WHAT'S
UP?
Staff
Editor-in-Chief
T.K. Mills is the Editor-in-Chief of UP Magazine, a street art publication based in New York City. After receiving a Master’s Degree in Global Affairs, he discovered a love for graffiti while backpacking through Cuba and pursued life as a writer. Outside of UP, T.K. enjoys writing poetry, personal travel essays, and occasionally short stories. His work has been published in The Smart Set, The Vignette Review, Genre Urban Arts, and Eternal Remedy among others. Beyond art, T.K. loves reading and traveling.
Insta: @t.k.m85
Website: www.tkmills.com
Managing Editor / Writer
Based in New York
Helene is a a writer and visual artist based in New York. Her work blends thoughtful storytelling with creative narratives, aiming to capture the essence of artistic communities and the people within them. In addition to writing for UP Magazine, she also contributes to Float Magazine.
Features Editor / Writer
Based in Brooklyn, NYC
Leigh Pennington – Hailing from Richmond Virginia, Leigh Pennington has lived, worked and studied around the world. She earned her BA in Anthropology, Art History, and Religion from Concordia University in Montreal. Last year she moved to New York to pursue a Masters in Oral History at Columbia University. Prior to moving back to the US she earned her first Masters from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jewish Studies. Currently Leigh works as a freelance culture content writer as well as an Op-Ed editor for the Times of Israel. Her writing has been published in major news and opinion media such as Quebec Heritage News, Tablet Magazine and Lilith Magazine.
Instagram: @lb_pennington
Editor-At-Large
Emma Riva is a novelist and art journalist. She is the author of Night Shift in Tamaqua, an illustrated novel that follows a love story between 24-hour-diner waitress and a Postmates driver. As an art writer, she is particularly interested in working with international artists and exploring how visual art can both transcend cultural boundaries and highlight the complexities of individual identity. Emma is a graduate of The New School and a Wilbur and Niso Smith Foundation Author of Tomorrow. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Director of Photography
Ana Candelaria is a Lower East Side based photographer. She is currently an active contributor for Street Art NYC and a member of Shooter Street Art. Ana’s work has been featured in YV Magazine, displayed in MIKEY Likes It Ice Cream Shop, Unbound: Authentic Visions and Voices as part of a series, as well as Home Grown, a group show that featured Lower East Side natives. Ana has also collaborated with artist My Life In Yellow on a limited edition run of prints. Within the past three years she has established herself as a self taught street art photographer, writer and artist and has received recognition for her photos from street artists from all over the world. She enjoys traveling and nature.
Insta: @a_candela_photography
Website: acandelaphotography.com
Social Media Manager
Based in Staten Island, NY
Michaela Mendez is a dedicated server in the restaurant industry in NYC, with aspirations to become a child psychologist and behavioral specialist. With a deep passion for music, art, and film, Michaela frequently enjoys movie theater visits and has engaged with a large online community of over 70,000 followers, sharing her interests and insights. Additionally, Michaela has skills in video and picture editing, further fueling her creative pursuits.
instagram: @kaylanoelx
Social/Editorial Coordinator & Copy Editor
Founding Member
Christina Elia is a freelance journalist and personal essayist from New York City who writes about fine art, photography, and travel. Her work has been published online in Observer, Apartment Therapy, and i-D Magazine, and has appeared in print in SixtySix Magazine and Graffiti Art Magazine.
Web Manager / Writer
Antonina Shklyar is a student, artist and writer. When she isn’t working, she likes long runs, sketching nature and petting her dogs.
Photographer / Videographer / Writer
Based in New Jersey
Jeanelle Folkes is an NJ based love and lifestyle photographer, and owner of Jeanesque Photography. Born in NY and raised in NJ, she was always drawn to graffiti, but started consistently shooting street when she discovered her love of wandering city streets locally and internationally. She currently writes for ThirdRailArt and UP Magazine, and contributes photos for Shooters Street Art. When she’s not shooting, she loves baking her delicious soft baked cookies.
IG: @streetartdesire / @jeanesquephotography
Website: www.jeanesquephotography.com
Contributors
Writer
Based in Brooklyn, NY
Tyler Bruett is a writer and musician from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who is now based in New York City. Fascinated with contemporary culture, he finds pride working with emerging artists, street artists, and musicians alike. He is passionate about using his experience to bridge the gap between artists and the city they inhabit.
