For Kalief, public art and community work are responsibilities, not side projects. Growing up on the Southside of Chicago, he didn’t see many galleries or museums, but he did see walls that carried the stories of the people around him. Today, he creates work that brings visibility, beauty, and possibility directly to those neighborhoods. His goal is to make good art accessible and to show young people what’s achievable when someone who looks like them, comes from where they come from, shows up and creates with intention. Murals, public art, and the youth of Chicago are the foundation that ground his practice and fuel his commitment to the city.