Cleveland native Isaiah Williams has lived all over Greater Cleveland. Raised in Beachwood, he moved to Lakewood as a young adult and now lives in Midtown. And with the 40 to 50 murals he estimates he’s painted in and around Northeast Ohio, the 31-year-old artist can easily say he’s left his mark in just about every neighborhood.

Although Williams goes by the moniker “Starbeing,” he has grounded himself in his murals, which range from metaphysical to abstract, from biopic to realistic.

“The name Starbeing stuck ever since I was a teenager,” he says. “I’ve always felt connected to the cosmos; I love astronomy. I believe, as a human being, that we are all a part of the solar system—we’re all starbeings.”

Most recently, Williams has been working with LAND studio and the Cleveland Metroparks on an enormous, 300-foot mural, "Emerald Necklace," that wraps across five walls on half a warehouse storage building on French Street in the Flats.

Emerald Necklace muralNestled behind Merwin’s Wharf, the mural depicts different seasons, different Metroparks locations and animals, and nature scenes. “It shows the nature aspect of the Cleveland Metroparks, as well as some iconic features,” he says. The iconic features include the Metroparks Zoo, Edgewater Beach,  Squire’s Castle, and Euclid Creek, among others. The entire painting project took Williams three weeks to paint.

Williams says he’s been artistic his entire life. “I always did really well in art class and had a lot of people who encouraged me to continue,” he recalls. “A group of friends formed an arts and culture group called Lab Cab Cle, where we would push each other, and then I went [to art] full-time and never looked back.”

While water-based acrylic paints are his main medium, Williams says he’s also into sculpture and has made furniture. “I really enjoy [making] coffee tables and bar top tables, and I want to get more into contemporary 3-D art,” he says. “But painting has always been my main focus.”

Williams has done murals for businesses throughout Cleveland, including the Cavs team shop inside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, and worked with several artists on Cleveland Walls in 2021.

Yet Williams will be the first to say the life of an artist isn’t always an easy road to walk. “Not everyone can say they’re a full-time artist,” he says. “It took a lot of faith and hard work to get here.”