Khaliik White's Break-Time Drawings Take Over Philadelphia City Hall
Security guard Khaliik White kept a sketchbook beside him at Philadelphia City Hall. Now his intricate drawings fill an exhibition in the building's fif...
By Weston Deboer
November 7, 2026 · 2 min read
For the past two years, Khaliik White has worked security at Philadelphia City Hall with a sketchbook close at hand. He draws during breaks, building dense worlds from colored pencil, black-and-white pathways, blocks, spirals, figures, and architectural fragments. Coworkers began noticing the work; now those drawings hang in the building he helps guard.
Councilmember Rue Landau first saw White sketching near City Hall's northwest entrance and encouraged the habit, even giving him a set of colored pencils. As more colleagues encountered his complex, layered drawings, Landau's office began organizing what became White's first exhibition, A World of Lines.
Drawing as a way forward
White is originally from East Orange, New Jersey, and now lives in Philadelphia's Tioga neighborhood. Before working at City Hall, he spent years pursuing voice acting. Surgery to remove his thyroid changed his voice and disrupted that career. After a period marked by alcoholism and housing insecurity, Philadelphia's Ready, Willing, and Able program helped him begin recovery and find stable work.
He started sharing drawings online in 2022 and kept working despite early ridicule. The process is improvisational rather than planned: he begins with pencil, follows the emotion of the moment, and lets patterns accumulate. Recovery, unhoused Philadelphians, and the pressures of contemporary life all filter into images that reward close, prolonged looking.
A World of Lines is displayed inside Councilmember Landau's office and in the case directly across the hall on the fifth floor of Philadelphia City Hall, Room 592, through November 13, 2026. Upper-floor visitors enter through the northeast visitor entrance and pass through security.
Follow White's work on Instagram at @beyonder_75. Watch and read the original report from 6abc Philadelphia, with additional reporting from The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visitor information is available through Creative Philadelphia's Art in City Hall program.
Featured image: Khaliik White holding one of his drawings at Philadelphia City Hall. Courtesy of WPVI/6abc.
