It’s Always Sunny in Art Class

Even though the day was overcast in Upper Manhattan, the environment inside PS/MS 278 was sunny and full of excitement for the culminating event of Creative Art Works’ after-school program in mixed media. After making art twice a week for most of the fall semester, students were finally able to present their work to their families in a lush pop-up gallery. Standing poster boards displayed finished works, while works in progress, rough drafts, and trial prints, all representing the artistic process, covered tables in the school library.

Students in this program created a number of different projects including styrofoam plate prints, hand-made books, collages, and landscapes in watercolor, pastels, marker, decoupage, and found objects. Under the guidance of CAW Teaching Artist Alejandra Mandelblum, students develop practical skills in color theory, composition, patterns, negative space, one- and two-point perspective, and material management. The projects also offered students a chance to express their emotions and explore different viewpoints. One student combined their present thoughts and feelings with a beloved memory while painting a landscape.

“I was feeling really tired, because I had a quiz that day, so I was thinking of dull colors. I wanted to add the sun on a cloudy day and birds. And I wanted to go to the beach that day, so added water too. I don't know what it's called, but it's a beach that I go to every time I'm in the Dominican Republic.”

– Ayllen, PS/MS 278 student

The guest list was originally limited to students in the program and their families, but when one participant asked if her brother — a PS/MS 278 student in a different after-school program — could attend, his entire program stopped by to admire the art created by their friends and peers. Moreover, the visitors asked many sophisticated questions and brought fresh perspectives.

The CAW Mixed Media program at PS/MS 278 was made possible, in part, by the Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) Initiative, which brings high-quality arts partnerships to New York City public schools, particularly in underserved communities. Since 2018, CAW has provided nearly two dozen programs in three boroughs thanks to this initiative of the NYC Council, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and individual City Council Members. Programs have included sculpture, drawing and painting, book arts, digital arts, stop-motion animation, and cartooning and anatomy.

Mixed Media Collages

Watercolor Cityscape Paintings

Styrofoam Plate Prints

This Creative Art Works program at PS/MS 278 is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs through the Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) initiative, in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Carmen De La Rosa.

Many thanks to the City Council Members, past and present, who support CAW’s CASA programs: Shaun Abreu, sitting Council Member (CM) for District 7 in Manhattan and Mark Levine, past CM for District 7 now Manhattan Borough President; Diana Ayala, CM for District 8 in Manhattan; Carmen De La Rosa, sitting CM for District 10 in Manhattan and Ydanis Rodriguez, past CM for District 10 now Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation; Oswald Feliz, sitting CM for District 15 in The Bronx and Ritchie Torres, past CM for District 15 now U.S. representative for New York's 15th congressional district; and Robert F. Holden, CM for District 30 in Queens.