about | LvL Up Kid

Leila Youssefi (LvL Up Kid) is an Iranian-American artist and environmentalist. Through public art, painting, and community enrichment, Leila takes a multi-disciplinary approach to troubleshoot solutions for our multi-faceted world. Using dialogue and research as a foundation, Leila creates prismatic, layered compositions which seek to offer an alternative reality of how we envision our future. Leila is on the Board of Directors for the Human Relations Council of Santa Monica, a Women Business Enterprise of Los Angeles, and a California Arts Council Fellow. Leila has lived and worked between California and Berlin, and is currently based in Los Angeles.

EDUCATION

University of California, Santa Barbara

B.A. Painting, College of Creative Studies, 2018

B.A. Environmental Studies, 2018

RESIDENCIES

2024 18th Street Arts Center - Guest Artist in Residence

2023 National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis (NCEAS) - Artist in Residence

GRANTS, AWARDS, CERTIFICATIONS

2024 Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) - Pre-Qualified Muralist Roster

2022 City of Los Angeles - Women Business Enterprise (WBE)

2021 California Arts Commission - Individual Artist Fellowships Grant

2021 Center for Cultural Innovation - Quick Grant