Antonio “Shades” Agee holding up a student’s artwork STEPHANIE BATTAGLIA
Shades acknowledges what might be considered a unique situation, given his commercial success in the urban art: “I’m blessed. I’m an artist. People are paying me for what I do with a God-given talent. So there’s no problem with me giving back,” the graffiti artist said, chuckling. “Any child that gets to see anyone of success doing art … is awesome. Kids love that.”