A group of black and brown artists sharing their reality with protests and Black Lives Matter Movement

CHICAGO, IL (WLS) -- Black and Brown artists from the Chicago-land area are spreading messages of unity as well as their experiences with the Black Lives Matter protests, one stroke at a time.

"The painting behind me represents being true to yourself. The person has a crown over their head. The crown for me represents being powerful," said artist Barrett Keithley.

Keithley's work can be seen in the Chicago Loop area, his canvas being plywood from boarded up businesses. He said sharing his perspective through his work is vital for unity.

"If you don't, you can't expect someone who doesn't share the same reality as you, to empathize or sympathize with your plight in life," said Keithley.

The artist is co-founder of Paint the City that consists of mostly black and brown artists. Their goal is to fix the community by beautifying the destruction around town.

"For us its almost like a visual protest, just creating empowering, inspiring messages that do support the black lives matter movement," said Missy Perkins, co-founder of Paint the City.

Paint the City was only created a week ago. In that short week, the artists have collaborated with several businesses all over the city.

All the artists doing this on their free time with their own materials. Paint the City has created a GoFundMe account to help the artists buy the materials they need to continue spreading uplifting messages.

To help, visit their page https://www.gofundme.com/f/paint-the-city.