Mia Lee

In January, visual artist Mia Lee traveled to Ghana, accompanied by two fellow South Siders: Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa. The rappers were putting on the inaugural Black Star Line Festival, a celebration of the global Black community. The trip was the culmination of Lee’s collaboration with Chance on “Yah Know,” his 2022 single. She had created the cover art, featuring her interpretation of multigenerational storytelling within Black families: A couple looks ahead as a house burns behind them — a Blacker, modern, and more colorful version of American Gothic. Lee even figures prominently in the accompanying video, which shows her working on the piece. The Chatham native, 31, uses art to tell the story of the Black diaspora, her vivid and contrasting colors conveying its rich culture. She knows a little something about the subject: Her family is from Roatán, a small island off the coast of mainland Honduras. (“The Caribbean is so colorful and I’m really inspired by color,” Lee says.) Her frenzied style, reminiscent of 1970s neo-expressionism, has drawn the gaze of more than just Chance. She has designed capsule collections of genderless clothing — including sweaters, shirts, and silk scarves — for Urban Outfitters and Nordstrom and fleecewear for Nike’s Jordan Artist Series. Says Lee: “I want to be known for putting my art on anything and everything.”