Our Impact
Testimonials From Our Youth and Beyond
“In New York, the opportunities we get to work on public art are far and few. Working with CITYarts has been both an enriching and unique experience!
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Cheryl, age 17
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I got to learn how to paint, blend, and make art on walls, which could help me in the future.
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Raminely, age 15
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I've learned how to mix colors and how specific colors can have such a huge impact…. CITYarts made me look at other murals and try to interpret their message and what it means to me…it’s taught me how to work with other people and kids who came to volunteer.
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Nicassey, age 16
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We need art in our lives because it makes a community vibrant! I also think it will help people stay positive and do something fun!
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Jessica, age 16
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CITYarts gave me purpose to come to school because I wanted to finish my creation.
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Mike, age 14
“I got to make my school look a little better!
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Genesis, age 13
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…the artist did not just teach us to paint. He taught us to live together, to work together, and help one another.
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Jennifer, age 14
“Art serves as an outlet for our emotions and our creativity.”
Charlene, age 15
“This is an excellent three minute video that shows
WHDC, grantee, youth, and residents coming together to literally improve the quality of life in West Harlem.”
Dr. Kofi Boateng (left)
Executive Director, West Harlem Development Corporation
“CITYarts is a great opportunity to work with the community and to develop my art skills!
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Kitty, age 16
UNESCO Art and Photo Exhibition of Pieces for Peace, December 12, 2017, Salle des pas perdus
"Ladies and Gentlemen: How many pieces does it take to achieve peace? Peace is like a house that we build brick by brick. Taken together, those bricks form a warm and comfortable home, a home that all families in the world dream of – but only few families can realize this dream. Our time is one where conflict is rife, making the smallest and poorest members of our societies suffer most. War has devastating effects, especially on children, as they lack safe places to live and sleep, to play and learn. They may not have enough to eat, nor access to clean water. Early on in their lives, children in war zones live the traumatic experience of losing parents, siblings or other family members, as well as shelter. Some are abducted or recruited as child soldiers. The psychological long-term consequences of what they go through at such a young age are devastating.
CITYarts Pieces for Peace is about building a comfortable home to live in peacefully in our global village of tomorrow. CITYarts has brought American youth and their peers from around the world together to design and create tile-sized drawings, paintings and poems on the topic of peace to tap into the creative power of young people. When Mrs. Ben-Haim launched this project, she was driven by the idea that ‘when kids create, they do not destroy’. Through their art, they are forming the bricks to build our joint home of peace for tomorrow. Through their art, they are becoming ambassadors for peace. I am especially grateful to Mr. Almuzaini, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva, and to Mrs. Ben-Haim, Executive and Creative Director of CITYarts, for bringing this powerful exhibition to this symbolic place, the Palais des Nations, where we are hosting negotiations on many issues to make our planet more peaceful and sustainable.
At a time, when we are concerned about the flaring up of armed conflicts and violent extremism, CITYarts is creating a strong artistic vision for a more peaceful world. May this exhibition help us find the necessary inspiration and energy for what lays ahead of us in. Thank you."
Remarks by Mr. Michael Møller, Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva
Selected CITYarts Stories
Trip to the Natural History Museum!
The High School for Law, Advocacy, and Community Justice visited the Natural History Museum with CITYarts to explore the Planetarium!
Visit to Gagosian's Lichtenstein Exhibition, 2015.
Students from The Law, Advocacy, and Community Justice High School at Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus and students from Hamilton Grange Middle School visited Gagosian on W 23rd street in 2015 to see the Lichtenstein Greene Street Mural and draw sketches for their own murals in their schools.
Visiting Public Art in Central Park!
After some students from Hamilton Grange Middle School told CITYarts they had never been to Central Park, we planned a tour of public artworks and memorials in this historical New York City park! Students enjoyed donated treats from Margot Patisserie and experienced a classic adventure in Central Park October, 2017.