Writer / Photographer
Based in Brooklyn, NYC
Katie Godowski is a Brooklyn-based photographer who has been a passionate photographer for the last 16 years. She loves to photograph street art, humans and whatever she stumbles upon during a photograpy walk. Her work has been featured in New York magazine, TimeoutNewYork, and B&H optics photography contest.
Insta: @katiegodowski_photography
Website: www.katiegodowski.com
Writer
Based in Manhattan’s East Village
J. Scott Orr is a career writer, editor and a recovering political journalist. His work has appeared nationally in countless newspapers, magazines and websites. He is publisher of the East Village art magazine B Scene Zine.
Instagram: @bscenezine
Website: bscenezine.com
Writer
Based in Chicago
Nicole Misfitx is a writer and photographer passionate about documenting art, graffiti, and street art in Chicago. Her love of writing led her to receive a degree in Creative Writing and Journalism from schooling at Columbia College Chicago and SNHU. She then combined her love of documenting art, photography, and writing to showcase various art, artists, and important social topics. Her drive for writing is to give exposure to lesser-known artists and the overall street art and graffiti scene in Chicago. In addition, she enjoys nature, travel, movies, all things spooky, and fashion.
Writer
Based in New York City / Europe
Georgia Eggers was born and raised in New York City. She moved to Ireland for university, studying international relations, politics, and economics. Having recently moved back to NYC, she is currently freelance writing as well as being an online English tutor. She believes through writing, you can always find the answer you’re looking for… and everyone should have a journal to express whatever they want with it!
Writer
Based in New York City
Michael Lodato is a Brooklyn-based writer, independent tutor, and former philosophy instructor. His comedy has appeared in McSweeney’s, The American Bystander, and Current Affairs. He is passionate about using humor to teach big ideas and has contributed script writing to educational YouTube channels like Crash Course and Wisecrack. He is perhaps best known for the time he accidentally offered an edible to a former Bush administration official, who politely declined.
Instagram: @magnesiummike
Website: mikelodato.com
Writer / Photographer
Based in New York, New York
Kurt Boone is a freelance writer and author. He is most noted for his work documenting street cultures. Some of his books are “Asphalt Warrior: The Story Of New York City Fastest Messenger,” “The Culture Of Messenger Bags,” “Aerosol Art Culture: A Day At Graffiti Hall Of Fame,” and “Fresh Plywood NYC: Artists Rising Up In Age Of Black Lives Matter.
Website: www.kurtboonebooks.com
Insta: @kurtboonephotography
Writer
Based in Kansas City & Chicago
Xiao Faria daCunha is a multidisciplinary artist, arts journalist, and essayist based in Kansas City, MO, and Chicago, IL. She writes about what’s happening in the Midwest belt, the East Asian diasporic experience, and the intersection. Essentially, she considers all her practices journalistic, exploring the underheard, underrepresented, and underseen while investigating the intersection between races, cultures, genders, and social status. Her bylines have appeared in the Chicago Reader, Sixty Inches From Center, and serves as the visual arts editor for BRIDGE.CHICAGO.
IG: @xiaochineseart
Website: https://xiaochineseart.com
Writer / Editor
Founding Member / Deputy Editor of Issue 6
Mr. Candid // Lonnie Richards grew up in Morrow, Georgia. He started his career in investigative work in the military from 2002-09. While the other Intel collectors asked on-the-nose questions, Lonnie won an award for his more practical approach of using candid and non-leading modes of questioning. Today, Lonnie uses his prior reporting, photography, and video approach from the military to cover subjects in the Direct Cinema style of cinematography. Lonnie has a bachelor’s degree in American History and a double minor in Western Philosophy and Ethnic Studies. He has a general love for culture and art but a particular passion for covering graffiti culture and other counterculture movements.
