Character Design Program is a paid internship offered at four NYC Career and Technical Education High Schools. Interns are challenged to create their own fully-realized characters with backstories, personality traits, and strengths and weaknesses. 

This year, the curriculum suggested three themes to help interns shape their creative vision: Climate Change, Peacekeeping, and Hunger. As the program progressed, some students naturally evolved their characters beyond these original themes, reshaping stories, motivations, and designs in ways that reflected their growing skills and imagination.

CAW Teaching Artists provided four hours per week of in-person instruction over the course of fourteen weeks. In addition, industry professionals critiqued youth work and provided creative and career advice. Interns were also tasked with honing their public speaking skills by presenting their work process and final projects to interns at other CTE schools.

NYC CTE high schools combine traditional academic coursework with hands-on training in specific career fields such as graphic design, engineering, healthcare, culinary arts, IT, media, and more. The goal is to prepare students for both college and careers by giving them practical skills, industry certifications, and real-world experience, often through internships, industry partnerships, and technical coursework.

The program concluded with an award ceremony on Wednesday, May 21st, 2025.