About Janel Young
“What does it look like when we create from a place of joy?
That’s the goal. And it’s rebellious.”
— Janel Young | JY Originals
Janel Young is a Pittsburgh native, based in Chicago as of 2022. She is a painter, muralist and community leader on a mission to inspire through creativity and play.
Janel’s work has been recognized locally and internationally, from New York City – where she resided for 6 years – to the coast of Sydney, Australia. Prior to pursuing art full-time, Janel attended Schenley High School in Pittsburgh, PA as an International Baccalaureate student athlete, and went on to study Business Marketing and International Studies at Penn State University as a Bunton-Waller Fellow. She relocated to NYC in 2013 to work in public relations as a Digital Content Strategist for industries, including healthcare, tech and non-profits for 5 years.
A year after taking the leap to practice art full-time in NYC, Janel’s passions came full circle in 2019 as her love for visual arts brought her back to her childhood neighborhood to install the city’s first art basketball court, cleverly coined The Home Court Advantage Project in Beltzhoover. The City of Pittsburgh awarded Janel a proclamation for her community-centered effort to wrap the city in color, making October 23, 2019 “JANEL YOUNG DAY” in the City of Pittsburgh. On the anniversary the following year, Janel established the JY Originals Scholarship for Creatives – an annual $1,000 award for a young adult pursuing the arts.
For three years as the Community Artist in Residence at UrbanKind Institute based in Pittsburgh, Janel utilized visual arts as a communication tool to connect people to equity and justice values and initiatives in Pittsburgh and Chicago. She continues to lead public art projects, youth workshops and speaking opportunities as she expands her art network in different cities.
Janel’s 2021 public works in Pittsburgh include the “Pathway to Joy” asphalt mural at Allegheny Overlook, her first curated project, “New Space Spheres” (both commissioned by Pittsburgh Downtown Partnerships), and “Heroes on the Horizon” at Bakery Square, which is the first three-dimensional mural under her belt. Pathway to Joy is now Young’s largest led mural and it kicked off the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival serving as the backdrop for the summer 2021 pop-up park experience. For New Space Spheres she led the creation of social distance artwork from four additional Pittsburgh artists for a total of 10 designs. Heroes on the Horizon was completed alongside a residency program with students from local schools, Lincoln and Urban Academy.
In New York, Young was selected to exhibit in the “Black Lives to the Front” art showcase during the 2020 U.S. Open tennis tournament. Her canvas titled “Be Open To…” was displayed in the front row of the Arthur Ashe Stadium behind the likes of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka.
Furthermore, Janel has teamed up with youth-focused organizations to host in-person and virtual coloring events, where New York and Pittsburgh sponsors and non-profits donated her self-illustrated Color Your Crown natural hair coloring book to kids.
In 2021 Janel received recognition for her extraordinary work as an artist, painter and muralist: she was named 2021 Person of the Year in Visual Arts by Pittsburgh City Paper, acknowledged as a finalist for the 2021 Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Award, and selected as the Artist in Residence at Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Pennsylvania from March - September 2022.
Headshot photo by Studio Hayes