2023 NYC Citywide Graphics Arts Competition
On June 2 I had the honor and privilege of being the co-host of the 22nd Annual Citywide Graphics Arts Competition in New York City. This event is spearheaded by Jack Powers who leads the Media Technology & Design Industry Advisory Commission. Industry commissions are groups of volunteers who advise the New York City Department of Education on issues related to career and technical education (CTE). I met Jack through my work on the CTE Advisory Council – a group that brings together all the industry commission chairs, along with other leaders across the city, to make sure that NYC’s 1 million public school students get access to great, high-quality career and technical education.
The Graphic Arts Competition takes place in June. Any public HS student participating in a graphic arts, media or design program is eligible to compete across the following disciplines: Graphic Design, Photography, Digital Illustration, Package Design, Video Production, Web Design, and Student Film. The students arrive in the morning to CUNY’s CityTech in Brooklyn and after a quick breakfast are sent to a classroom with a CUNY professor who gives them an assignment. Then they have 4 hours to complete their work. During lunch the professors judge the work and winners are announced. This year’s competition included more than 150 students from 10 high schools representing all 5 boroughs. In addition to a trophy and bragging rights the winning students walk out with cash prizes.
While the competitors were working on their projects their teachers had a professional development session with an expert from Adobe who presented on generative AI. I got the chance to sit on that and it was mind-blowing to get a glimpse into how these technologies are changing the world of art and design. But even more mind-blowing were the teachers I got to meet. Teachers in CTE programs are all people who, prior to teaching, were working professionals in the field. As a great example, I met a woman who’d worked at Grey Advertising. Many of these teachers still do freelance work on the side. I’m not sure that NYC students can fully appreciate the caliber of the professionals who stand in the front of their classrooms every day.
The day was truly amazing. An alumni who was a first-place winner several years ago came to speak. He's now working as a filmmaker. Some of the students ran around the surrounding neighborhood taking video and snapping pictures, while others huddled around computer monitors. White boards were covered in ideas.
And at the end, the talent and drive of the students was on full display – as you can see from this page highlighting the winners. (I am really blown away by this one in the graphic design category. And yes, I know there is a typo. Ask my husband, a former news reporter, and he will tell you that if you want to quickly find a typo in any newspaper, look at the graphics!)
But the best part of the day? By far the best part was how hard the kids cheered for each other.
If you’d like to support this program you can make a donation here. Sponsorships are also available for companies that want to participate. The money raised goes toward the cost of providing food, printing T-shirts and providing prize money. If you’d like to get involved with next year’s competition, let me know.