Summer Jobs for Our New Reality...
Summer Jobs for Our New Reality…
Every summer, Creative Art Works provides creative workforce development training to over 100 teens and young adults through the creation of large-scale public art and multimedia projects. As the pandemic unfolded, and with New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program then in flux, we knew that we needed to move quickly in order to offer employment opportunities to young people. This summer, CAW developed a Remote Digital Public Art Youth Employment Program and committed to providing jobs to over 50 teens and young adults as direct hires. CAW is employing Youth Apprentices (YA's) from all over the city to work ten hours per week for six weeks. YA's earn NYC minimum wage.
A poster by Mouhamed Konteye created for the “Hold On” internship at Liberty High School
The youth in the program were recruited from partner A. Phillip Campus Randolph High School and from among alumni of CAW's previous Public Art Youth Employment programs. The program is led by Teaching Artist Alinna Diaz-Porro, who also led the successful pilot version of our remote employment program this past spring with interns from Liberty High School. That program, known as “Hold On” and the current digital art and photography internship were both designed to give Youth Apprentices a voice in the conversation about the social justice issues that have gained momentum in the past year.
All work is being produced on Pixlr, a free yet robust online photo editing and design platform. The apprenticeship has daily deadlines, with YA’s receiving feedback from each other as well as Alinna and Lance Paladino, CAW's Manager of Teaching and Learning, via VoiceThread, an online platform that supports ongoing written, spoken, or video communications. Visiting guests from the graphic arts, branding and entertainment industries will also provide expert critiques.
Building a Professional Portfolio
By the end of the summer, each YA will complete a personal digital portfolio consisting of four major components:
- First social justice poster, theme chosen from 20 preselected topics
- Second social justice poster, theme of the artist's choosing
- A collection of inclusive stock photography
- A video artist statement
Inclusive Stock Photography
The first project to be completed was a portfolio of inclusive stock photography with an emphasis on people of color and the LGBTQ+ community who are underrepresented on most commercial stock photography websites. These photos will be made available on Pexels, a stock photography site which is dedicated to creating a broadly diverse and multicultural store of high-quality stock images. These photos will also serve as a shared resource for the two posters that each YA will design later in the program.
Next on deck will be the two digial poster projects. The theme of the first poster is "For a Better Tomorrow." YA’s will be invited to imagine what a more just future might look like as our society rebuilds itself in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. YA’s will then design a second poster on a social justice theme of their own choosing. All final art will be included in an online magazine featured on the CAW website.
Culminating Event
We invited the public to join us for our culminating events via ZOOM on August 13th. CAW's Teaching Artists, Staff, and board memebers were thrilled to host dozens of parents, teachers, school adminstrators, and representative from our partner institutions.
Alinna Diaz-Porro, CAW Teaching Artist
Alex Karpa, Summer Program Coordinator
This Public Art Youth Employment program was made possible in part by public funds from the Manhattan Borough President’s Manhattan Community Award Program, and by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Additional funding was provided by the Crowell & Moring Foundation, The RBC Foundation, The Sills Family Foundation, and the many sponsors and donors who contributed to our 2020 Annual Benefit for Kids.