A Fusion of Art and Information
“The guidebook these Youth Apprentices created is remarkable. It is a fusion of art and information that transforms confusion into clarity, replaces uncertainty with understanding. This guidebook will reach thousands of families and provide a crucial starting point for navigating Family Court.”
In our first digital arts project for the NYC Family Court, our artist team designed a printed guidebook to help visitors understand the people and procedures that strive to protect NYC families at all five NYC County Courthouses. The publication center youth perspective and is being implemented with the support of the NYS Unified Court System, Office for Justice Initiatives.
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Expression Ave.
“We’re trying to showcase that art is everywhere you go in West Harlem. We spoke to artists who are right next-door thanks to residencies through WHAA. And we spoke to so many people that you wouldn't think of as artists, like the owner of Manna’s Soul Food and the halal cart man. They both said, ‘This is an art. You have to put your soul in it.’ Even the barber said, ‘I'm painting a canvas.’ And when you're putting your all into something, it is art.”
— Teaching Artist Assistant-in-Training Alison Martinez
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Thinking in the Abstract
““This art can be viewed in so many different ways. You might see something that someone else might not see. It looks so simple at first glance—it's simple colors, simple designs, simple structure. But the process that went behind this is so much more than you would've thought.”
— CAW Youth Apprentice Kamila Lazur
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Communication is Everything
The room is filled with the sounds of laughter and music and the smell of fresh pizza. Scores of young people and their parents are playing pool, shooting a Nerf basketball, or just hanging out. It seems like everybody is taking selfies in front of a vibrant mural that features images specific to Harlem, such as a trumpet player, the A train, and a boom box, as well images taken from sports and video games, many of which are rendered in eight-bit style. We are not a Dave and Busters and we are most certainly not at a Chuck E. Cheese. We are in a game room at the Grant Houses in West Harlem, where Creative Art Works Youth Apprentices have just repainted three walls with art by youth for youth.
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"The Sun Will Rise Again"
"You know that saying, 'It takes a village to raise a child?' That's what this program feels like, because everyone is working together on one big idea."
— CAW Youth Apprentice Hilary Lee
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“The Blooming of Harlem”
“This is my first job, and I think it has shown me the value of hard work. I’m passionate about writing and creating stories and I think it’s really beautiful that we are helping the community by telling their story through art.”
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Youth lead the way
This summer, Creative Art Works hired 135 NYC teens and young adults, most with no prior work experience, and handed them tremendous responsibility. We’ve done this every summer for over a decade, and we have yet to be disappointed with our Youth Apprentices or the work they produce. If you could use a remedy for doom-scrolling, helicopter parenting, and generalized anxiety, we invite you to read what some of our returning YAs have to say about their experiences with our Public Art Youth Employment program.
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Keeping Our Roots Strong: Branches of Belonging
“This tree was made by all of us,” one student shared. “Someone painted the branches, someone else added eggs in the nest, and someone else made the ornaments. I learned to trust my team.”
— Liberty High School for Newcomers student
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Who Do You Want to Be?
“To be successful in school and in life, you need some form of reflective practice, whether that be artmaking, or writing about yourself, or personal planning. You need to have a set of tools to help you tell the story of your life.”
— CAW Teaching Artist Natalie Raskin
Freshmen in the Foundations program at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School use art to reflect on their identities, values, and dreams.
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Speaking from the Heart
Students in a Creative Art Works Art Lab celebrated the completion of a successful year with a culminating event that included a fashion show, a gallery walk, and many profound insights and personal connections. The Art Lab, which is integrated with the 10th Grade Honors and Physiology class at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School (APRCHS), challenges students on a science track to reinterpret anatomical and philosophical principles through painting, sculpture, collage, mask making, and fashion design.
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History in their Hands
At I.S. 254 in The Bronx, sixth-grade students are exploring world history and other lessons from their academic curriculum in a dynamic way through different kinds of artmaking. While the work is undeniably beautiful, these art projects represent hands-on learning that integrates with academic coursework to yield a deeper understanding of world cultures and build greater student engagement. The learning is intuitive, exploratory, and fun.
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Thinking Outside the Box
Creative Art Works lesson plans are designed to present students with creative challenges that encourage them to come up with solutions that go beyond the original scope of the project. Some good examples of this can be seen at PS 155, The William Paca School, in East Harlem, where students have been taking on exciting artmaking projects that challenge them to think outside the box and explore creativity in unexpected ways. Whether designing intricate nesting dolls, exploring line work like Harold, the protagonist of Harold and the Purple Crayon, or constructing imaginative figures and dioramas, they tackled creative challenges by thinking outside the box.
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Taking Pride in Their Work
There is a buzz in the air at PS 368, The William Lynch School, in West Harlem, where the main hallway has been transformed into a student art gallery. Students, teachers, parents, and friends have gathered to admire the dizzying outpouring of creative talent from a Creative Art Works artmaking program. The work ranges from paper collage, to blackout poetry, to colorful clay sculptures. A CAW gallery walk is such an exciting event, because it is a distillation of months of collaboration and process. Let’s look back at how this magical moment came to be.
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Artists Who Inspire Us
At Creative Art Works, we believe in celebrating artists who break boundaries, challenge norms, and inspire the next generation of creators. Women artists have long been overlooked or disregarded in art history, yet their contributions have shaped and redefined artistic movements. In honor of Women’s History Month, our team is highlighting some of the women artists who inspire us.
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The Stories Behind the Masks: Art, Empathy, and Understanding
Art has the power to give voice to the unspoken, to bridge divides, and to foster empathy. This truth was encapsulated in the form of a mask crafted by a young artist in a CAW Art Lab integrated into the Honors Anatomy & Physiology class at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School.
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Unmasking Creativity: PS 278 Students Bring Carnival to Life
Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday marks the end of Carnival. Carnival celebrations are famous around the world for masked revelers and spirited festivities. So, we thought that this Fat Tuesday would be a great time to celebrate some of our young artists who created fanciful and fun masks as part of an after-school mixed-media program at PS 278 in Upper Manhattan. In many cultures, masks allow people to transform into fantastical versions of themselves, honor cultural symbols, or simply embrace the joy of the festivities. CAW Teaching Artist Emma Smoluchowski asked students what do masks say about who we are or how we want to be seen?
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Little Hands, Big Visions
A CAW integrated art and literacy program at P.S. 192 in Harlem harnesses the energy of K–1 students to build a fantastic city. Along the way, students learn lifelong skills like teamwork and collaboration.
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From Words to Works of Art
“Students have been enjoying the storytime aspect of class and love to chime in with great observations as I read. When it comes to making art, they all seem to really love creating and are so focused during the time we have. Hands-on activities are always a source of joy for them.”
— CAW Teaching Artist and children’s book author Maham Khwaja
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