MEET OUR MURALISTS
WHITNEY KERR III
Whitney is a Kansas City native who accepted a scholarship and received his BFA with an emphasis in Painting from Memphis College of Art. Whitney is currently fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a professional muralist. In his 7-year career, Whitney has painted murals in a number of cities across the United States, and multiple countries abroad.
whitneykerrpaints@gmail.com
MIKE TRUJILLO
Mike was born and raised in Los Angeles but has lived in Kansas City, MO the last few years. He is a traditional Sign Painter and studied for two years at Los Angeles Trade Technical College in Sign Painting/Sign Graphic. He spent another two years in the Art Institute of Los Angeles for Animation and Graphic Design. Mike worked for a few of the top mural advertisement companies in LA for over 5 years. His role was helping to paint large scale advertisements for a variety of big name brands. Mike has been painting murals for 10 years now. After meeting Whitney, he decided to move to Kansas City to expand his art career and to help start The Arts Dept.
JEREMY BENA
Jeremy Bena was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri. A graduate of the Art School at UMKC, Jeremy studied sculpture and painting. Jeremy worked alongside The Arts Dept on over a dozen projects and was involved in the Kansas City Art scene. He had a studio at the Bunker Center for the Arts, which features two large-scale murals painted by himself on the exterior of the building. Jeremy was a huge part of building The Arts Dept. and was a dear friend to all of us and many others.
Jeremy passed away on November 28th, 2021. Jeremy was a brilliant mind, friend, artist, lover, and human being. He was innovative in his paint handling process, original in his execution and inspiring to the Kansas City Art Community. He is missed dearly and with each new project we’re blessed to work on we hold his memory close. We love you, BIG WORM!