On the Street and in the Studio with LNY Layqa Nuna Yawar is an artist based in Newark, NJ, known internationally for his large-scale, community-based murals. His work often centers the complex narratives of BIPOC communities throughout the world. We recently visited Layqua in his studio to hear the tale of this multidisciplinary storyteller. Tell me about the beginnings of your relationship with visual art and your journey as an artist. I was born in Equador, and immigrated to the United States when I was 14. In high school, I was always drawing, but I planned to study psychology. Then, I took an art class my senior year, and realized this was something I could do.