THE ARTWORK OF IBIYINKA OLUFEMI ALAO Art and Design
Visit my work in person!
WVIA PBS NPR Documentary
Kaila and I are honored to be featured by PBS for this American Dreams documentary. During the live broadcast, we'll unveil a new Art and Science museum center project in Pennsylvania. Tickets are free. If you are interested, register here:
WELCOME TO Our First CREATING PEACEMAKERS Event of 2025
October 1, 2024 Book Launch
"my fireflies: memories of my childhood" official book launch
I am happy to announce the official launch of my new book, "My Fireflies: Memories of My Childhood." It is an old story, but this is the first time I am writing it for publication with a conglomeration of my own paintings, words and illustrations. It is really an art book which I hope children and adults alike will enjoy. The official launch date is October 1, 2024 which will be available in both eBook and paperback versions, but you can pre-order the eBook version now from Amazon. Click the button to pre-order now!
Follow my author page on amazon
Upcoming book launch and signing event
"my fireflies: memories of my childhood" book launch and presentation by ibiyinka alao
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2024 | 6:30PM - 8PM
CommUnity Zone
328 Market St.
Lewisburg, PA 17837
570-713-7479
FREE and open to all ages | RSVP by clicking the button below
The CommUnity Zone in collaboration with Bucknell University Dance Program present:
My Fireflies: Memories of My Childhood Book Launch and Presentation by
Nigerian/American and UN Ambassador Ibiyinka Alao.
Ibiyinka Alao is an artist who won 1st place amongst 61 countries in the prestigious United Nations International Arts Competition. He is an arts ambassador who, along with John Lennon, is one of only five artists whose work is recognized globally as presenting the original UN charter for peace. His paintings are colorful with deep impact on the beholder, so much so that when the iconic American Painter Andrew Wyeth encountered them in 2005, he remarked "Thank you Mr. Alao for making me reflect on the universal language of art." Last Spring, he was artist in residence with Bucknell University's Dance and Biology departments, Griot Institute and the Samek Art Museum at the end of which his Firefly story was interpreted as a new piece for the Spring concert at the Weis Center. Since then, Ibi (as many call him) and his wife, Kaila have gotten to interact more with the Lewisburg community by working with us here at the CommUnity Zone and other organizations this summer. The Susquehanna River Basin has very similar characteristics to the Niger River Basin of Ibi's youth in West Africa and that is why they plan to move here for continuous engagement by establishing their home and a new Science and Art institution in town. This will be their first presentation to the community since the Bucknell residency and they hope to share their "passion for using art as a river to water human hearts so that we may grow to know peace." - The Smithsonian Institution, October 2003. This event will also be the official book launch for "My Fireflies: Memories of My Childhood," the original story by Ibi which was previously written by elementary school students in Pennsylvania and published by Scholastic under the title of "Ibi's Fireflies" after winning the grand prize of their Scholastic Kids as Authors writing contest in 2016. The story was first made into a painting in 2006 and is the basis for a new Musical Theater. The artwork and story have been used successfully in Art Therapy for mental health, for creating peacemakers and building community.
NEW PAINTING: MEMORIES OF MY CHILDHOOD
How is it that we keep looking for things we have not lost?
BLACK HISTORY MONTH GUEST SPEAKER. JIM THORPE, PENNSYLVANIA.
MY FIREFLIES MUSICAL THEATER AND PAINTING
February 24, 2023.
They say if you write about events in your life you can't control, it helps to make them understandable. I cannot tell how all these things happened last week in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, but I know that some wonderful things were hidden from the learned, and revealed to the innocent.
Guest Speaker on Art Therapy
CREATING PEACEMAKERS
Eternity in our Hearts Art Institute was a guest speaker at the Missouri Reentry Conference 2022 from November 2 to 4. It was a wonderful conference with over 450 people and organizations in the fields of rehabilitation of prisoners and corrections having a chance to network and look into how art helps
Ongoing AIR:
A SUPERNOVA OF FIREFLIES
Summer/Fall 2021 and Winter/Spring 2022
I am traveling across the United States as the Artist in Residence at such places as Bucknell University in PA, North West Arkansas and the Performing Arts Center in Orange Beach, AL. My Musical is being performed in front of the Painting I made about it.
About Me
My Background
My Inspiration
My Background
I am an artist. As a little boy, I enjoyed catching fireflies and looking up at stars. They fascinated me. Whenever I look up to the sky, I made pictures out of stars by connecting the dots in my mind.
My Medium
My Inspiration
My Background
I use many different mediums, such as water color, acrylics, oils and tempera. I believe that working in a single medium is restrictive to my artistic process. Each idea manifests in its own individual style.
My Inspiration
My Inspiration
My Inspiration
E. Bamisaiye Alao, my father, had the sort of majestic presence ascribed to a king. But when he smiled, it was as if a sunrise had blazed through the cracks of his gaped tooth, making his face magnificent. He enjoyed just being himself. Dad is my only hero and he inspired me to be the artist I am.