Insta: @theanthropol
Profile Photo Art L to R Fritz, Sturge, and Edgemon (2008)-Lonnie
Writer
Founding Member
Based in Brooklyn, NY
Vittoria Benzine is a street art journalist and personal essayist based in Brooklyn, New York. Her affinity for counterculture and questioning has introduced her to exceptional artists and morally ambiguous characters alike. She values writing as a method of processing the world’s complexity. Send love letters to her via:
Insta: @vittoriabenzine
Site: vittoriabenzine.com
Writer
Based in Miami, FL
Nile Fortner is a Multimedia Journalist, and he has been and continues to be a writer and journalist for various publications and platforms such as the Sun-Sentinel, Miami New Times, New Pelican Newspaper, SFLStyle, Broward County Journalism Alliance (BAJA), South Florida Digest, and more. Nile, who has also worked in public relations, with non-profits, and podcasts, also enjoys watching movies, reading comics, and enjoying restaurants. He’s also on social media @nile_fortner, and enjoys eating warm, soft-to-the-bite chocolate chip cookies.
Insta: @nile_fortner
Writer / Designer
Tiago Masseti is a graphic designer based in New York City. With a degree in Visual Design and Marketing from ESPM Brazil he has contributed to a diverse range of projects—from branding to editorial, typography to illustration—in multiple cities across the Americas. With more than 10 years of experience as a freelancer, Tiago has spent time in Miami, Los Angeles and Brazil, helping companies meet their design needs and fulfill their marketing goals.
Writer
Andi Schmitz is a writer, artist and recent American expat. Born in Dublin, Ireland and raised in a smörgåsbord of places, she has recently relocated to Berlin, Germany. Lifelong writer and artist, she is recovering from former corporate fintech life by self-induced art immersion. Her hobbies include painting, a good whiskey sour, and exploring art as a form of social outcry.
Website: andischmitz.com
Photographer
Jaime Marrero is an evolving visual artist and street photographer understanding, adapting, and creating in the ever-changing world around him. Born in the Bronx New York, this Puerto Rican artist’s world changed after moving upstate; as his influences from comic book and street art grew to fine art, surrealism and graphic art. The cultural change from city life to suburban also influenced his language, using the contrast of nature, mountains and the serene versus buildings, concrete and chaos. Living away from the life he knew contributed to subject matter involving isolation, exploration, distance, communication and dreams as an influence.
Photographer
Based in Los Angeles, CA
Karen McDonough is a street art photographer/hunter who has been shooting in the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco since 2015. She finds that public art says a lot about the culture of a city, whether intentional or not, and encourages others to get out and explore their own community to discover its magic. Her motto is “Yes!” Her best friend is the Googler. She believes that walking is the best policy and blank walls should be criminal. Her theory? Birds will take over the world because people rarely look up.
Instagram: @flipsidemcd
Writer
Based in The Bronx, NYC
Christine DeFazio is an art educator and artist working in the Bronx. She created curriculum for The Met’s Astor Fellowship and Lincoln Center’s Arts in the Middle. She has degrees in Art History from StonyBrook and Hunter. As Director of Michael Hall Fine Art, she curated exhibitions and wrote publications on Renaissance and Nineteenth Century Sculpture. She has exhibited her own art which focuses on capturing the psyche of her sitters, often caught in a dilemma expressed through allegory or myth with a touch of Surrealism. She aims to convey stories of love, longing and despair, through her imagery of the female form.
https://christinedefazioar.wixsite.com/website
Artist/Writer
Based in New Jersey
Chun Park (Chunbum Park) was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1991. He came to the United States in 2000 and attended Montgomery Bell Academy for high school. He briefly attended University of Rochester and Bergen Community College from 2009 to 2011. Since 2011, he has aspired to become a practicing artist and studied at various schools, such as the Rhode Island School of Design, the Art Students League of NY, and the School of Visual Arts. He will receive his BFA from SVA in 2020.
Artist/Writer
Based in The Bronx, NYC
Alexandria Deters is a queer femme embroidery artist, researcher, activist, archivist, and writer based in the Bronx, NY. She received a BA in Art History and in Women and Gender Studies at San Francisco State University in 2015 and her MA in American Fine and Decorative Art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, NY in 2016. Her writing and artwork are influenced by her belief that every human being is a ‘living archive’, a unique individual that has experiences and stories worth documenting and remembering.
