Lola, The Young Vandal

Lola Glass is just like any other 8-year-old kid living in Brooklyn. She loves writing stories and going to Coney Island. And she loves skateboarding.

“I just got a new board. I do lots of ramps,” she says with excitement.

But unlike other third graders, she is also a Vandal. Or at least that is how the story began a couple years ago.

“When I was 6, I went to visit the Bushwick Collective and I had a [paint] marker. I drew on one of the walls and then Joe [Ficarola] saw me and said ‘what are you doing?’. But then he gave me my own wall and showed me lots of art and artists. I painted my first wall at the [Bushwick Collective] Block Party when I was 6.”

Lola's First Wall at the Bushwick Collective (Age 6)

Lola started drawing when she was three years old. Shortly thereafter, she started to do stories and comic books.

Now, she does murals.

Since that first fortuitous year, she has been in the company of world-renowned artists, getting a first-hand education in street art and its many beautiful forms. Some of the artists who inspire Lola include London Kaye, Jerkface, Danielle Mastrion, Sipros, Franck Duval, Lolo Ys, Dasic Fernandez and Chorboogie.

Aside from painting in Brooklyn, she was also invited to paint a wall in Wynwood, Miami during Art Basel for the Bushwick Collective.

Lola's Wall in Miami (Age 6)

Last year, she was back at it in Bushwick, painting a character she created, Increditoro, a mashup of the Disney superhero family, The Incredibles, and Totoro, a forest spirit created by artist Hayao Miyazaki. Her wall was a big hit with fellow artists and fans alike.

Lola's Wall at The Bushwick Collective (Age 7)

This year, at the age of 8, with more skills in her back pocket, she will be showcasing a portrait of that Vandal turned Street Artist, Lola the Illustrator herself!

When asked if she had anything else she wanted to tell our readers: "I don't know. I think what I paint is what I want to say."

To check out her work in person, head to The Bushwick Collective at Troutman and St. Nicholas in Brooklyn. And if you're lucky, you just might meet the young Lola, if she isn't busy getting tips from some of her fellow artists, or giving a few tips of her own!