Inspired to make an impact in people’s’ lives, senior Aramis Nolen said he plans to pursue a career in art.  

“I like to change peoples lives somehow someway. That’s my purpose,” Nolen said. “I don’t have a clear plan yet but I just feel like if I get enough tools I’d be pretty set. It would be easy.”

Nolen said his work remains unique and long-lasting for a period of time.

“I spray paint because it is a different way of expressing different feelings that you can’t really show in certain places. When you spray paint some of the work is there for either a couple of years, a couple of months,” Nolen said.

According to Nolen, he spray paints with permission on a building in North Minneapolis and his work is mainly public and open to be viewed by anyone.

“I spray paint in North Minneapolis by Hooks and right by US Bank and Broadway. (The building) is a little shop and people could drive by and see it,” Nolen siad. “(The art) could affect their mood and people say “oh that’s cool” and can make them happy or make them sad. It can be powerful.”

Senior Kayron Robinson, a friend of Nolen’s, said Nolen used his art skills to design a pair of shoes for him.

“(The shoes) were all white and blue and I didn’t want them to be the same as everyone else so basically I had him paint some of the parts black and I got this idea off of the internet so that was cool,” Robinson said. 

According to Nolen, he usually works on his art projects in the summer but is starting to paint less frequently.

“I usually just do it every summer and the whole summer we just go down there everyday and do projects and stuff but now I’m starting to do visual arts stuff so I don’t really spray paint much,” Nolen said.

Nolen said he is skilled in a variety of art techniques and wishes to expand on them.

“I started with random sketches, moved to spray painting and eventually started doing more of design and working with SketchUp and then I started doing art models for architecture,” Nolen said. “Now I am doing visual arts for myself so I can get into animation and have the whole visual arts field in my tool box.”

Robinson said he encourages Nolen and others to do what they enjoy and are passionate about.  

“You shouldn’t want to go to work everyday and not like your job or not like what you are doing so I think that’s a big part of it,” Robinson said.