David Najib-Kasir is a contemporary oil-painting artist. His work consists of personal narrative and cultural histories or events. Kasir recognizes much of his work as an act of coming to terms with the challenges of family, life, love, and loss. In particular, recent work portrays his parents’ migration to the U.S. from Syria and Iraq (respectively). Kasir employs his paint and designs to inform viewers on recent wars in the Middle East and North African regions. By using beautiful traditional Arab designs, called Zellige, to dress the figures in his work, Kasir shows the beauty of a culture and the tragedy as families try to hold on to it and hold on to each other as everything around them falls apart. Kasir has a BFA in painting from Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design from 2001.

For WaterMarks, David painted a mural on the north-facing wall of the Beerline Connector building along the Beerline Trail at Keefe and Richards.