Child Graffiti Artist Makes Her Mark on Walls

Lola Depraetere is only seven-years-old, but that has not stopped her from brightening up a few walls around Bushwick in Brooklyn, and Miami, Florida.

Lola began drawing when she was only three, but now that she is already in second grade, she is ready for projects much bigger than she is. What does she like about painting murals with spray paint? Let her explain in her own words:

“I thought it would be cooler than just drawing on paper. Spray-paint fills up more space than colored pencils,” she said.

She was discovered by Joe Ficalora, the founder of the outdoor gallery Bushwick Collective, in a most appropriate way: while she was drawing on an intricate mural of a church painted by street artist Beau Stanton last May. The Collective invites artists from around the world to paint outdoor murals in Brooklyn.

Lola’s mother Cécile, a teacher at a French pre-school, explained what happened:

“We heard someone yell ‘What are you doing to my wall!’” she said. “The next thing we knew, he gave Lola her own wall, shook her hand and said, ‘Welcome to the Bushwick Collective.’”