Artist Nickoli Bhola was born in Trinidad and Tobago in September 1990, one month after the island's Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt by Yasin Abu Bakr. Turbulent politics on the island influenced the artist's parents to move Nickoli and his infant brother to the United States only a few years later. Nickoli was raised in Queens, New York where he still resides today. His innate drawing ability offered Nickoli the opportunity to attend Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, beginning his formal education in art at the age of 13. After receiving a NYC Art's Endorsed Regional Diploma from FSSA, Nickoli continued his undergraduate education in Arts and Business at CUNY Bernard M. Baruch Weissman School of Arts and Science. In 2019 Nickoli completed his Bachelor's Degree in Visual Art Administration and published his first children's book Jungle Dream. Jungle Dream is now available on Amazon, at the Museum of Modern Art and at Monica's Salon in Corona, New York. Currently, Nickoli is completing an MFA in Illustration at the Academy of Art University.