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Finding an outlet for her creativity and her big imagination

Finding an outlet for her creativity and her big imagination

“My art doesn’t always need to be perfect; however, it always needs to have some type of meaning behind it. I work with many types of mediums. I don’t like sticking with just one. I love using markers because they make my drawings more vibrant and colorful. I also love using watercolors because painting with them is fun and interesting to use. I take my time with each drawing. I like to include a lot of details, colors and value into each art piece. I like my art to be eye candy and to appeal to others.”

— CAW Character Design Intern Tiffany Depeña

characterdesign, cartooning, cartoons, empowerment, graphic arts, high school, out-of-school time, videogamesScott Lucas, Marketing & Communications ManagerMarch 29, 2021Creative Art Worksart education, intern, character, design, youth voice, creative youth development, caw4kids, caw, creativeartworks

Everything Real Was First Imagined

Everything Real Was First Imagined

A good video game or animated movie can blur the line between fantasy and reality. At the heart of many of these immersive entertainment experiences are unique characters that make us laugh, cry, cheer, and dream. If you’ve ever looked at the credits of your favorite animated feature, you already know that every character is the product of hundreds of hours of work by an army of talented artists. Recently, Creative Art Works joined forces with FunPlus, an international interactive entertainment company, to draw out some of the secrets of this fascinating process.

animation, cartooning, cartoons, empowerment, graphic arts, Multimedia, Programming, videogames, characterdesignBrian RicklinFebruary 16, 2021art education, active learning, apprentice, diversity, engagement, FunPlus, intern, comics, videogames, design, character, digital, remote learning, NYC, r, animation, anatomy, s, v

Student Voice, Student Choice

Student Voice, Student Choice

“The “Passions Program” is about choice. When I hear students say they’ll take whatever class [Creative Art Works Teaching Artist] Megan teaches, I know she is building solid relationships with our kids.”

– Kimani Davis, Dean of School Culture, School in the Square

Student Voice Revealed

Student Voice Revealed

“Equality is my main thing.”

Maria Castro is in the seventh grade at Hamilton Grange Middle School and a participant in Creative Art Works in-school digital art program, where she has been creating posters that promote social justice issues that matter to her. Maria says her opinions have been shaped by her family and her teachers, but she has also been influenced by the social upheaval happening around the world in recent years.

Celebrating Student Success

Celebrating Student Success

“It was something new that I wanted to try and it was totally different than what I expected. It was great learning about my strengths and weaknesses and discovering a love of photography. But mostly, I loved working with a lot of new friends. Our art had a lot of personal meaning behind it and it was surprising to hear other students telling so many stories about their art.”
CAW Youth Apprentice Natajha Graham

Summer Jobs for Our New Reality...

Summer Jobs for Our New Reality...

This summer, Creative Art Works is offering a Remote Digital Public Art Youth Employment Program that employs more than 40 teens and young adults from all over New York City. This digital art and photography apprenticeship is designed to build real-life employment skills for the digital age. It also gives Youth Apprentices (YA’s) a voice in the conversation about some of the social justice issues that have gained momentum in the past year. The work is intense, with daily deadlines and regular feedback from fellow YA’s, CAW teaching staff, and guest commentators from major branding, graphics and media companies.

Seeing the Big Picture

Seeing the Big Picture

“I like the way I’m growing as a person. I never used to listen to anybody. I never wanted to do what I was supposed to do, but now I understand as you get older, a whole lot of things change. You’ve got to move different.”

– CAW Youth Apprentice Deysean Nesbit

Every Day Is a New Day

Every Day Is a New Day

“One thing I learned painting this mural was patience. I had a lot of arguments with my teammates over the summer, but I had to learn to get over it. We used a lot of tools this summer, but two big ones were compassion and teamwork.”

– CAW Youth Apprentice Floyd Thompson

One Big Family

"Most of us took this job in order to make money, but something else came out of it – we also helped our families, we contributed to the Bronx Renaissance. I learned that when a community comes together and we work hard, we can get something done, and the whole community will be improved by it, they will enjoy it, and they will respect it."

– CAW Youth Apprentice Gabriel Bono

A Place of Shelter

A Place of Shelter

This summer, Creative Art Works is offering drop-in classes for children, pre-teens, and teens, at the Children's Center in Lower Manhattan, an ACS short-term housing facility. The temporary nature of residency at Children's Center means that young people can only participate in a handful of classes, and their experience and skills vary greatly. It's a challenging environment, but we have the right people for the job.

ACS, empowerment, Foster care, art therapyDaniel Bergman, Program DirectorSeptember 4, 2019acs, Administration for Children's Services, art therapy

An Unforgettable Summer

An Unforgettable Summer

This summer, Creative Art Works hired a Shay Epps, a former Youth Apprentice, to work as our Field Correspondent for our summer Public Art Youth Employment program. Shay was our eyes and ears on the ground, visiting all six of our worksites on a regular basis until she became a familiar presence. Shay demonstrated a gift for capturing candid photos and honest interviews. We asked her to reflect on her experiences.

Make a Film, Make a Difference

Make a Film, Make a Difference

Wow, I loved that film. It speaks to the work that we do… to help girls write and form their own stories around social justice issues. Because, if a girl can tell her story and save her own life, she can save the lives of girls everywhere. And you do that through this film, and all the other films – you make a difference.

