Artist & Contributor

Artist Mike McNeilly was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1953. His family relocated to Los Angeles and his promise and passion for art became apparent at an early age. Inspired by images of Hollywood and the California culture, Mike took the modest art set gifted to him by his father and started painting at the age of six.
In 1969 Mike moved his art to the urban landscape and began his “Street Art” phase, painting murals on building walls throughout Los Angeles. Mike painted the iconic Marylin Monroe portrait on the corner of La Brea and Hollywood Blvd. as well as the Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix mural one block south of Hollywood Blvd., also on La Brea. His artwork has appeared at the Los Angeles Museum of modern Art (LACMA).
As he continued to hone his artistic skills and unique style as a painter, he also developed an eye for photography. Now ensconced in the LA scene he found opportunities as a photographer among the young creative community and began adapting his artist’s point of view through the eye of the camera. By 1973 Mike had become an increasingly in demand professional photographer. His prestigious client list included Macy’s, Bullocks, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and many others. His celebrity clientele has included Sharon Stone, Iman, Rene Russo and Christie Brinkley.
In 1983 Mr. McNeilly saw the landscape of outdoor advertising changing in larger urban cities and became the originator of the Super Graphic, multi-story mega graphics and founded his company SkyTag. His entrepreneurial endeavor paid off as SkyTag went on to become the premiere super graphics company in the United States, creating murals for major studios including Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Fox, ad agencies and major corporations.
Mike activated his art and influence, addressing issues of social justice by using his Super Graphic format to launch his PSA campaigns entitled “Lethal Art” and “Art Attack.” These were 12 story high graphics that dealt with life and death issues facing society. The campaigns included:
• No Glove. No Love! - a safe sex message
• Thou Shall Not Kill – to raise awareness of people being murdered every 22 minutes
• Stop the Violence - a three paneled mural at the foot of the Lincoln memorial
• Liberty – a campaign to honor our veterans
• Children of the Night – a campaign worked on in conjunction with Dr. Lois Lee to stop child trafficking
• Liberty Best Water - worked on in conjunction with Robert Kennedy JR
• 9 -11 Mural - honoring our first responders
Creating these powerful images to raise awareness and encourage action brought him national and international media coverage from ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, E! Entertainment, MTV, Good Morning America, CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and USA Today.
Excerpts from the Los Angeles Times:
• “Art as a weapon: Los Angeles provocateur Mike McNeilly Likes to ‘Grab Someone by the Jugular’ and Say ‘Think’” Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1992
• “Artist Fights for Giant Mural” Los Angeles Times September 26, 2001
In 2014 McNeilly gifted the Inglewood City Hall an original painting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He continues to seek new opportunities to share his art with the larger community in an effort to raise both funding and awareness for causes close to his heart. Currently Mike is working at his X Space Studios in Burbank, CA on his upcoming PSA campaign, Liberty for the Homeless. He continues his tireless, decades long work as an artist, building upon his portfolio of traditional and mixed media paintings, sculptures and large-scale assemblage art pieces.