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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

Work!

Creative Art Work’s Remote Digital Public Art Youth Employment Program was the first remote job for all of our Youth Apprentices, and what a job it was! In addition to learning serious skills for the digital workplace, they grappled with challenging topics and crafted compelling messages about social justice issues, including racial and gender equality, animal rights, domestic abuse, child labor, climate change, family separation, mental hygiene and drug addiction, and the rising cost of health care. The quantity and quality of the work produced is staggering.

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.

"Hold On"

How do organizations provide a Public Art Youth Employment program during a quarantine? Creative Art Works and Catholic Charities Alianza collaborated to develop a remote graphic design internship that created after-school jobs to over 40 students from Liberty High School. Interns learned the principles of effective design and how to use photo editing software. For a final project, each intern created posters that answer the question, "What do we want to hold on to from our lives before the pandemic?"

high school, integrated, literacy-based, Multimedia, Public Art Youth Employme, Public Art Youth Employment Program, public speaking, after-schoolKaren JolicoeurJune 10, 2020Liberty High Schoolcaw4kids, creativeartworks, creative youth development, liberty High School, intern, pandemic, quarantine, PAUSE

MEET OUR NEW INTERN!

MEET OUR NEW INTERN!

At Creative Art Works, we are proud that all management and administrative staff have direct personal and professional experience in the arts, education and/or youth development in addition to nonprofit management. Most of us remain active as performers or artists in our spare time. Our new Intern is no exception. Read our engaging conversation with Melisa in our latest blog.

staff interviewKaren JolicoeurMarch 18, 2020intern, arts, adminstration, creativeartworks, creative youth development, interview, NYC, caw4kids, Queens

Open Exploration

Open Exploration

“Kids at this age can be territorial about art materials. They think in terms of ‘my paper,’ and ‘my paint.’ So, when they are asked to share a single sheet of paper, their instinct is to draw a line down the middle and stick to their side. But when they discover that mixing their colors and joining their lines together can create something unexpected, they warm up to the idea of collaborating.” — Teaching Artist Laura Mychal

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.

Why the CASA Initiative Matters

Why the CASA Initiative Matters

On April 29, 2019, Deputy Director Karen Jolicoeur was delighted to represent Creative Art Works at an oversight hearing of the New York City's City Council’s Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations. The subject at hand was the Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) Initiative, which brings high-quality arts partnerships to New York City public schools, particularly in underserved communities. As Karen makes clear in her brief statement, there are many ancillary benefits to CASA programs.

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

A Thread Connects Them

A Thread Connects Them

“Design is design, whether you are cutting and pasting with paper and scissors or 'cutting and pasting' on a computer. Kids who have a chance to do both make those connections.”

— CAW Teaching Artist Brandi Martin Yu on the common thread between CAW’s Book Arts and Digital Arts after-school programs at PSMS 278 in Manhattan.

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

We Are Family

We Are Family

“The family that I’ve created outside of my blood
Molded me into the person I want to be
And the greater idea is that my life has just begun
And my train ride ain’t over yet.”

Rising to the Top

Rising to the Top

The 18 Youth Apprentices who designed this mural wanted to offer a message of hope and unity to the young people of the South Bronx, and to inspire them to pursue their passions and make healthy life choices. This message informs the symbolism of the mural. As a storm clears behind them, two PAL kids, supported by lily pads, work together to unlock the magic of their potential futures. The water illy symbolizes resilience and strength, as it gestates in the mud and rises to the top of the pond to bloom as a beautiful flower.

Lightning Strikes Twice

Lightning Strikes Twice

Our first set of "lightning interviews" were recorded on only the second day of our summer Public Art Youth Employment program, when our Youth Apprentices were just starting to get a handle on their job responsibilities. We're now past the halfway point, so our young painters and videographers have some experience under their belts. They know their jobs. They know their projects have tight, non-negotiable, deadlines. They know that there are high expectations.

And they are rising to the occasion.

Six Reasons to be optimistic

Six Reasons to be optimistic

“How can you NOT be optimistic about the future when you spend your days working with young people?” This summer, we’re going to try to bottle the experiences of our Youth Apprentices the way you might catch a firefly in a mayonnaise jar. Between now and the middle of August, we will be posting regular "lightning interviews" on our social media and in our newsletters. Read on for a six flashes of inspiration.

A Little Bit of Imagination and a Whole Lot of Teamwork

A Little Bit of Imagination and a Whole Lot of Teamwork

Stop-motion animation is a multidisciplinary art form that incorporates writing, sculpture, painting and digital video techniques. For this project, students wrote short scenes, built miniature sets, and designed characters using modeling clay. That part of the process is limited only by the imagination of the artist. Animating the characters, by contrast, requires patience, planning, and communication.

MultimediaKaren JolicoeurJune 20, 2018A. Philip Randolph Campus High Schoolartsed, Artspace, empowerment, integrated learning, caw4kids, claymation, Manhattan, Harlem, APRCHS, mixed media, multimedia, animation