Game Design Workplace Challenge: Students Design Real Games Using Godot
Urban Arts, the national nonprofit that teaches digital game design as a pathway to college and career, recently led a Workplace Challenge where high school students tackled real game design problems. The challenge was developed in partnership with the Manhattan Early College School for Advertising (MECA), a high school that prepares students for careers in marketing, media, creative technology, design, and business, and Endless Access, a nonprofit and global game-making community that empowers youth through open-source and accessible tools.
The Workplace Challenge model is part of NYC’s work-based learning framework where NYC Public School high school students tackle real design problems from industry partners, moving through the complete professional development cycle from ideation to finished product. The students worked with the professional-level Godot game engine to design and build fully playable game levels, debugging code, troubleshooting mechanics, and gaining experience in teamwork and presenting. Students also heard from Phoenix Stroh, a Godot expert and game developer with Endless Access.
Urban Arts Color Ball 2026: A Million Dollar Night
At Urban Arts’ Color Ball April 30th, four extraordinary young people took the stage—and owned it. Their powerful stories and remarkable achievements received a rousing response from a room filled with nearly 500 guests. It was a night that celebrated not only their success, but the limitless potential of every Urban Arts student.
Because of you—our incredible supporters, champions, and dance-floor legends—Color Ball 2026 raised $1.1 Milliom in a single night! That’s right, you made it rain (philanthropically speaking), and our Urban Arts students are the real winners! Rafael Martos, our inspiring Nagler Scholar, deserves a standing ovation. His story reminds us why we do this work—because talent deserves opportunity, and every student deserves a chance to create their future.
“Urban Arts became a second home. It didn’t carry the same pressure as high school. I made close friends and we’ve shared and nurtured our passions with each other, from photography, art, to narrative and programming. It was at Urban Arts I became inspired to take the first step in producing my own music. At Urban Arts I realized I can create anything.” —Rafael Martos 2026 Nagler Scholar
A huge thank you to our honorees, Phil Wiser, CTO of Paramount, and Alia Jones-Harvey, Associate Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, for their leadership and unwavering partnership. We couldn’t ask for better collaborators in this mission to fuel access and opportunity.
How Urban Arts is Using Video Games to Open Doors to College and Careers
Game On by Urban Arts is a year-long AP Computer Science course that teaches students to code by designing their own video games, combining industry tools like Unity with project-based learning. Developed through a multi-year, research-driven process with WestEd, the program was continuously refined using real classroom feedback from teachers and students across diverse schools. Findings consistently show strong student engagement, high-quality teacher support, and growing evidence that students build core computer science skills through game design. While challenges like school technology infrastructure remain, the curriculum, training, and materials are now considered ready for broader implementation. With a large-scale impact study underway, Game On By Urban Arts is positioned as a scalable, engaging approach to expanding access to high-quality computer science education.
A Brand New Partnership is the _______ of Our Eye
Urban Arts is proud to receive support from @Apple to expand its work and impact across New York. In celebration of #BlackHistoryMonth, Apple is working with organizations around the world to expand access to educational and creative opportunities to young people in under-resourced communities—and we are honored to be among them. “This support from #Apple […]
The 2025 Yearbook is Here!
Get impressed! Packed with innovative programming, stories of impact, and intrepid youth.
Impact Report: Why We Teach Video Game Design 2025
WHY GAME DESIGN?
At Urban Arts, students don’t just play games—they create them. As the nation’s premier nonprofit teaching video game design, we prepare young people for college and career by blending coding, 3D modeling, animation, and storytelling with the essential workforce skills of collaboration, leadership, and design-thinking. Students learn to build original games from the ground up, pitch their ideas, and develop portfolios that colleges and employers notice.
Game design fuels creativity while building critical problem-solving and technical expertise for a $300B industry and beyond. The results speak for themselves: Urban Arts students have earned over $46M in scholarships and launched careers at Lucasfilm, Unity, Amazon, Salesforce, and more. With Urban Arts, creativity isn’t just encouraged—it’s the pathway to the future.
Impact Report: College Access 2025
Here! And below ⬇️
100% OF URBAN ARTS’ 2024 SENIORS MATRICULATE, WITH A $8M SCHOLARSHIP HAUL 💰
Urban Arts free college access program offers intensive counseling and financial aid supports, enabling 100% of seniors to go to college with minimal-to-no debt. New York, NY—Urban Arts teaches video game design to underrepresented students as a pathway to college and career. As part of Urban Arts’ mission to create a diverse talent pipeline, we […]
ARCADE 2024 🙌🏾 SMASH SUCCESS
New York, NY, June 15—Totally new games to play, dedicated gamers in supportive community, plus industry pros leaning *IN*—#ARCADE 2024 marks another smash success. Over 100 students jammed the Urban Arts Learning Lab to 🍕🍪🍿, to play, to celebrate their work, and to cheer the Studio Teams on as they pitched their year-long efforts to […]
2024 BATTLE OF THE BOROUGHS 🏆
Brooklyn, NY—Urban Arts remains thrilled to be involved with Battle of the Boroughs (BOTB)—an exciting K-12 #scholastic #esports competition from NYC Public Schools, Minecraft Education, and C40’s Reinventing Cities aimed at empowering young New Yorkers to shape their city’s future. BOTB is a three-round elimination-style event where student teams design inclusive, future-ready city spaces. Mayor’s […]