Community: Well-Done with a Side of Fries

Community: Well-Done with a Side of Fries

The management team of the popular burger franchise Shake Shack commissioned Creative Art Works to produce a mural that will wrap around the front and side of their new location on 125th Street in Harlem because they recognize the power of CAW’s Public Art Youth Employment programs to connect stakeholders – including our Youth Apprentices – to their communities.

Make Prints with Foam Plates

Make Prints with Foam Plates

As part of our work with schools, we often invite parents to enter more deeply into the learning environment through Family Engagement workshops. These weekend and evening events allow parents to explore art-making firsthand – to experience the curiosity, creativity, and even joy inherent in the process, and to witness it in their children. We can't send a CAW Teaching Artist to your home to lead a Family Engagement workshop, but we can do the next best thing. This week’s blog includes instructions for a simplified printmaking project that you can do at home with your kids. If you enjoy this project, please share your art with us!

after-school, empowerment, integrated, middle school, Multimedia, OST, out-of-school time, ProgrammingGuest UserApril 23, 2019creative art worksart education, active learning, Art, engagement, family, curriculum, Community, caw, caw4kids, DIY, empowerment, Family, printmaking, prints, mistakes, mixed media, n, art, nyc

Shout Out to Our Students

Shout Out to Our Students

Sometimes, good things come in threes. This past November, several Creative Art Works students and Youth Apprentices earned recognition from local, national and international organizations. We are beyond proud of our young people and we would like to share their accomplishments with you.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Many Hands Make Light Work

CAW Youth Apprentices from Queensbridge Houses and Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement came together one Saturday to beautify "Baby" Park in Queensbridge. An outpouring of community support created a memorable day and a mural that will last for many years.

empowerment, Mural, OST, out-of-school time, Out-of-school-time, Public Art Youth Employme, Public Art Youth Employment ProgramDaniel Bergman, Program DirectorSeptember 19, 2018Queensbridge Baby Parkapprenticeship, apprentice, active learning, artsed, art, Queens, Long Island City, Long Island City Partnership, Queensbridge Houses, Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement, Baby Park, Handball, Jimmy Van Bramen, New York CIty, NYC City Council, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYCHA, mural, Department of Youth and Community Development, education, empowerment, Family, Community, 12th congressional district, Carolyn B. Maloney, park, caw, caw4kids, creative art works, creative youth development, creativeartworks, creatourfuture, nyc, n, youth development, youth employment, public art youth employment program, Public art employment, structuretone, sherwin-williams

Short Films, Worthy Subjects

Short Films, Worthy Subjects

The most important connections in our lives are the ones closest to home. This summer, our Multimedia Team created five short films about nonprofits and other organizations that work to improve the quality of life in our city. The subjects include pianos in public places, a grass-roots effort to make improvements to a local city park, an ambitious plan to create murals in Upper Manhattan of 314 North American birds threatened by climate change, and a program that brings soccer and poetry to young NYC residents. Of course, there is also a documentary about Creative Art Works summer Public Art Youth Employment program.

cartooning, empowerment, integrated, Multimedia, Mural, Public Art Youth Employme, Public Art Youth Employment Program, public speaking, Summer Programs, Summer Youth Employment P, SYEPScott Lucas, Marketing & Communications ManagerSeptember 6, 2018Creative Art Worksaprrenticeship, art, active learning, art education, animation, apprentice, apprenticeship, Department of Youth and Community Development, education, empowerment, galebrewer, Harlem, Hamilton Grange, HGMS, Inwood, Inwood Community Services, integrated learning, Bill_Perkins, Jacob Schiff School Campus, Jacob Schiff Park, Mark Levine, park, PAYEP, PAL, SYEP, summerjobs, summerjobstories, summer, creativeartworks, caw, caw4kids, creatourfuture, public art youth employment program, Public art employment, youth employment, story, structuretone, sherwin-williams, Washington Heights, Audubon, multimedia, mural, film, video, student photography, story-telling, Vanessa Gibson, vimeo, w, New York CIty, NYC, NYCDYCD, poetry, creative art works, youth development, Ydanis Rodriguez

So Much More

So Much More

“Migrations” is part of the The Audubon Mural Project, a collaboration between the National Audubon Society and Gitler &_____ Gallery to create murals of North American birds around Washington Heights, where John James Audubon lived during the last years of his life. The project’s goal is to commission artists to paint murals of 314 species of birds which are threatened by a warming climate.

empowerment, integrated, Mural, Public Art Youth Employment Program, public speaking, Summer Programs, Summer Youth Employment P, SYEP, Public Art Youth EmploymeScott Lucas, Marketing & Communications ManagerSeptember 5, 2018Jacob Schiff School Campusartsed, art education, aprrenticeship, active learning, art, art ed, creativeartworks, caw4kids, Catholic Charities, creative art works, education, HGMS, ps192, Hamilton Grange, integrated learning, summerjobs, creatourfuture, creative youth development, Mark Levine, Jacob Schiff Park, Jacob Schiff School Campus, West Harlem, Harlem, mural, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC City Council, nyc, New York CIty, youth employment, pulbicartyouthemployment, SYEP, PAYEP, public art youth employment program, Art, summerjobstories, story-telling, sherwin-williams, structuretone, Washington Heights, youth development, childrensaidsociety