About the Painter

My high school art teacher once told me, “You can’t deny your art. If you do, it will fight its way out of you.” That wisdom has stayed with me throughout my career. Theme painting has given me both the financial security I sought and the creative outlet I needed to do fulfilling artistic work.

I grew up in Bellport, Long Island, and attended the University of Michigan’s School of Art to appease parents unfamiliar with careers in the arts. I earned a BFA in drawing and painting but lacked clear direction post-graduation. Seeking sunshine, I moved to California, where I initially worked at a small toy company painting prototypes of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys and Mattel action figures. On weekends, I roller danced, adorning my skates and clothes with my own artwork. My painted gear made me a well-known artist, leading to side jobs in sign painting and faux finishes in shopfronts along Venice Beach. While working on one storefront, a passerby asked, “Why aren’t you in the film industry as a set painter?” That simple question changed everything.

Determined, I walked into Concorde-New Horizons with my portfolio, landing a job painting a 30-foot cactus for a film shoot. That first gig led me to union and non-union scenic work, where I cold-called studios and scenic shops until I found opportunities at ABC, NBC, and ultimately Walt Disney Imagineering. My time at Disney evolved from scenic artist to model painter to international relocations of 2-3 years each leading park-wide show paint for Tokyo DisneySea and Hong Kong Disneyland base parks. I worked on projects at all of Disney’s locations including Disneyland in Anaheim, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris.  Thereafter I started my own company, KirPaint, Inc.

After another decade working in-house for Walt Disney Imagineering on Shanghai Disneyland then shifting to Universal Creative, helping build Universal Beijing Resort—a career pinnacle—I’ve come full circle, running my own business again. My career has been shaped by unexpected moments and bold decisions, proving that embracing change can lead to incredible opportunities.

About the Maker

I am Nina Valkhoff, a muralist from the Netherlands. I have been painting walls for over 20 years now, and my career developed from landscapes and business logos to my own style. My murals and artworks center around flora and fauna, and can be described as dynamic, colorful, and positive. It is my goal to bring a sense of nature into the urban landscape, to make people feel good, and proud of where they live or work.

About the Maker

My name is Sophy Tuttle and I’m an English-born muralist based in Boston, Massachusetts. My work weaves science, creativity, research, and imagination into images that celebrate the beauty and force of the natural world. Often, I ask my viewer to reconsider her position in the web of life and consider new narratives of the future that explore regenerative, resilient culture-building among all forms of life. 

My images invite the viewer in with bright, bold colors, and use well-researched details to tell a story. I often work with scientists and environmentalists to make sure my work is accurate and touches on ideas that the scientific community would like to see explained and explored. I believe art can be a powerful tool for social and environmental activism and I try to use my work to inspire the viewer to get more involved. 

About the Maker

I am a muralist born in Managua, Nicaragua and raised in Miami, Florida. I went to school in Tallahassee, Florida and received a BFA degree in painting. I later went on to receive a Masters in Arts from New York University. Painting and art is my life. I make art mainly through my murals and public art. My work is an ode to nature, culture and spirituality. I attempt to show the connection that we all have through energy, vibration and frequency. I use the language of color to express my ideas and help beautify the urban landscape.

About the Maker

My name is Jordyn Brennan and I am visual artist based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. I received my BA in Studio Arts from Upper Iowa University and my MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I’ve been collaborating with businesses and cities across the United States to create site-specific murals for over 5 years. My work tends to change with each project but over the years, I’ve become known for my painting of large flowers and plants that exhibit bold realism, color, and contrast in a collage-like composition. Along with my visual practice, I teach a group and individual arts enrichment class for older adults.

About the Maker

Hagopian Arts is an independent female-owned and operated public art initiative based out of West Philadelphia. Founded in 2015 by Kala Hagopian, we specialize in luminous, meticulously rendered murals inspired by nature. In 2018, Hagopian Arts began the Eco Mural Project, a series of street-level murals aimed at raising environmental awareness by introducing depictions of natural ecosystems into urban spaces. Kala Hagopian was born in rural Peacham, Vermont, and was highly influenced by a childhood spent in nature. She has been a working artist in Philadelphia since 2005, and graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in 2009. Kala describes herself as a “fine-art muralist,” specializing in realism interspersed with bright pattern and atmosphere. Hagopian Arts has a great deal of working experience across a large range of clients, including nonprofits, community outreach programs, corporate developers, small businesses and personal residences.

