User:Tinainparis/Joel Bergner

Joel Bergner is an award-winning mural artist whose work, focusing on issues of culture, diversity and history, explores a variety of local and international social issues. His murals are brightly- colored, intense and detailed, and are currently on display in many US cities such as Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore, and abroad in Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador and Peru. Joel leads youth mural projects and often collaborates with artists and organizations. This year Joel was a featured artist in the Amnesty International Human Right Art Festival. Joel’s artwork is heavily inspired by his community-based work in many US cities and abroad, including positions with a variety of non-profit organizations. Joel teaches in a juvenile detention center and has worked with foster youth, international refugees, the homeless and the mentally ill. He spent years counseling marginalized youth who were struggling with issues such as violence, prostitution, and drugs. A few years ago, he completed a big mural on U Street in Washington, DC.