Nevaeh Ryals

Nevaeh Ryals is from Montgomery County, PA and is a painter who works in acrylic, oil, and mixed-media. She received her BFA Degree from the University of the Arts. She has exhibited in the UArts 2024 Fine Arts Thesis Show, showcasing her Black figural paintings in the IceBox Project Space and her mural on Broad Street in front of the University of the Arts. Her works allow the audience to peel away the layers of gentrification in Philadelphia, and reveal the Black culture that laid the foundation of what Philadelphia is today. She is a 2024 recipient of the Victoria McCallum’s BIPOC Painter Award and Ernest W. Greenfield Annual Memorial Award in Painting. Her current artwork revolves around the untamed memories Black figures hold in the urban areas of Philadelphia and how those memories help reveal the truth of the city’s identity to those who believe in the gentrification movement happening now. By presenting the existence of lost buildings and homes in the Black communities, Nevaeh hopes to bring cultural knowledge to the new Black generation with her work. To allow them to see the history that was surrounding their homes before the act of neglection and destruction took place.

Through painting Black figures, applying mixed-media, and incorporating 3-D materials, Nevaeh's objective is to introduce the topic of Black historical memories becoming lost to the future Black generation due to gentrification movements happening within Black communities. Her work questions the audience on the true identity of Black neighborhoods and what we should embrace when learning about Black cultural buildings that were built in the city. Appalled by how some Black culture has been destroyed and forgotten in Philadelphia, Nevaeh incorporates personal memories and/or memories shared throughout all Black culture in her paintings because it’s vital to show the life lessons from the past and connect them with the present. She presents the history that surrounds young black generations' homes because it assists them in finding their own identity. Whether she discusses the topic of churches, abandoned theaters, recording studios, or her own family’s home, Nevaeh places extra layers of content with images and text, to complicate what seems to be a straightforward painting into a heartfelt topic in Black culture. One day, she hopes for a Black child to see her artwork, and feel a sense of power because they were raised in a Black neighborhood that matters today. 

PA