Art can engage kids and adults alike in self-care – in physical activity, mental health, and personal safety. As clearer and crisper air seems to finally be arriving in NYC, Creative Art Works will be continuing, and in some cases expanding, many of our successful programs in Active Design and Mental Health by Design.
Read More"...Our mural began and we finished the plan,
And I just want to say how proud that I am.
I’m blessed for my God, blessed for my people,
Blessed to be up here rather down there with evil.
Blessed to be on the mural that’s mentioned,
The mural that brings out attention,
The mural that we have invented,
This is our Ascension!"
When we first met the Youth Apprentices of the 2017 Multimedia Team, most of them were complete beginners. It was the ambitious task of these young documentarians to tell the stories of our Youth Apprentices on our five summer Public Art Youth Employment projects. In just six weeks, they had to find their ideas, master skills, and tell amazing stories. We are totally blown away by the short films they created.
Read More"...our final proposal to the client was all of our ideas put together... We sorted. We found a way to put it all together, so now everyone’s satisfied with what they see."
CAW Summer Youth Apprentice Cyrell Primo shares her #SummerJobStories and touches on the intersection of music, art and ideas.
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Several of CAW’s literacy-based programs this spring invited students to explore point of view, mood and identity as represented in classic works of art as a means of better understanding these same devices in writing.
Read MoreAll art-making is an act of communication. The processes that surround exhibiting artwork — the development of artists’ statements, the receiving of feedback and recognition — are essential elements in supporting the development of a sense of agency: the belief that intentional, creative action can transform the world around us.
Read MoreDaniel’s Bergman was hired as Creative Art Works’ new Program Director to build on our legacy of creative youth development. Daniel has thirty years of experience as an arts educator and administrator in schools, nonprofits and museums. His career has been dedicated to the power of inquiry-based, hands-on arts education.
What follows below are excerpts from an hour-long conversation in which we talked about CAW’s mission, the difference between teaching art and creative youth development, teaching art with integrity, and the up-side of failure.
Read MoreA CAW Youth Apprentice is making a difference in the world without leaving his block.
Every morning, Tyrese Kierstedt walks out the front door of his apartment building, hangs a left, goes twenty feet and arrives at his summer job. Tyrese is one of several Youth Apprentices who are painting Creative Art Works' third mural for West Harlem Group Assistance, a community-based development corporation dedicated to revitalizing West and Central Harlem communities. The mural is located on the northwest corner of 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, half a block north of Communities for Healthy Food at WHGA, a food pantry that promotes healthy lifestyles and provides related services to Harlem residents.
Read MoreOur 2016 Public Art Youth Employment Program started on July 5th with an orientation at the Oberia D. Dempsey Multi-Service Center in Harlem. Over the course of six weeks, Youth Apprentices will be paid to participate in six mural projects and to contribute to two multi-media or graphics projects at six partner locations. Read on for details about each site.
Read MoreHome is where the heart is, and CAW’s heart has been in El Barrio ever since we began offering arts programs there 30 years ago. We are excited to be offering a new art workshop for families with young children at Artspace PS109 every Saturday in February.
Read MoreAbout 73,000 years ago, somebody made a pattern of nine red lines on on a small stone flake found in a cave about 200 miles east of Cape Town, South Africa. It may be the first known work of art. The idea eventually spread all over the world until hundreds of caves were decorated with hand prints, magic symbols and hunting tableaus. The most recent examples of this art form were recently discovered in the wilds of Upper Manhattan at Inwood Public Library and United Palace of Cultural Arts.
Read MoreStop-motion animation has been used to make classic TV shows and movies such as Gumby, Wallace and Grommet and The Nightmare Before Christmas. While the basic technique is easy to learn, the applications are endless. Last fall, Creative Art Works offered two after-school classes that employed different aspects of this simple yet powerful movie-making technique.
Read More“Kids at this age want to tell their own stories. The cartooning class gives them the skills and the opportunity to do that.”
CAW Teaching Artist Tom Palmer
Read MoreWelcome to the Marketplace of Ideas. We have two stories today about branding, advertising and creating identity. The first takes place at a middle school in Harlem, the second at a museum in London. Both stories demonstrate that creativity is a vital skill with applications outside the classroom.
Read MoreWe often say that Creative Art Works’ programs, “...build confidence, unlock a love of learning, and create profound connections between our young people and their communities.” But how do art and community intersect? Last Saturday, the young participants in our free art workshops developed a deeper understanding of what it means to be part of a community by taking part in a collaborative art-making project.
Read MoreCreative Art Works is proud to participate in MonumentArt, an international mural festival that is bringing together outstanding artists from around the world to simultaneously paint monumental murals in nine public spaces in the South Bronx and Manhattan’s East Harlem/El Barrio neighborhood. CAW Teaching Artists and Youth Employees are working alongside renowned Guest Artists, including Elizam Escobar, Luis Vidal, Faith47, El Mac, Sego, Cero, Ever, Viajero and 2Alas.
Read MoreOn September 16th, Whole Foods will donate 5% of net sales from all Manhattan and Brooklyn Markets to three nonprofits that provide arts programming to New York City communities. Creative Art Works is honored to be one of those beneficiaries.
Read More“To be honest, I’m excited that my name will be on it and it’s in my neighborhood,” she said. “But it’s also great to know that we could build back from what happened a few years ago and create something beautiful.”
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