Brad Carney

“Creativity starts with planting a seed. You don't know what it will become, but you nurture it, you feed and protect it. You work hard to make sure it grows strong. And one day, there's something beautiful in this world that wasn't here before.”

Brad Carney is a lead instructor and muralist with Mural Arts Philadelphia. Brad is a graduate of Tyler School of Art, with a degree in drawing, painting and sculpture. His design aesthetic emphasizes rhythm, motion, and a playfulness through the use of line, color, and composition. H e loves collaborating with students and neighborhoods, and sees every project as an opportunity to create powerful human connections. Brad teaches teens and young adults, sharing his view of the creative process as a reflection of our history, and as a way to imagine a better future together. Under his leadership, murals and art exhibitions have commanded spaces at Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, Asian Arts Initiative and Kensington Creative & Performing Arts High School . As a lead muralist, Brad has worked with artists to help them scale up their work to cover multi-story buildings. To reach the heights demanded of a mural artist, Brad is certified as a lift operator, rising as high as 100 feet in the air.

How do you define creativity?

“Creativity to me is planting a seed that you decide to grow. You don't know what it will become, but you nurture it, you feed and protect it. You work hard to make sure it grows strong. And one day, there's something beautiful in this world that wasn't here before.”

Biography:

What do you want to feel when you first see a mural? I like to ask this question to everyone. I love collaborating with students and neighborhoods to discuss what we want to feel when we see our next project. The creative process is a reflection of our history, a discussion of our present state of mind, and a way to reimagine a better future together. And we should feel good about that.