Kinsel’s work invites open dialogue by providing insight into community and police interactions. The background text represents collected responses to the prompt, “What do the police say when they see you?” The respondents were African American men between the ages of 15 and 45, living in Pittsburgh’s East End. The foreground displays police silhouettes with excerpts from President Obama’s “Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing” displayed within each silhouette. This layering of text offers a conversation within the mural and strives to broaden understanding.

D.S. Kinsel’s work focuses on themes of escapism, space keeping, urban tradition, pop culture, hip-hop, informalism, and cultural appropriation. Kinsel’s primary practice is painting, but he works in a variety of additional media, including window display, installation, action-painting, non-traditional performance, and social media. Kinsel is the co-founder of Boom Concepts, and he works with youth, community artists, and community partners in order to identify ways for youth to express issues of social justice through drama, dance, music, visual art, and technology.