When I was a junior at New York University, I interviewed a nine-year-old relative for an art project. I asked her how she perceived art, what she liked about art, and which artists she knew. The results surprised me: the most recent artist she could name was Jasper Johns. I wondered how much children in the United States knew about contemporary art. Why wasn’t it being taught at school? I would revisit this topic for my Master’s thesis at New York University Tandon School of Engineering’s Integrated Digital Media program.

C-Art places contemporary art education in a video game environment. It teaches art through experiencing it. The lobby of the game has doors which lead to galleries based on modern art movements. The game was created in Unity 3D for my Master’s thesis.

Research determined federal, state, and government art funding in the United States have been on a decline for years.

How could children become interested in contemporary art? Initially, I sought to create an art exhibition teaching modern art to kids. I ran a competitive analysis on blogs, exhibitions, projects, and programs that targeted children and contemporary art.

On account of time constraints, I found another way to bring art to children. I decided to create a contemporary art video game for kids made in the Unity 3D engine. A plethora of educational video games exist, but few teach about art. Below is an early prototype of the menu screen. Each button would take the player to a virtual art gallery showcasing several prominent works of its associated art movement.

Students would provide weekly updates about their respective thesis projects and receive feedback from peers and professors. After user testing with classmates, the button-based menu was replaced with an interactive lobby with doors for each art movement. The player could walk around the lobby just as one would in a museum.

Due to the target audience and playful nature of the game, I chose to use a vibrant palette. This is a Jackson Pollock gallery where the player clicks to shoot a multi-colored beam of light across the room.

My final semester was a balance of writing the thesis paper, meeting with professors, adding sections to the game, and playtesting with children and classmates. It was immensely rewarding to present the project at school sponsored events and NYC Media Lab 2015. C-Art was also exhibited at RAW New York Bold in 2015. By viewing art through C-Art, children could educate themselves about contemporary art through exploration.