Chyna Mae

About the Artist

Chyna has been a competitive artist since the age of 5, and she was selling custom paintings to her community by the age of 10. Throughout high school, she continued to develop her skills through lessons from professional artist mentorship, and workshops; and even enrolled in a pre-college program at the prestigious Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). At just 16 years old, Chyna taught herself digital design and quickly secured a job as a graphic designer at Damon Foreman's Music Academy, where she honed her craft and created her first professional advertisements. Her impressive portfolio has been recognized by many organizations, including the Maryland Higher Education Commission, former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, MICA, and Savannah College of Art and Design. After college, Chyna felt a calling to use her art to help others, leading her to create her own brand, "Your Destiny's Dream," in 2015. Through her work, she has helped countless local business owners and artists follow their dreams by guiding them in creating their own brands. She continues to run her business “Your Destiny’s Dream LLC” and offers services for art, marketing, and consulting. Consistent freelancing gigs were hard to come by so she juggled multiple jobs including event coordination, bartending, and assisting her grandmother Barbra Fries (the founder of The Hollywood Ballroom). She later became an event coordinator and worked with a variety of local and notable clients in the entertainment industry. Through collaboration, she has helped throw numerous events throughout Maryland to support local artists. In 2016, Chyna she served as curator and showcases the work of talented local artists through alternative art spaces in local businesses. Some of the notable locations she worked with are Launch Workplaces in Gaithersburg, MD, and Mount Vernon Marketplace in Baltimore, MD. In 2018, Chyna co-founded an artist collective with Renee Taylor to support local artists. In 2020, they officially registered the collective as a non-profit organization called Operation ARTS Foundation Inc., with the goal of growing the creative economy and helping artists become better entrepreneurs. One of Chyna's most significant achievements was her artistic collaboration with Renee Taylor and Daniel Collins, installing multiple LED cloud sculptures called Rainbow Nimbus on 2/13/2020. Together, they created 9 sound reactive LED cloud sculptures at John Hopkins University in the Milton Eisenhower Library for the launch of Silvercloud, a Cognitive Behavior App. She continues to make notable achievements in public art by pushing boundaries defining art. Since 2021, Chyna has been expanding her public art portfolio by creating five Free Little Art Galleries, five Little Free Libraries, one Free Food Pantry, murals, and more. She continues to serve as the President and Creative Director for Operation Arts Foundation and has been an active board member since its inception in 2020. She is also an art teacher for Arts for Learning Maryland, where she teaches arts integration for English and Math to Pre-k through 8th-grade students. Additionally, she is an apprentice to master airbrush artist David Zambrano. Chyna's recent artwork reflects her vast experience and inspiration, as she fuses electronics, interactivity, and light with her unique artistic style. She is a true pioneer in new methods of artistic realization that blur the line between the conventional and curious. Chyna Mae is a striving artrepreneur, and community leader who continues to inspire and empower those around her.