A graduate of Chicago’s prestigious School of the Art Institute, Damon Lamar Reed is a portrait and inspirational mural artist whose pieces can be spotted throughout the Chicagoland area. His work – centered specifically around the theme of communal upliftment – portrays the Black experience in the United States. His murals, “We Carry the Light” and...
Your Everyday Heroes has been fortunate to work with Damon Lamar Reed. We were initially drawn to his story because (1) he is simply a talented mural artist, and (2) his work creating downtown Chicago murals serves a purpose higher than himself, something we’ll touch on in a bit. While we by no means consider self-serving art “bad,” we wish to promote work that leaves our...
Vick Lee | Inspirational Chicago Filmmaker (Full)
Your Everyday Heroes is proud to feature one of today’s many esteemed Black female film directors Vick Lee. From an early age, Lee immersed herself in movies and TV, eventually studying film at Columbia College Chicago. Whether telling stories of love or conflict, Lee’s body of work always maintains a socially conscious...
Flying Circus – Motivated Artists
The video above was made for a 72 hour International Film Festival. This circus story goes behind the scenes with the trapeze artists of a flying circus (a flying exhibition team) to ask famous trapeze artists and circus performers what their biggest fears are. There are several different types of flying circuses emphasizing different aspects of the art....
Yecson Preciado | Boxing Instructor (Full)
Life has never been easy for boxing trainer Yecson Preciado. Hailing from Santiago de Guayaquil, Ecuador, he grew up in a drug-fueled, murderous environment. Suffering abuse at the hands of his father, he left home at 10, spending two months on the streets. In spite of these traumatic circumstances, he persisted, driven only by his dream of...
Spar Boxing Classes for Teen
Yecson Preciado was born and raised in Guayaquil, a port city which serves as Ecuador’s commercial capital, but also has the highest poverty rate in the country. He was brought up by a dangerous father who regularly abused him as a child. At just ten-years-old, Yecson had enough and chose to run away to live on the dangerous streets, rather than be...
Loss of a Child – A Tribute as Art
How does one honor the loss of a child?
When the unexpected child loss of Jeff Abbey Maldonado Jr. occurred the disbelief was paramount. As a result, there was a huge void in Jeff’s life that didn’t seem like it could be filled. His son was the focal point of his life.
Jeff, a 19-year-old multi-talented hip hop artist was just...
Umar Mughal – One of the Famous People with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bone Disease)
The 28-year-old graphic designer Umar Mughal has suffered from genetic bone disorder Osteogenesis Imperfecta since birth. His soft, fragile bones frequently fractured while he was growing up, and poor healthcare in his home country Pakistan resulted in his tiny stature and deformed...
Pakistani film director Ali Imran Ch is an artist on a mission. In his own words, “If my videos bring positivity into anyone’s life, that will mean that I am successful in achieving my goal.” Through his previous work with Your Everyday Heroes, he has managed to accomplish just that. For example, he shot and directed the inspiring YEDH documentary on Umar Mughal, a graphic...
Spotlighting: Laurynas Buzinskas | Chicago Graffiti Writer | Mural Artist
Your Everyday Heroes has been proud to spotlight the inspiring story of spray paint graffiti writer Laurynas Buzinskas. We were drawn to him not only because of his obvious talent in graffiti tagging, but because of his ability to turn his once-illegal passion into a legitimate career.
We believe that a great deal of...
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