Street artist on a mission to help children battling food insecurity amid COVID-19

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- Los Angeles-based street artist Kar_Part often creates art as a commentary on society. His latest message involves spreading awareness about food insecurity and helping families who are struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Kar_Part teamed up with ABC7 to design a t-shirt to raise much-needed funds for Southern California regional food banks. The artist gave ABC7 an inside look at his creative process and how he designed the t-shirt.

"When I heard about Feed SoCal, I was eager to leverage my skills and platform as an artist to help spread awareness," Kar_Part told ABC7. "In light of the recent pandemic, a lot of families are really struggling to make ends meet."

The artist's six-layer stencil design for the t-shirt features a child wearing a Feed SoCal bib, highlighting the important message he hopes to spread.

"At the end of the day, it's children who are unable to fend for themselves, who are unable to go to school where they count on their meals, so I knew that I had to do something," the artist said.

Kar_Part used to work as a mechanical engineer product designer, but was inspired to create art as a way to express his growing frustration with our country's socio-political, economic and behavioral conditions.

"Street art is a way that the people are able to effectively communicate with each other, but also create this dynamic sense of togetherness and culture within our society, which at times feels very isolated and fragmented," Kar_Part said.

"And we beautify the heck out of our city," the artist added.

ABC7 will donate 100% of its proceeds from the sale of the exclusive Kar_Part-designed t-shirt to support our 9th annual Feed SoCal campaign.

To purchase a t-shirt, visit ABC7's apparel shop.