Learn More about Janel YoungJanel Young is a Pittsburgh native, painter, muralist and community advocate on a mission to inspire through creativity and play.
Janel's work has been recognized locally and internationally, from New York City to Sydney, Australia. Prior to pursuing art full-time, Janel studied Business Marketing and International Studies at Penn State University as a Bunton-Waller Fellow. Five years after working as a Digital Content Strategist, she began practicing art full-time in NYC.
Since 2018, Janel has continued to utilize visual arts as a communication tool to connect people to equity and justice values and initiatives as a Community Artist throughout Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, and beyond. She leads public art projects, creates youth residency programs and workshops, and mentors young people. She believes that listening is one of the most powerful tools to amplify the voices of overlooked communities and tell their stories boldly, colorfully, and accurately.
In 2021 Janel established the JY Originals Scholarship for Creatives – an annual $1,000 award for a young adult pursuing the arts. The same year, she also received recognition for her extraordinary work as an artist, painter and muralist: she was named 2021 Person of the Year in Visual Arts by Pittsburgh City Paper, and selected as the Artist in Residence at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Pennsylvania from March - September 2022. In 2023 Young was selected for the Chicago Pre-qualified Public Artist list and still travels nationally for public art projects.
Learn More about Emily Paige ArmstrongEmily Paige Armstrong is a Pittsburgh based artist, educator and activist. Their goal is to be able to use their artwork as an impetus for healing, education and inclusivity. They have a need to create in order to better understand their relationship with life and death, their body and identity, the earth and how they experience the world through a social justice, feminist and spiritual lens. Emily Paige is influenced by the connection between movement and stillness, living and nonliving, the human form and nature. They convey the juxtaposition between each previous topic by the usage of their media and subjects such as figurative work and landscapes, stylized mark making, varying line quality and digital or two dimensional media.
Learn More about Ifeoma IgweBorn in Ypsilanti Michigan and raised in Pittsburgh, Ifeoma (Sasha Igwe) developed a strong interest in drawing at a young age, attempting to illustrate characters from her favorite novel series. While her love of art continued through her academic years, she put these passions aside to attend graduate school. After graduating with a doctoral degree in physical therapy, Ifeoma’s love for art soon reignited, and she returned to her artistic endeavors, pursuing a full-time artistic career. Over the years she has explored a variety of media, finding opportunities to learn acrylic painting, illustration techniques, digital media techniques, among other media interests. Drawing heavily from her Nigerian American background, Ifeoma combines Mangaka and Afrocentric styles in her work, with inspiration drawn from great illustrators and traditional artists such as Hayao Miyazaki and Alphonse Mucha. Introspectively, her art embraces ideas of curiosity, spirituality, and self-reflection, allowing her to openly express visually what she may otherwise struggle to communicate. When creating, Ifeoma explores human emotion, often centered around the desire for freedom, with youthful and colorful illustrations. She experiments with different and sometimes surreal concepts through a childlike curiosity, in search of opportunities to more freely and openly express her thoughts through visual art.Currently, in order to continue learning more about the art field, she works as a gallery attendant and art handler. Her goal is to continue learning more about both the traditional fine art world, along with digital art techniques in order to create a more cohesive style of expression.
Learn More about Stella BegnalStella Begnal is a Pittsburgh-based artist who creates whimsical illustrations blending real life and fantasy. A graduate of Penn State University's School of Visual Arts, Stella joins traditional and digital painting techniques to create vibrant artworks. Stella values inclusive storytelling and the power of representation through character design, digital illustration, and animation.
