The Change We Wish to See
“This is Home,” by Queentera. Listen to Queentera discuss here poster in further detail HERE.
“For my topic I chose homelessness in America, and for my image, I chose a man sleeping on the streets of New York City. I converted the image to black and white, because people pay more attention when the image is simple and to the point. I sought to humanize the homeless man so the viewer might see him as a person and not just a nuisance on the street.”
Professional Development with a Social Conscience
Poster by digital art intern Cesar
This spring, Creative Art Works partnered with Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of New York – Alianza Division to offer a remote creative workforce development program in digital artmaking. Recently, CCCS rebranded their youth employment outreach as the Bridge Program to reflect an emphasis on helping young people gain skills they need to thrive in the workforce.
Over the course of ten sessions of synchronous instruction and independent work time, young people from across NYC learned artistic techniques such as composition, use of color, light and shadow, visual literacy, and storytelling through words and images. They became familiar with tools such as digital photography, photo manipulation, and online graphic design platforms. Learning these skills offered these young interns a chance to practice transferable career skills such as presentation and interviewing techniques, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration.
There were two cohorts with as many as 50 students each, one for participants age 14 – 15 and another for ages 16 – 21. The work here is from the older cohort. In addition to receiving a small stipend, youth had the chance to develop a portfolio and add experience to their resumes.
Grappling with Weighty Issues
CAW and CCCS are both committed to amplifying the voice of young people, so we challenged these interns grapple with weighty subjects in a mature manner. In addition to designing an effective poster, interns were required to make an artist statemnt in which they discussed both their design process and why they choose their particular social justice issue. We were impressed by the breadth of topics and the depth of feeling displayed in the selected works below.
“My body My Choice,” by Tiana. Listen to her discuss this poster HERE.
Listen to Gianna discuss her poster “Erased” HERE.
Emmanual talks about his design process and his belief in equal rights for all humans and all animals HERE.
“Proud” by Jamieleen
“I chose this topic because growing up, I witnessed a lot of domestic violence, so it was important to me to shine a light on this issue.”
“D.” on the issue of domestic abuse.
Melvin discusses the impact of plastic waste on our planet HERE.
"I do not consider myself to be a professional artist, but I think that art could be used by everyone to show their emotions and opinions to the public. Using drugs will not help you overcome life’s challenges, but resilience, perseverance and commitment will!"
Enger on the issue of drug addiction
“#StopAsianHate” by Christina
“Migration is Beautiful” by Jennifer. Listen to her artist statement HERE.
Muntafa talks about tolerance HERE. Muntafa helped paint the murals at the Student Success Center at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in a previous CAW program.
“Injustice” by Giselle