About the Maker

My name is Colleen Gnos, I’m a professional artist, surfer, upright bass player, a wife, mother of 2 teen boys, and cancer survivor. I started painting when I was 12, studied fine art in college, then went to an Italian art school for a year. After graduation from UC Santa Cruz, I began painting sets and backdrops for theater, which bridged the gap from a canvas to a large scale work of art. It was a natural transition into murals.

All of my murals are private or public art commissions, which generally follow a predetermined theme. Luckily, people find me because my work is driven by my love of the ocean and my connection to it, so the subject matter is a natural fit for me. My mission is to make art that touches people, heals communities and inspires ocean advocacy.

My Portuguese ancestors were sea captains in the Azores. My grandfather immigrated to Avila Beach, CA in the 1920s. He went diving for lost anchors, had an abalone diving business, trained U.S. Navy divers, and started a tugboat business to guide oil tankers into port. I learned environmental advocacy and the value of local history from him.

Much of my fine art depicts rugged divers, timeworn boats, seaside cliffs, tikis and mermaid sirens. I also have other subjects in my paintings: agricultural tributes, local jazz musicians, and land preservation and memorial murals.

I think the secret to my longevity in the arts is that so I’m excited about many different subjects, it’s difficult (and boring) for me to commit to one theme for long, although I will always have a lifelong fascination with the sea. Luckily I have a collector base that will follow me on my tangents.

I have a studio warehouse in San Luis Obispo, where I work daily on commissions, project bids and proposals. I often create murals in sections in my studio and install them onsite. I’m fortunate to have a very technical and handy husband who helps me on all of my murals. We did a free-standing mural in 2018 that required us to use a tractor to aug out 6’ deep holes, pour concrete and install a large structure to support the 20×20’ mural alongside Interstate 80 near Dixon, CA.

About the Maker

My name is Abdoulaye Conde and I am a full-time creative working as a muralist, visual artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter. I was born and raised in Guinea, West Africa, from my experience and love of my country and culture I get much of my inspiration for my music and art. My unique style of art is what I call “Gnabassan”, which means “mix” in my native language of Malinke – it is recognizable from my use of bright, bold colors with interconnected branching system of black lines to make a statement and evoke emotion. I primarily utilize acrylic medium. I am multi-lingual – speaking fluently in French, Malinke, Pulaar, and Susu, and currently learning English as I am now based in Chicago, Illinois with my wife and son.

About the Maker

My name is Jason T. Graves, muralist, designer and printmaker. I have spent the majority of my life practicing and creating art in many mediums and areas of focus. I began my formal art training at a young age and later went on to graduate from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve worked as a professional artist for almost 25 years. Most of my experience came by way of the screen print shop that I opened in 2006, Apollo Ink. The shop is located in Boulder, Colorado. It’s also where I have studio space and do business as Covalent Art / Mural Company. My work ranges from commercial art, printmaking, studio painting, digital art and most notably large scale public art / murals. I consider myself to be a fine artist and not to be limited to a certain style. I currently paint a lot of nonobjective, geometric, abstract works with the occasional implementation of realistic and or stylized subject matter.

About the Maker

The Voorhees Art Collective is composed of the husband and wife team, Tyler and Ashley Voorhees. Tyler has an art degree and has been a full-time artist for eight years and counting, and primarily works in collage and painting. Ashley holds business and graphic design degrees and has been steering the rudder of their art business since its inception. Together, they collaborate on large art projects consisting of murals and sculpture along with the upbringing of their progeny.

Since 2015, Tyler has been studying the history of work through The Jobs of Yesteryear, a series of mixed media paintings that depict historic jobs using his distinctly lanky figures. As a product of these studies, Tyler has completed 295 paintings and gathered countless fascinating stories about how the life of the worker has radically changed in the past two centuries.

Bringing this theme into the realm of public art, Tyler and Ashley launched  The Jobs Project  in 2018, which celebrates and honors the world’s workers through murals and sculpture. So far, they’ve completed eight projects: seven murals in the US and abroad (Morocco, Mexico, Belgium) and The Lamplighter Sculpture, a towering 11-foot interactive piece.  By creating these pieces, they aspire to tell the unique stories of each community’s jobs and how the community’s workers have shaped their cities, towns, and villages.