We chatted with Joel Bergner, a community artist whose large-scale murals can be found in 30 countries across 5 continents, painted in his signature style combining intimate portraits of local residents, vibrant color palettes and small details that draw the viewer in to experience multiple levels of meaning. His elaborate murals weave smoothly between realism with an urban art sensibility and the raw expressions of children’s art. As a community-based artist, Joel’s work is informed by his creative projects with the world’s most vulnerable children and communities, from Syrian refugee camps to American prisons; the favelas of Brazil to an orphanage in South Africa. In each project, he guides participants through the process of exploring issues that are important to them, designing their own composition and then collaboratively painting a public mural in their community.⁠

⁠Joel has worked with corporations such as Microsoft, Amazon Studios, Gucci and Radisson Hotels; as well as international institutions like UNICEF, the US State Department, and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Artolution, a non-profit organization that supports artists in refugee camps and marginalized communities across the world to lead their own arts programs with youth. In this role, he travels the world mentoring young artists and collaborating on humanitarian art programs. Joel and his work have been featured on the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, CBS This Morning, NPR, Al Jazeera, Reuters and more. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two small daughters.⁠