ECSU Art Teacher Promotes Artistic Expression for Children
arts, culture, elizabeth city state university, lagos, nigeria, tunde afolayan,
As a boy in Lagos‚ Nigeria‚ Tunde Afolayan discovered he could express his thoughts and feelings on canvas. Today‚ Afolayan is showing others how to find their own voices through the arts.
Afolayan is an artist and art teacher‚ with an equal passion for each.
“I’ve been able to strike a great balance between the two worlds [teaching and creating]‚” Afolayan says. “And I don’t think I can stop until I retire.”
He teaches art at Elizabeth City State University while continuing to produce work known for its complex form‚ rich color and dramatic brushstrokes. Afolayan’s paintings hang in galleries and private collections around the world.
Yet his greatest impact on the local arts scene comes through a third activity: working as a community arts advocate and facilitator.
“He’s amazing in my eyes‚” says Lisa Winslow‚ executive director of the Pasquotank Arts Council. “He’s already done so much for our community‚ making people aware of art and how it can be used in so many ways.”
Afolayan founded ArtsZone Inc‚ a nonprofit project for youth‚ and has also helped develop arts programs for schools.
Some of his greatest success stories arise from his work with students who have enjoyed few successes of their own‚ Winslow says.
“His work with at-risk kids is making a tremendous impact.”
Afolayan got involved with troubled youths when he lived in Atlanta. Partnering with the Fulton County Arts Council‚ Afolayan first worked in a city public housing project then launched an arts program in a juvenile correctional institution.
“We explored art as a way of changing attitudes‚” Afolayan says. “Kids who have problems with reading or writing‚ it enhances their learning in a very powerful way.
“Being able to express themselves in an artistic sense enables them to find their voices.”
Afolayan moved to Elizabeth City in 2002 to teach at ECSU. He has since teamed with students from H.L. Trigg Community School to create a mural that tells the story of the local Dismal Swamp Canal and its role in the Underground Railroad.
His intellectual curiosity piqued by the slave story‚ he has gone on to study the issue in greater detail and is making it the focal point of the “Passage Series‚” his next collection of work.
Finding inspiration in his collaboration with the citizens of Elizabeth City is not an accident‚ he says.
“When you find yourself in a new environment‚ it creates new things to explore‚” he says. “You feed on the energy of those external forces around you‚ and it opens your eyes to a world you never knew existed.”
Story by Dan Markham
Photo by Stephen Cherry
