Blog
Alumni Spotlight: Donyel Marbley
We are excited to share our next Alumni Spotlight, featuring our multi-talented alum, Donyel Marbley. Donyel is a graphic designer, painter, and video editor, who attended Sitar from a young age in Arts Afterschool and as a mural artist during Camp Sitar’s Summer Internship. We are thrilled to share Donyel’s insight into his artistic passion, vision, and motivation.
What is your passion?
I really like making cool art that opens up even more amazing creative opportunities for more art. That art may affect people in big ways or small ways, but giving a positive effect and message to people matters the most.
My slogan for any of my art whether it be painting, graphic design, or music is to “Learn, Grow, & Evolve”
What motivates you and your work?
Experimenting has taken me a long way. I can say that being open to trying new things in my field and creating in different ways has been a part of making my creative process brand new and fun every time.
Are there any artists/non-artists or pieces of work that inspire you, and what about that person/group/community/art piece influences you and your art?
Jean Micheal Basquiat’s work has been a great inspiration for me. He has this rough, loose, and raw quality to his art with each piece having a focused intention or plenty of them. It’s said that he would knock out an enormous amount of paintings in a day and when I heard that it reminded me of how I create pretty fast and pretty loosely. His style motivated me to continue in my own direction of looseness in my art with a sharp intention.
Can you tell us about the vision for your art?
My slogan for any of my art whether it be painting, graphic design, or music is to “Learn, Grow, & Evolve” so I plan to continue to do that moving forward and push that idea in my art, so others can be motivated to do the same.
Why is art and community engagement important to you?
Art is more than just the artist/s making it, but it’s also the audience that interacts and engages with it. Art brings people together and is a part of our everyday society. Art has been a part of my life for so long and I really enjoy making it for others.
To see some of Donyel’s work, visit his website here!