Nov. 6, 2006 — Internationally known artist, designer and native son Ademola Olugebefola will arrive on St. Thomas Wednesday as part of a group of artists touring the island for the day.
Olugebefola and the group will arrive on the MS Noordam. The artist was born on St. Thomas and raised in New York. He maintains ties to the island and has a permanent section at the Mango Tango Art Gallery, which the group will visit at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Several years ago, Olugebefola painted on St. Thomas and exhibited with Rhoda Tillett at Tillett Gardens, said Mango Tango owner Jane Coombs. "That was the only place to exhibit in those days," Coombs recalled. He now has a permanent section devoted to his work at the gallery.
"Having him showing in the gallery now raises the bar," Coombs said. "He is an oil painter, a water colorist, a collage artist. His line etching on glass shows the movements of dancers. It's one of his works that traveled with a Smithsonian exhibition. That means that probably 300,000 people have seen it."
Olugebefola is widely collected, and his work has been published in hundreds of books, catalogs, magazines and newspapers. It has also been featured in major museums, universities, galleries and on television in the USA, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and Japan. His paintings, graphics and mixed-media work are shown extensively on the Internet.
For a look at his paintings on the web, click here. Artists accompanying Olugebefola on the tour include jazz and blues musician Emme Kemp and playwright and director Passion. Aboard the Noordam, Olugebefola collaborates with Passion in work on "Drama Mamas," a documentary that celebrates the work of black female theater directors.
The tour was arranged by Equator3 Tours owners Latifah Chinnery, formerly of the Education Station, and Verl Thomas, Olugebefola's brother.
The performers will appear at the Mango Tango Gallery from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Noordam docks at Havensight at 7 a.m., departing at 6 p.m.
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