Website: https://www.alexandriadeters.com
Instagram:
@alexandria.deters.art
@deters.threadz
Writer
Based in Brooklyn, NYC
Noah Daly is a freelance reporter based in Brooklyn, NY. He got started writing as an editor and business manager for the school newspaper at CUNY Brooklyn College, The Brooklyn Vanguard, and since then his writing has appeared in Up, Rolling Stone, Lucid News, and Marijuana Moment.
Writer
Based in Los Angeles, CA
Bereel Photos is a Los Angeles based artist, writer, and photographer. He enjoys long walks on the beach and anything wrapped in bacon.
Writer
Based in Portland, OR
Moira Hampson is a street art photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Her passion for street art has driven her to travel the world to learn about street art and its relation to community.
Insta : @wisdomher
Art Show Calendar Manager
Based in Los Angeles, CA
Ana-Alicia Salazar is a native Angeleno, Art History major, and Preschool Teacher. She has written for BeautifyEarth.org as well as press releases for artists and is currently constructing a blog. When she’s not canvasing the streets of L.A. daily, Ana likes to listen to art and self-help podcasts, and write poetry.
Insta: @laartlyfe
Poetry Instagram: @awkwardsilverlinings
Email: OrangeCrush_00@yahoo.com
Writer
From Rome, Italy.
Giulia ‘BLocal’ Riva is a writer and content creator exploring the artistic and rebellious soul of cities through street art and urban culture. Since 2011, she has run the independent street art blog BLocal, which has become a media partner for major street art festivals across Europe.
Her work spans collaborations with museums, creative enterprises, festivals, and cultural institutions, while her writing has appeared in street art catalogues, art publications, and independent media. She is also the author of Beyond the Walls, a monthly newsletter featuring editorials and critical reflections on the contemporary urban art scene.
In 2024, she launched As Seen on the Streets of…, an independent publishing project that captures the cities shaping the global street art movement through personal experiences, in-depth research, and conversations with local artists and communities.
Website: www.blocal-travel.com
Substack: https://substack.com/@
Writer / Artist
Ashley Miah, artistically known as Lee Lee La Cubana, is a Forbes Under 30 listed artist (2023), Creative Director, and Co-Founder of The Culture Candy. Ashley has been featured in publications such as Crain’s, Lonely Planet and more for her work in providing opportunities to underrepresented artists and uplifting the NYC art community. Ashley is a contributor and columnist at Up Magazine, sharing her advice for fellow artists with her column Ashley’s Advice on Art and the City.
Writer / Photographer
Based in Toronto, CA / Havana, Cuba
Amir Saarony’s body and mind live in Toronto, Canada but his heart lives in Havana, Cuba. Amir first went to Havana in the late 90s, during the final years of the Special Period for what was supposed to be a 3 week work assignment that ended up lasting into the 21st century. In Toronto Amir has been a graphic designer/art director for over 30 years. After over 100 trips to Havana Amir has participated in many projects. From consulting with businesses, working with social causes and humanitarian aid to writing books and articles. In 2019 Amir published Painted Walls Havana, a 386 page coffee table book on the emerging street art scene in Havana. Falling back on his fine art and art history education Amir is now on a mission to show the world the other side of Havana. The one you do not see in the tourism ads. His next dream is to create a documentary on the urban scene in Havana.
Instagram: @painted_walls_havana
Writer
Based in London, UK
Alexia Marmara is a UK based researcher, archivist, artist and curator specialising in uncovering and celebrating the unsung. She curates and programmes at The Horse Hospital in London and is a recipient of The Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Research Grant.
Writer
Based in Tokyo, Japan
Elena Calderón Aláez is an independent researcher of Graffiti and Street Art and a flaneur nomad from Madrid. She graduated in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage from Complutense University of Madrid and is an active member of the group StreetArtConservators. She is part of the Street Art Cities community, and a member of an urban art & graffiti researchers group in Spain. She has been based in Tokyo since 2020 and is the Chief curator of TOTEMO street art NFT marketplace since 2021.
Writer
Based in The Netherlands
Anne van Bree is a journalist from Breda with a passion for public art that began in her teenage years. Accompanied by her camera, she explores new places by capturing the artwork on their walls. Her work focuses on uncovering the stories behind street art and graffiti, as well as the vibrant culture they represent.
