Who is better equipped to tell the inside story than an actual insider? Since the inception of the Public Art Youth Employment program, we have always strived to capture the unique stories at each of our worksites in a short video. This summer, we challenged our youth apprentices to turn the camera on themselves.
Read MoreWhat do you get when you take twenty-two young people, three teaching artists, six weeks, 40 gallons of paint, one blank wall, and one high-profile client with high expectations? You get results. This summer, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council asked our Creative Art Works Youth Apprentices to capture the chaotic, beautiful pulse of how millions of New Yorkers travel every day.
Read MoreThe League of Women Voters of the City of New York (LWVNYC) is a non-partisan organization whose purpose is to promote informed and active citizen participation in government. This summer, 18 Creative Art Works Youth Apprentices (YAs) helped the LWVNYC advance this vision by designing accessible, engaging voter education materials aimed at Gen Z and even millennials.
Read MoreCreative Art Works Youth Apprentices have painted over 25 works of public art at the Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn Family Courthouses. This summer nineteen YAs, almost all Brooklyn natives, brought a variety of talents and experience, and a deep passion for Brooklyn, to an assignment with real gravitas: Bring beauty, serenity, and hope to visitors to an austere waiting area in the Kings County Family Court.
Read MoreCreative Art Works has a long history of collaboration and partnership with the real estate sector in New York City. That’s why it felt so natural when the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) came to us to commission a mural for their headquarters. We were excited to partner on such a high-profile project.
Read MoreThrough the Eyes of a Child depicts a powerful picture of childhood, friendship, and shared memories, tracing the trajectory of growth from young children to older students. The mural captures the essence of learning and belonging by portraying children playing and communicating in diverse ways—including sign language, a robot representing STEM learning, and includes local icons like the “Icee Lady”, delis, and the familiar bodega cat.
Read MoreEvery person you pass on the street has a story you may never hear. This summer, Creative Art Works youth apprentices (YAs) created environmental portraits and stories of local residents, highlighting their relationship to Sherman Creek Park and the surrounding neighborhood. The resulting photo essay explores these personal narratives as well as the connection between humankind and nature.
Read MoreYou can see the Dyckman Senior Center across the street from the front steps of PS/MS 278 – The Paula Hedbavny School in the Inwood neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, yet the students and the seniors rarely interacted until Creative Art Works offered a pair of intergenerational community artmaking events at the senior center this past winter and spring.
Read MoreEvery summer, we’re proud to welcome back returning youth apprentices and see how much they’ve grown. When we asked what brought them back, they all had more than one reason, but every single one mentioned that their teammates were a big part of what makes a summer job with CAW special.
Here are a few of their stories, in their own words.
Read More“Knowledge is power and money is a life skill. Just being able to make informed decisions about spending and saving empowers young people, because knowing how money works is what's going to get you ahead financially. Just having our young people develop some financial literacy gives them access to things that they may never have thought were possible for them.”
— CAW Senior Program Manager Donna Manganello
Read MoreSketchbooks lie open, color palettes line the walls, and a team of young artists stands ready to present their vision. Through Creative Art Works' Public Art Youth Employment programs, CAW Youth Apprentices (YAs) become professional designers. Under the guidance of CAW Teaching Artists, our YAs had just over two weeks to conduct stakeholder discovery interviews, research neighborhood histories, synthesize all that they learned, and ultimately pitch their final concepts to real-world clients.
We took a front-row seat at all six of this summer’s pitch presentations. Here’s how our YAs brought their creative visions to life and won over their clients.
Read MoreThis new partnership with PS 102 is an in-school program that aligns with each grade's ELA curriculum, integrating literacy, personal identity, and social-emotional learning (SEL) through weekly art classes. The objective is for students to explore self-expression and build confidence by engaging with books, such as "I Like Myself" by Karen Beaumont, before creating art projects in response to the text. Previous projects have included self-portraits, three-part storybooks, blackout poetry, and animal portraits made with handmade clay stamps.
Read MoreStudents in Creative Art Works’ graphic design programs explored design and their sense of identity. Each project asked them to do the same essential work: Take what they know, understand, or notice, and give it a form others can understand. That is representation, and it’s one of the most valuable skills a person can develop in school and beyond.
Read MoreIn the heart of Chelsea, a neighborhood known for its hip galleries, the most exclusive art opening this month may have been in a basement classroom at Hudson High School of Learning Technologies. The room could barely contain all the art produced by over 60 students. As students moved through the gallery, proudly talking about their own art and genuinely appreciating the work of their peers, it became clear that each piece reflected a year of self-discovery and interpersonal growth.
Read MoreAt Creative Art Works, we are invested in developing young people to meet the challenges of the modern workforce, whether they ultimately choose to pursue a creative career or not. Our Character Design and Advanced Illustration & Worldbuilding Programs are paid internships offered at four NYC Career and Technical Education (CTE) High Schools. Working alone or in groups, interns are challenged to create their own fully-realized characters with backstories, personality traits, and strengths and weaknesses. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun.
Read MoreThere are essential questions that inform all Creative Art Works lesson plans. These questions ask students and youth apprentices to look inward, analyze their surroundings, and connect with others.
Read MoreAdventures in Artland is a guided journey of self-exploration through artmaking, reading, movement, and play. The aim of the program is to engage elementary school students after school by offering diverse activities that keep them energized and eager to create.
Read MoreArtopia isn’t a place — it’s a state of mind. Artopia is a teaching philosophy that allows Teaching Artists to create lesson plans that draw on their personal strengths and interests. It is an ethos that values student-driven outcomes. And it is an ideal learning environment centered on creativity and open-ended explorations of artmaking.
Read MoreAt PS 153, The Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. School, in Harlem, the art room hums with energy. Students sway in their seats, trying (and mostly failing) to silently mouth the words to “K-pop Demon Hunters” while painting their newest creations. Seeing these students sing while they paint was deeply heartwarming. It’s rare to see so much unfiltered joy in a classroom. At the same time, this CAW integrated art and literacy program helps students in grades 1-3 build comprehension and retention skills by responding to classic picture books through drawing, painting, and sculpting.
Read MoreBefore the weather cooled off and pumpkin spice lattes were back on the menu, Creative Art Works was helping New York City kids and teens get ready for the new school year at three community art-making events. While these free projects are fun for the entire family, they also help students transition to a new grade and prepare to focus on learning in a variety of ways.
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