Expression Ave.
The CAW Youth Apprentices who made “Expression Ave.”
CAW YAs expanded the definition of artist to include restaurateurs, fashionistas, and barbers.
Documentary films have been a feature of Creative Art Works’ summer Public Art Youth Employment programs for more than a decade. In recent years, our Youth Apprentices have produced two powerful oral histories about El Barrio in 2023, and Inwood in 2024. Both films captured moments in time for those rapidly changing neighborhoods. We’ve been longing to make a film about West Harlem for quite some time, because it is one of our “home neighborhoods,” where we run lots of in-school and out-of-school time programs. It’s also home to nearly twenty CAW works of public art created by CAW youth over the past fifteen years.
This summer, an opportunity to make a film in and about West Harlem presented itself when we received an email from West Harlem Arts Alliance discussing Innovation Triangle, an initiative to activate storefronts in the recently renovated Factory District. We reached out to WHAA Executive Director Michael Palma Mir, who quickly agreed that an oral history project located at Innovation Triangle was a perfect fit. So, with space provided by Janus Properties and supported by West Harlem Development Corporation, CAW embarked on a passion project.
Learning the ropes. Most YAs on the team had no prior filmmaking experience.
Inspired by the strong arts scene in and around Innovation Triangle, our YAs decided to focus their film on the local art, music, fashion, and food scene. Our young filmmakers conducted preliminary interviews with Michael Palma Mir and Barbara Anderson, WHAA Activation specialist, who made introductions to artists in around Innovation Triangle. Michael and Barbara also connected our team with architectural and cultural historian John Reddick and author and historian Eric Washington, who provided our YAs with a solid grounding in the history of the neighborhood.
Next, our filmmakers fanned out across the neighborhood and interviewed musicians, fine artists, restaurateurs, and fashion designers, but they also expanded the definition of creativity to include barbers, fashionistas, and street food vendors.
CAW Teaching Artist Syr-Ivan Bennett explained, “Our clients suggested a lot of the interviews, but we had such a dedicated team of youth who wanted to put their own individual imprint on this project. So, they really took advantage of what the neighborhood was providing them. We had one team do a clip about fashion -- they just drew a chalk square on the sidewalk and asked people who looked like fashionistas why they were wearing what they were wearing that day.”
Youth Apprentice Kalil “KC” Clarke said that all the YAs on the film loved the interview process because it was always surprising. “This project is about humanizing the art and humanizing the artists themselves, because you probably walk past artists every day and you would never know it unless they told you. Then, after the interview, you’re like, ‘Wow! I really spoke to this amazing person today!’ That's what I enjoy the most.”
“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 into it.’ Even the barber [Augustine Bruce] said, ‘I’m painting a canvas.’ And when you’re putting your all into something, that is art.”
Teaching Artist Assistant-in-Training Alison Martinez (center) interviews the owner of Manna’s Soul Food
Watch our World Premiere!
The short documentary “Expression Ave.” premiered on Thursday, August 14th, at The Forum at Columbia University, in West Harlem. Singer-songwriter iamchelseaiam warmed up the crowd with an un-lplugged set. The film was screened after a brief presentation by the YAs and followed by a lively Q&A session.
The entire presentation is available to view for free and is linked below. Just want to skip ahead to the film? Here’s a link to the movie on our Vimeo page.
Read about the YAs and TAs who made “Expression Ave.” in the commemorative brocure
CAW Teaching Staff
Amrita Singh
Teaching Artist
Syr-Ivan Bennett
Teaching Artist
Alison Martinez
Teaching Artist Assistant-in-Training
Featured Guest Interviews
Augustine “Spook” Bruce
Harlem’s Finest Barber
Betty Manna
Manna’s Soul Food
Cathleen Campbell
photographer
Dakota Pippins
President and Co-Founder of Harlem Late Night Jazz
iamchelseaiam
Singer-songwriter
Rafaela Luna
Artist
Richard Fairfax
Saxaphonist
Tomo Mori
Artist
The designers at SoHarlem fashion design incubator
CAW Staff
Karen Jolicoeur
Executive Director
Ian Newton
Director of Finance & Administration
Clair Vogel
Development Manager
Jill Goldstein
Human Resources & Office Manager
Scott Lucas
Manager of Marketing & Communications
Donna Manganello
Program Manager
Kevin Claiborne
Program Manager
Riki Sabel
Program Manager of Teaching & Learning
Emilio Vides-Curnen
Operations Coordinator
Madeline De León
Program Coordinator
Ivory Nunez-Medrano
Community Artmaking Initiatives Coordinator