Executive Assistant / Writer / Artist
Based in New York City
Hilary “Lily” Seo was born and raised in the small Island of Trinidad, now exploring the vast art and writing scene of the Big Apple. Her world expanded tenfold, even moreso as she’s finding her creative crowd, and she plans to put those discoveries onto paper and canvas. She’s studying Economics and Math, but art has always been her lifelong passion (and a best friend she can tend to neglect). She’s currently trying to find her footing in the intersection where art and writing meet, where she believes the complete expanse of human experience can be best captured.
Writer
Based in Casablanca, Morocco
Maria Yigouti is an independent editor, curator, and founder of Yapper, a platform dedicated to foregrounding the visual cultures and lived poetics of the Southlands. Based in Casablanca, Morocco, and with academic credentials in design and visual communication, her work spans editorial and curatorial practices, broadcasting voices outside the mainstream through cross-border collaborations and artistic exploration.
Writer
Based in Chicago, Illinois
Kelsei Brianna is a graduate student reporter specializing in magazine journalism at Northwestern University. Originally from Baton Rouge and now based in Chicago, she covers arts and culture, lifestyle, and food. She has a soft spot for storytelling that thoughtfully amplifies underrepresented voices by connecting personal narratives to broader cultural conversations. Her work has appeared in 225 Magazine, Newcity, and Medill Reports. When she’s not reporting, you can find her in a movie theater, at the airport, or weighing in on internet discourse.
Writer
Based in Berlin, Germany
Claudia M. Ribotti is an Italian journalist based in Berlin. She grew professionally among politics, cultural studies and human rights. Thinking that everything has a political meaning, she talks about art, its critical value, and its impact on communities.
Writer / Artist
Based in Lisbon, Portugal
Bree Chapin is a studio artist and muralist. She is also co-founder and co-producer of the New York Underground Art League and an occasional writer. Having passed several thrilling decades in New York City, she has found a second home in sunny Lisboa.
Writer / Photographer
Based in LES, New York
Francesca Magnani is a Brooklyn-based Italian photographer, writer, teacher, and translator. Born and raised in Padua, she arrived in NYC as a Fulbright graduate student in 1997. Since then she has been telling in words and images the stories that move her while she chronicles her own life.
Instagram: @magnanina
Writer
Based in Bari, Italy
Elena Lovecchio is an Italian writer and photographer, momentarily based in Lisbon (Portugal). Always passionate about contemporary art, she is a graduate of the Master of Arts, Museology and Curatorship program at the University of Bologna and has been fascinated by the world of graffiti and street art since her teenage years. She has analog photography as a hobby and in her free time enjoys going around photographing walls and abandoned buildings.
Writer
Based in Brussels, Belgium
Polya Pencheva obtained her master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Groningen and the Netherlands and likes to talk about traveling, entertainment, street art, and innovation in her stories. During her free time, she enjoys playing board games and reading. Her favorite superhero is Spider-Man and she believes that with great power comes great responsibility. The way to her heart is black coffee, a good book and some chocolate.
Insta: @polyawrites
Writer
Based in Valencia, Spain
Diego López Giménez – Author of books such as “Street Art by Women” (ed. Hoaki) and “Valencia in Graffitis” (ed. Dilatando Mentes)
Writer / Photographer
Based in New York, NY
Liuna Aylin is a fashion and lifestyle photographer whose path to the lens has been anything but conventional. She bought her first DSLR at 17 and has spent the past 15 years capturing Intimate portraits and developing her growing Interest In photography.
After nearly seven years in private equity and earning her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2023, Liuna was faced with a sudden and serious health crisis. During a two-year fight for answers, she turned increasingly toward photography — transforming a lifelong passion into a professional pursuit.
Illness taught her the fragility of life; photography, its counterweight in permanence. Her camera became a lifeline — a tool for stillness, creative expression, and presence.
Photographer
Based in New York, NY
Giulia Feleppa was born and raised in the southern Italian city of Bari, before moving to New York City in 2015 to study visual arts in one of the most inspiring cities in the world. Since then, captivated by the visual elements of graffiti and street art that adorn the city’s walls, she has navigated the vibrant streets of New York City armed with a camera and an insatiable curiosity. With a huge respect for the artists who transformed mundane walls into vibrant canvases, she started documenting the fleeting beauty of graffiti and street art. Amidst the riot of colors and shapes, Giulia finds beauty in the empty spaces and deserted streets, those moments of stillness that punctuate the city’s frenetic rhythm. Her work blends chaos and calm, an intersection of graffiti and urban solitude.
