Janel Young is a Pittsburgh native based in Chicago, a painter and muralist on a mission to inspire through creativity and play. In 2013, Janel earned her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Penn State University. She worked in New York as a Digital Strategist before becoming an entrepreneur. One of several public art projects, The Home Court Advantage Project, was the first basketball court mural installed in Pittsburgh, PA. Consequently, the City of Pittsburgh awarded Young a proclamation for her community-centered effort. Since then, Janel became the Community Artist in Residence at UrbanKind Institute where she utilizes visual arts as a communication for equity initiatives. Expressing the colorful truths of communities is what continues to drive Young to do what she does.
Janel’s work has expanded: She was selected to exhibit during the 2020 U.S. Open and designed for Yahoo! in 2021. Young’s 2021 public works include her largest mural “Pathway to Joy” and “Heroes on the Horizon,” doubling as her first three-dimensional mural and first permanent work.
To conclude 2021, Janel was named Person of the Year (Visual Arts) by Pittsburgh City Paper and selected as the Artist in Residence at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art for 2022.
