We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Girl Mobb. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Girl below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Girl with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I get my work ethic from being raised in a factory union family most likely. My grandparents met at the Ford factory where they worked until they retired. My grandma was (still is) a badass, And become the first woman president for the United Auto Workers Union for Ford for two counties. She always pushed me to work hard to achieve my dreams. My mom raised me and my sister mostly by herself while working full time. No one had it easy so me and my sister were taught to work hard and fight for what we believed in.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a muralist who lives in the Bay Area, and has been here for 15 years. I had my start here doing graffiti in 2008 while attending the Art Academy of San Francisco University. After painting on the street for a couple of years I got to paint some of my first murals in downtown Oakland and was hooked. Years later in 2016 I started Graffiti Camp For Girls, a week-long spray painting class for teen girls due to lack of women in the local arts and street scene. Each class ends with a mural done by the students collaboratively. It was a hit with the kids and the community and has been going strong ever since, with camps happening all over the country and even two internationally, in Cambodia and Fiji.
I’ve done classes mostly independently, but have also brought them to schools all over California and some in the Midwest, and worked with community centers and organizations doing after school mural programs.
I’m leading two new Graffiti Camp For Girls classes in mid-February and April in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.GraffitiCampForGirls.com or @GraffitiCampForGirls or Facebook/GraffitiCampForGirls
I’ve also recently taken up tattooing. Taking the skills I learned from painting the wall to painting the skin. I currently tattoo in El Sobrante, CA.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the 3 most impactful qualities that helped me were determination, confidence and stubbornness. Stubbornness is my superpower. When someone tells me I can’t do something, that just makes me want to prove them wrong, whatever means necessary. I tell my students to paint until the point of ruin. Don’t worry about the mess. Mess up, and try again. That’s how you get where you wanna be. Sometimes you see a kid not want to pick up the can because they’re scared it’s not gonna be any good, but you gotta start somewhere. Just start.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’m always looking for organizations and schools that want to partner up and bring Graffiti Camps to their community. Camps can be used as an elective or afterschool program. The best way to reach out is through email at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.Graffiticampforgirls.com
- Instagram: @graffiticampforgirls @girlmobb
- Facebook: Graffiticampforgirls
Image Credits
Photos taken by Girl Mobb and Deirdre O’Shea