Writer
Based in New York, NY
Ayla Agha was born and raised in New York City. She studied creative writing at NYU and currently works in education. She loves polaroids, fairytales, and the moon.
Artist / Writer
Based in New Jersey
Sonali Sinha is a multimedia artist. She received a dual degree in Marketing and Journalism from Rutgers University. She has created animations, clothes and jewelry made from recyclable materials, pen sketches, etc. As long as the art is awesome and magical, she’s happy with it. Most of her creations are guided by her intuition as she frequently receives visions she needs to channel. In her free time, she likes to skateboard, listen to music, and play with her dog.
Writer
Based in New York
Libby Cook is a freelance writer originally from Maine, but currently based in New York City. She enjoys writing features about unique individuals in art and fashion. While attending Ithaca College, where she received her bachelor’s degree in journalism, her feature stories on local artists, designers, and creatives were published in Life in the Finger Lakes magazine and the Ithaca Times. She also developed and solely ran an upstate New York travel blog for LIFL. Outside of writing, Libby works in NYC schools as a youth sports coach and trainer. She specifically loves basketball and still plays in a city league with friends. She also enjoys attending concerts, art shows, and fashion events.
Instagram: @llcook.j
Website: libbycookblog.wordpress.com
Writer
Based in New York City
Jiri Palayekar is an artist specializing in music, illustration, and graffiti and a grad student at NYU studying the histories of decline and aesthetics of graffiti. They are interested in studying the intersection of identity and placemaking as it manifests in graffiti and urban art, DIY music, and alt subcultures.
Writer
Based in New York City
Zoe Sharif – Born and bred in Queens, New York, Zoe lives at the intersection of street culture, contemporary art, and creative production. With a background in International Criminal Justice, Digital Media & Journalism, her work is shaped by an interest in visual storytelling, public space and the systems that shape how art is communicated and received. She explores creative communities, looking at processes and the ways street-level expression can move between public space and institutional contexts.
Writer
Based in Valparaíso, Chile
Abigail Imas, currently based in Chile, is working as an English assistant. Alongside teaching, she has written articles for OneTrackMind, Fernwayer, and prior to living in Chile, KentLive.
Writer
Based in Puerto Rico
Amanda Santiago is an independent writer, editor and founder of Materia Ordinaria, a publication dedicated to exploring and highlighting art and culture in Puerto Rico. She graduated with a degree in Public Relations and Advertising from the University of Puerto Rico, where she discovered her love for journalism. Growing up on the island, she took a special liking towards the urban and contemporary arts because of their unique way of expressing socio-political realities. She believes questioning, writing and documenting are valuable tools in keeping the culture alive.
Writer
Based in Berlin
Camille Moreno is a Costa Rican-American writer and curator based in Berlin. Her writing investigates how art operates within social structures, foregrounding accessibility and the everyday as sites of critical and imaginative potential. She has written for cultural publications in Germany, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom, contributing essays, criticism, and interviews that address visual art, architecture, and cultural politics from an international perspective.
Insta: @camillebeaucoup
Writer/Photographer
Based in Europe
Gaia Mattiello, on the border between Naples – my umbilical cord – and the world. Photographer and journalist, believe me, if you try to put a hand in my bag – among the many things you can find – there will always be a camera and a flash ready to make the city of lights squint.
Writer/Photographer
Based in Brooklyn, NY
Tyler Simnick is a photographer and writer from Indianapolis. He is the author of Islands: NYC During COVID 2020 – 2022, a book of documentary and street photography that explores public spaces during the pandemic in New York City. He received his BA in English, Philosophy, and Religious Studies, along with a minor in Spanish, from Indiana University. He also completed a MA in English, with a focus in Critical Theory, from Indiana University. His poetry has appeared in Poetry City, USA, Panoply, and GASHER. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two cats, Pumpkin and Shadow.
Website: tylersimnick.com
Instagram: @tylersimnick