Edition 15 — Kelsey Arbona

My One Constant

Kelsey Arbona, Artists For Humanity’s Design Director, was first exposed to design as a child. She would visit her uncle, a graphic designer for The Boston Globe, at work and draw Pokémon on his tablet. But her formal art education didn’t begin until her aunt saw an advertisement for AFH in the newspaper, and encouraged teenage Arbona to apply. “13 years and a thousand experiences later, I’m the Design Director,” she said.

At AFH, she began in the Painting Studio, but always planned on moving to the Graphic Design Studio. However, the…

“I Crave It”

A little over a decade ago, Garima Sood left Boston and moved to Montreal, Canada for college. Ever since then, she’s been searching for a community like the one she experienced while at Artists For Humanity.

Now she feels closer than ever before to building that type of community.

Sood, who is in her final year of completing her second bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, said that there is a very special dynamic that plays out at AFH. …

Edition 13 — Aneisha Malcolm

In the Driver’s Seat

Aneisha Malcolm has edited videos for artists such as Young Thug, Future, and Ty Dolla $ign. She’s also created fashion films, commercials, and short documentaries. Her work is united by a glossy, colorful aesthetic; the shots and editing are extremely polished but maintain a sense of realness. In her videos, models and actors dance, flick their sunglasses, flirt, and speak to the camera.

Today, Malcolm is the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of House of Malcolm, a video production company based in New York City. …

Edition 12 — Will Wiggins

Something Very Specific and Special

As a child and teenager, Artists For Humanity alum Will Wiggins loved anime and comics — both consuming them and creating his own. “I tried to blend American comics and anime together. I had my own comic book at that point, but it was all a very basic look,” he remembered. Wiggins has been passionate about drawing from a young age, saying, “I was always invested in getting better at art.” However, his understanding of the art world opened up after he started working at AFH.

Wiggins was a junior…

Edition 11— Jamilyah Waldron

A Complete Game Changer

Jamilyah Waldron joined Artists For Humanity when she was a freshman in high school — around 2003, she thinks, but can’t quite remember. She stayed with the organization into college, going from an assistant mentor to a full-on mentor in the painting studio. Today, she works as a registered nurse in an emergency room, where she says she routinely uses the skills and philosophies she learned during her time at AFH. Waldron lives in Scituate, Rhode Island with her husband Nathan, another AFH alumnus, and their two-year-old child.

Waldron learned about AFH…

Edition 10 — Jameel Radcliffe, Artist and Painting Mentor

A Fire Artist

When Jameel Radcliffe was 19 years old, he already knew he wanted to be an artist. In 2013 he told the Boston Globe,

“Art is definitely going to be a big part of my life for a long time — it can change a lot in a person’s life.”

Since leaving Artists For Humanity as a teen, Jameel has fulfilled his prediction. When I ask him if he would prefer to do a phone call or an on-site interview, he answers with a laugh, “Actually, I’m a Painting Mentor. …

Edition 09 — Junia Ryan, Graphic Designer

“Designed by Someone Like Me”

“When I explain I’m in advertising, I say, ‘You see that billboard? That’s designed by someone like me.

This label on your bottle of water that you’re drinking? That’s designed by someone like me.

The things that you see in the grocery store? Those were designed by someone like me.’”

Now that she is an art director and graphic designer, Junia Ryan sees design everywhere. But then again, she’s always been a creative person on multiple fronts. …

Edition 08 — Alexandra Paul Zotov

Communications Director and Graphic Designer

Before my first conversation with Alexandra Paul Zotov, I was already familiar with some of her work, yet not with her work as a graphic designer: media content for cultural giants such as Young Thug, Art Basel, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar.

I had read Artist For Humanity’s blog “Strictly Business: Women of Influence,” an initiative that Alexandra Paul collaborated on with a group of AFH mentors and female teen leaders. The project connected AFH participants to inspiring women through a series of interviews with the likes of Juliette Kayyem…