BUILDING COMMUNITIES WITH “ART-TO-GO” BAGS Over the course of the pandemic, Creative Art Works distributed over 820 art “art-to-go” bags. Hundreds of these bags were packed by our staff and teaching artists, along with youth apprentices, and delivered to students and parents just in time for Spring Break. The bags contained a wealth of art materials, including colored pencils, markers, pastels, crayons, scissors, tape, glue sticks, air clay, felt sheets, origami paper, pipe cleaners, and drawing pads. The distribution of materials preceded the offering of a free remote art-making program, called Community Works: Design + Build, which ran every day during Spring Break. A combination of urban design mixed media arts, this program invited young people to imagine ways they might improve their own neighborhoods. There were four sections, including two sections for students in grades K–2 and 3–5 at PS 192 in West Harlem; and classes taught in English and Spanish for middle school students at MS 45 in Fordham. Many parents and siblings also joined in. Our young designers were eager to provide guided tours of their model neighborhoods during several truly joyful culminating events over Zoom. Amenities included parks, playgrounds, schools, dog runs, lots of pizza parlors, and even a swimming pool with a sandy beach so bathers could dry off after a swim. Many students showed a sophisticated understanding of need for public works, such as housing, mass transit, and clean water.
“Art-to-go” bags included a wealth of materials. 72
