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“What I found the most interesting was being so close to people like CEOs and being able to interview them and asking them questions. You got to see where they work and hear stories from the people you wouldn’t get to speak with on just any typical day, which is really cool.” 

Throughout this spring, Creative Art Works Teaching Artists have been engaging young people and their families and friends in robust and event-specific artmaking activities with a number of community partners. While these drop-in activities are fun and require no prior art-making experience, all projects are designed around rigorous lesson plans that align with the goals of the larger community event.

“They had such a strong sense of community, that once one student understood the assignment, they would step up and be the first ones translating and demonstrating the instructions to others.”

— CAW Teaching Artist Joey Jiménez

Students at MS 328 in Washington Heights created collagraphs, a kind of print that uses textured materials to create patterns, that tells a story brimming with ridges and grooves. When the work was printed students were often surprised to see a completely different image than what they had expected. This left them with a different understanding of how making art works in real time — the end product doesn’t always come out as expected. Sometimes it’s better.

As teachers, friends and family arrived to a pop-up gallery celebrating work created by students in a Creative Art Works after-school mixed media program, some students took it upon themselves to act as docents, not just of their own art, but works by other students as well. They were ecstatic to point out the techniques they had learned. It was inspiring to see the pride the students had in their work, and impressive to hear them talk so knowledgeably about each project.