Public Artist · Muralist · Painter · Illustrator · Author

Andre Chaney is a Philadelphia-based public artist, muralist, painter, illustrator, and author whose work transforms stories of hope, identity, imagination, and community into bold visual narratives. Working across large-scale public art, painting, illustration, and storytelling, Chaney creates work rooted in human connection and the belief that art can transform both people and place.

His public art and creative collaborations can be found throughout Philadelphia, with projects created in partnership with organizations and institutions including Mural Arts Philadelphia, Major League Baseball and the Philadelphia Phillies, Girard College, Ronald McDonald House Charities Philadelphia, Fulton Bank, Indego, IKE Smart City, KABOOM!, and others.

Early Life & Inspiration

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Chaney discovered art as a language long before words could capture what he felt. His mother recognized his gift early on, encouraging him to draw on anything he could find—from notebook margins to scrap paper—and teaching him that art could be a tool for healing, communication, and connection. Her faith in his imagination remains at the foundation of his creative practice.

Those early years, surrounded by the textures, people, and stories of city life, would later shape his artistic vision: to honor everyday people and the extraordinary moments found within everyday life. Through vibrant color, layered compositions, realism, symbolism, and storytelling imagery, Chaney explores themes of identity, transformation, childhood wonder, hope, and possibility.

Artistic Practice

Chaney's practice bridges fine art, public art, and illustration. His paintings often combine realistic figures with imaginative and symbolic elements—light, plant life, movement, city landscapes, and dreamlike environments—to explore transformation, self-discovery, memory, and the possibilities that exist beyond our immediate circumstances.

As his practice expanded from canvas into public space, Chaney began creating murals, environmental artwork, public installations, and large-scale illustrations designed to become part of the places people encounter every day. Whether working on a city wall, a public plaza, a school, a children's hospital environment, or within the pages of a book, Chaney approaches each project as an opportunity to tell a story and create an emotional connection between people and place.

Public Art & Collaborations

Chaney's growing body of public work spans murals, installations, illustration, placemaking, and civic and cultural collaborations throughout Philadelphia.

In 2025, Chaney was selected as the featured emerging artist for Mural Arts Month by Mural Arts Philadelphia and created the campaign's signature artwork, Where Art Meets Hope. The artwork became the visual identity for the monthlong celebration and later appeared on a limited-edition collaboration between Mural Arts Philadelphia and Mural City Cellars.

His public-art portfolio includes Voyage of Becoming, a four-wall mural installation at Girard College; The Extraordinary & The Everyday, created in collaboration with Keisha Whatley for Fulton Bank in South Philadelphia; Once Upon a Time in Logan at the Logan Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia; and work for Afromation Avenue celebrating the history and legacy of Philadelphia's historic 7th Ward.

In 2026, Chaney was commissioned to design and hand-paint a Philadelphia Phillies-themed Liberty Bell for the MLB All-Star festivities in Philadelphia as part of America250PA's Bells Across PA initiative. His expanding portfolio also includes creative partnerships and public-facing work with Ronald McDonald House Charities Philadelphia, KABOOM!, Indego, IKE Smart City, and the South Street Headhouse District.

Together, these projects reflect Chaney's commitment to creating accessible public art that tells stories, celebrates people and place, and invites audiences to see themselves as part of something larger.

Made2Believe

Chaney is also the founder of Made2Believe, an independent creative and publishing studio built around the transformative power of imagination.

Made2Believe grew from an idea that has long existed at the center of Chaney's work: that even the most ordinary or unideal circumstances can become opportunities for wonder.

A rainy day can become an adventure. An umbrella can become a boat. A living room can become another world. Through children's books, illustration, visual storytelling, and imaginative experiences, Made2Believe creates work that encourages young people to see beyond what is immediately in front of them and recognize the possibilities within themselves and the world around them.

Artistic Philosophy

At the center of Chaney's work is a belief in possibility.

His paintings frequently portray Black subjects as radiant, imaginative, reflective, and limitless while exploring the moments of wonder, growth, joy, and discovery that shape who we become. Light appears throughout his work both literally and symbolically—as a representation of hope, direction, imagination, and transformation.

Whether painting on canvas, transforming a public space, or illustrating a story, Chaney creates with the hope that people will do more than simply see the work. He wants them to feel something. Guided by his mother's wisdom and a lifelong connection to Philadelphia, Chaney continues to build a multidisciplinary practice grounded in storytelling, imagination, legacy, and human connection—creating work that reminds people of what is possible when we allow ourselves to believe.