Ryan “ARCY” Christenson is taking street art to the next level. He’s known for his large scale art he creates for communities all over the world, and for organizations like the Smithsonian, Major League Baseball, the National Parks Service, and Disney. He’s changing the name of the game, and using his art as a platform for education and change.

Born in Connecticut in 1989, ARCY was a nature artist from a young age. With his close proximity to the city, he gained a fascination and admiration for graffiti art, but did not decide to pursue it as a career until 2012. He’s since found a way to incorporate his love for nature and the outdoors in his art, as this has been the inspiration for many of his pieces around the country.

ARCY Live! Started in 2015, with a tour around North America. ARCY began painting 8-foot by 12-foot murals around the country in front hundreds- to thousands- of spectators, over the course of a day. He now travels internationally to share his live art with communities. Each piece he creates exhibits his particular style, which is a crossover of traditional graffiti, with bright splashes of color mixed with traditional photo-realism. Each mural connects back to the community that it was made for, and it’s 3D appearance brings the painting to life for onlookers.

Over the last few years, ARCY has had the opportunity to work with organizations around the world to bring art into untraditional spaces. In Washington state, ARCY painted five different murals, each one dedicated to a different endangered species. By creating murals connected to nature, it serves as an opportunity to educate people through art. Along with this, the aim of his larger murals are to encourage the youth in that community to aspire to accomplish their greatest dreams.

ARCY continues to tour each year, going to new cities and displaying his talent for thousands of people to see.