Activating Bodies, Minds, and Imaginations
An earlier version of this article first appeard in our October 2017 Back to School Newsletter.
Art can engage kids and adults alike in self-care – in physical activity, mental health, and personal safety. As clearer and crisper air seems to finally be arriving in NYC, Creative Art Works will be continuing, and in some cases expanding, many of our successful programs in Active Design and Mental Health by Design.
Cafeteria mural painted by IS 18 and MS 278 students in a spring, 2017 Active Design program, implemented in collaboration with the schools’ Wellness Councils and C.H.A.L.K, and with the support of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
CAW Program Director Daniel Bergman recently spent a morning considering design and its impact on student health at FitKids 2017. Hosted by our friends at the at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, the half-day symposium brought together “a cohort of leaders across education, health and design to share ideas and strategies for creating quality, active, and playful spaces in schools and surrounding communities.”
For more information on how to partner with Creative Art Works on a participatory, youth-driven active design project in your school, please contact Daniel at daniel@creativeartworks.org.
High school students at Global Learning Collaborative High School painted two stairwell murals as part of a spring 2017 Creative Art Works out-of-school time program, implemented as part of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Mental Health by Design (MHxD) Initiative funded by ThriveNYC.
School yard activation resulting from a Family Engagement project at PS/MS 278 during spring 2017, implemented in collaboration with the school’s administration and Wellness Council, under a Family Engagement grant from the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Arts and Special Projects.
