Ayokunle Odeleye: A Life Dedicated to Public Art

Ayokunle Odeleye is simply a sculptor and erstwhile pedagogue who presently resides successful Stone Mountain. Over the past 47 years, helium has been commissioned to make monumental enactment each implicit the country, with respective of his pieces are successful the authorities of Georgia. 

He has some a welding and wood workplace to assistance him bring his sketches to life. 

“I bash what’s called nationalist art,” Odeleye said. “A batch of radical deliberation nationalist creation is erstwhile an creator does a portion of enactment successful his oregon her studio, and past they enactment it downtown oregon someplace similar that. That’s not nationalist art. Public creation is erstwhile an agency, oregon arts agency, oregon authorities government, oregon immoderate entity commissions a enactment of creation specifically for a site.”

For the outdoor projects, astir each of the exterior enactment is done successful stainless alloy truthful that upwind elements won’t deteriorate the work. He besides sometimes works successful bronze.

Odeleye, primitively from Fredericksburg, Virginia, started pursuing creation earnestly with the encouragement of his precocious schoolhouse creation teacher. 

His erstwhile teacher was “a mentor to a batch of achromatic kids successful that municipality due to the fact that it was a precise unsmooth municipality for achromatic kids,” Odeleye said. “You speech astir constabulary unit is now, each of that was going connected mode backmost erstwhile I was a kid.”

He started arsenic a creator until helium transferred to Howard University from Virginia Commonwealth University for some his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. He took a sculpting people astatine Howard, wherever helium was introduced to welding.

“A airy came connected erstwhile I started doing sculpture,” Odeleye said. “When I started moving 3 dimensional with my hands. I knew that this is what I wanted to do, and virtually stopped focusing connected coating and started doing sculpture of wood mostly, which is wherefore wood is simply a large portion of my vocabulary.

The archetypal task helium worked connected was for the metropolis of Baltimore aft competing against 30 different artists for the contract. The fund for the sculpture was $25,000.

“Today, to bash thing similar that would astir apt beryllium a cardinal dollar project,” Odeleye said. “But I took that full fund and I didn’t marque 10 cents connected it.” 

He alternatively utilized each of the wealth connected materials to marque a ample piece. He was inspired by past Egyptians to make ample works of art. People were amazed helium was capable to physique a large sculpture connected specified a humble budget, but helium wanted to imitate past Egyptian monuments. 

“This idiosyncratic thing, this Eurocentric signing of your sanction that was ne'er portion of Africa,” Odeleye said. “African artists were collectives, they didn’t motion it; They built worldly for the community, they worked successful groups. They didn’t bash idiosyncratic pieces. So for maine to person the accidental to physique a ample standard portion that leaves my signature that says I was here.”

At Howard, helium was an creator successful residence. He moved to Georgia aft that declaration ended to thatch astatine Spelman. He taught determination for 3 years earlier transferring to Kennesaw to assistance physique a sculpture program. He would spell connected to thatch determination for implicit 30 years.

It was ne'er Odeleye’s extremity to enactment successful education. His information for teaching astatine archetypal was a applicable one. His mentor from precocious schoolhouse suggested that helium thatch arsenic a mode to enactment himself financially.

“I’ve ever made it clear,” Odeleye said. “I’m a sculptor who is teaching. I’m not a teacher who happens to beryllium an artist. I’m an artist.”

With time, Odeleye became bully astatine teaching and was capable to bask it. He inactive has erstwhile students from implicit the years scope retired to archer him however they impacted their lives the mode his erstwhile teacher impacted his.

Odeleye retired from teaching successful 2019. Currently, helium is moving connected 3 antithetic contracts simultaneously. One of which is for The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs for The City of Atlanta. 

It took 2 years for the task to travel to fruition. He had to spell done the process of competing against hundreds of individuals and giving oral and written presentations. He past drew sketches to standard from assorted angles earlier making models and having engineers guarantee his plan could stand.

Once completed, the sculpture volition basal 30 feet tall. He’s besides moving connected a portion for a subdivision successful Atlanta. The 3rd declaration is for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Odeleye plans connected retiring from creating specified ample works of creation aft helium finishes his existent projects. He’ll past absorption connected his wood enactment and smaller passionateness projects.