The Continuing Adventures of Clair Vogel
“At Creative Art Works, we're teaching artistic skills, which are important on their own, but we're also teaching life skills. We’re creating a foundation of skills, expertise, and understanding of the workforce to prepare young people to create a path for their own lives. We tell donors that when they support CAW, they are supporting future leaders, future artists, future professionals, future community members, and that's very inspirational and aspirational, so people want to be part of our mission.” — CAW Development Manager Clair Vogel
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Dive in and Try It
Creative Art Works has returned to PS 153 in Hamilton Heights with an in-school literacy-based art curriculum. Each project invites first-grade students to respond to a classic children’s book. Students are then given the chance to explore materials and create art directly related to the illustration style of the book and informed by the themes of the text. Integrating art-making into the language arts curriculum creates educational synergy. The process of manipulating safety scissors, paint brushes, and glue sticks builds fine motor skills, engages executive functions such as time management, and exercise problem-solving skills. The act of responding to literature through art improves comprehension and long-term retention, builds vocabulary, and engages different learning modalities.
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Kaleidoscope
BDO New York wanted a mural for the cafe of their new Midtown offices that reflected their culture and values, so they commissioned a site-specific work of art by a team of Creative Art Works Youth Apprentices. The cafe is in the “Parks Neighborhood” of the 39th floor, and the theme for this neighborhood is “Thrive Together,” so the mural design features a diversity of lush vegetation found in local parks. CAW assembled a team of all-star Youth Apprentices for this high-profile commission.
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Harlem Heat
"Harlem Heat" was commissioned by Trader Joe’s for their highly-anticipated location on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem. Trader Joe’s wanted a mural by young artists that expressed the spirit and vitality of this historic neighborhood. The artwork by our Youth Apprentices exceeded their expectations.
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The Day Comes to an End, Justice Does Not
CAW’s relationship with Family Court began in 2011 when a handful of Youth Apprentices made prayer flags for a waiting room for New York County Family Court. This led to three more works of public art at that location, each one more ambitious than the last. In 2018, our Youth Apprentices painted the first of five works of large-scale public art for Bronx County Family Court, including our most recent, “The Day Comes to and End, Justice Does Not.”
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Girl Wonder
Girl Wonder is a mural about how the dreams of one person can draw inspiration from a community and, at the same time, contribute to that community. This is the fifth Creative Art Works mural at the Louis D. Brandeis High School Campus, including the western exterior mural and three interior murals, so this project feels like a homecoming. Several of the YAs are current students at one of the four high schools on the campus, and our own Teaching Artist Assistant is a past graduate! These connections to the school and surrounding community inform the robust youth-created design, which welcomes passersby to contemplate the positive development possible within the building. We hope you agree that the future they represent looks bright!
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The Colors of Queens
Through each of the four vibrant panels that comprise "The Colors of Queens," we follow families from day to night as they transform their neighborhood and the larger natural world into an inclusive home for all. Viewers are encouraged to spot familiar faces sprinkled throughout the panels which serves as a reminder that we’re all connected. From the historic Rufus King Park, to the Queensboro Bridge to the very steps leading into the courthouse, “The Colors of Queens” truly shine bright!
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Growing Community
Creative Art Works Youth Apprentices from Queens Community Justice Center painted a blacktop mural for Liberty Collective Learning Garden in Jamaica to invite people into the space. The mural takes it’s name from the sentiment, “No matter where you come from, everybody is welcome here.”
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East Harlem: El Barrio Diasporico
East Harlem: El Barrio Diasporico is an immersive art installation about one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in New York City. This feast for the senses offers a new way to understand the lived experiences of a community and its people. Based in a one-room gallery, the exhibit combines art, photography, found objects, memorabilia, and music to create a warm and inviting space. Filmed interviews with local business owners, community leaders, artists, activists, and residents of Hope housing provide a tapestry of oral histories which, when taken together, create a profound sense of place.
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“With fleas or warts or with a silly snout that snorts”
“Students enjoyed learning about Frida’s love for animals and the sources of inspiration in her work. They were encouraged to think about an animal or a creature they imagine themselves to be and were asked to use oil pastels and mirrors to create imaginary portraits.”
— CAW Teaching Artist Melika Abikenari
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An Enthusiastic Response to Making Art
“There wasn’t a single day that I walked into the classroom and encountered anything other than enthusiasm. Sometimes chaos ensued, and sometimes students worked in utter focused silence; but, either way, they were truly enjoying being able to create art and express themselves.”
— CAW Teaching Artist Maham Khwaja
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Harlem Families Celebrate the Roots of Love
“During the month of February, the PS 155 school community came together to showcase our love for Black History month, social justice, and family, in our Festival of Love celebration. Creative Art Works organized a family engagement event that was engaging and afforded our families an opportunity to bond with their children, demonstrate their love for family and, most of all, embrace joy.”
— PS 155 Assistant Principal Ayo Mendez-Torres
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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.
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Things that you cannot express in words alone
“What I truly hope students take with them from this program is increased confidence in their creative skills, advanced problem-solving abilities, and a new outlet from which they can communicate their thoughts, feelings, and self-reflection. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about: learning to communicate with images those things that you cannot express in words alone.”
– CAW Teaching Artist Lewis Porter
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Putting Yourself Between the Pages
“I challenged my students to make a book in which they express to the reader who and what they are. Once they’ve made their books, I tell them, ‘I’m going to hold you to your own words. You are responsible for being true to yourself.’”
— CAW Teaching Artist Ryan Davis on the Bookmaking after-school program at IS 254 in The Bronx
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In Conversation with very young storytellers
“Storytelling, without fail, is something that intrigues and excites everyone. It’s how we learn to communicate, process our emotions, imagine, and create. Learning to express these stories, and being given access to the space to do so, is so important, especially for students. It’s a way to show them that they are seen and heard, that their words matter, and that their stories matter.”
— Teaching Artist Maham Khwaja
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A Thousand Ways to Draw a Leaf
At an in-school art class at PS/MS 4 Crotona Park West, students were given step-by-step instructions to draw a maple leaf. The structure of the lesson allowed for creativity to flourish. While each drawing is recognizable as a leaf, there is an explosion of colors, styles and techniques that makes each drawing as unique as a signature. We invite you to stroll through this forrest of creativity.
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