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After a ten-year
career in banking, Biodun Omolayo decided to change course and pursue
his first love: Arts. The fact that he had no formal training in Fine
Arts beyond his secondary education in Imade College, Owo, did not
deter the Performing Arts graduate, who had in the course of his
banking career, been earning a side income from producing art works.

Soon after resigning from his banking job, he enrolled to study General and Graphic Art at the Yaba College of Technology.

“I decided that
since I did not study visual arts, I needed to return to school. I
considered Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the University of Ife,
but I had to give up the idea of either because of distance,” he
explains.

During the course
of his degree at Yabatech, Omolayo established an outfit, ‘Specifics
Ventures’, which specialised in furniture design, calendar, card and
poster design and production. After graduating, he also established the
Biodun Omolayo Art Gallery and a few years later, introduced the
children’s art initiative, ‘Young @ Art’.

“When I started the
gallery in Ikeja, I realised that my journey into arts would have been
shorter if I had had someone to guide me,” the artist reflects.

So, starting with
his own children and those of friends, he began Young @Art with just
nine children. The training encompasses artistic creativity, such as
painting, bead making, sculpting, ceramics, origami, card design, as
well as theatre and dance.

To Omolayo,
“Creativity is more than drawing and painting. It cuts across all
phases of life. Lessons in creativity teach children to think out of
the box.”

He describes the
training as very dissimilar to the formal environment of academic
learning: “It is not a furtherance of what they are taught in school.
Here, they get introduced to different areas. We teach them to be part
of the solution, rather than the problem. We encourage them to impact
their peers positively and to manage people and relationships.”

Through the eyes of a child

Recalling the
occurrence that inspired Young @ Art, Omolayo says that while he was
establishing the Biodun Omolayo Gallery at the National Museum, Onikan,
“a man came to me and asked why I had spent so much money on the
gallery when people do not really appreciate art in Nigeria.
Immediately he left, a little girl walked in and spent two hours just
admiring the works before asking if it was possible for her to learn to
produce something like the works on display.

“I thought to
myself, there was the adult, thinking about money without appreciating
the art, while the little child was really inspired by it. It occurred
to me then that I needed to do something for people like that
seven-year old.”

And Young @ Art,
which runs for seven weeks during the long holidays, has in six
editions, grown in size to a formidable population of about 50 children
in the two centres.

Working with
children now takes priority over the artist’s other involvement, as
according to him, “Everything else stands still for this programme. I
feel fulfilled, I feel appreciated, and it has given me a niche. Now,
when you mention children’s art programmes, the first thing that comes
to mind is Biodun Omolayo.”

Young dilettantes

On his training
resource, he says he insists on the best art material and does not
skimp on cost, despite the fact that the children are mostly young
dilettantes.

“You need to see
the quality of the art materials we provide for the children. Now, they
know the difference between oil and acrylic and can differentiate
between brushes. They can use pallet knives, and they know what priming
is all about.”

With the success of
the programme, Omolayo is taking his initiative of educating children
in the arts to admirable levels with his registration of the Young @
Art programme in the just concluded International Art Expo.

“When I got a booth
here, I decided to get one for them too, and they have been responsible
for operating the place,” he says with pride.

Despite these
efforts though, Omolayo considers that Young @ Art still has a long way
to go in propagating an appreciation for the arts.

“Sponsoring less privileged children would be a start,” he says, “but proximity remains a problem.”

An alternative he
devised to involve children whose parents ordinarily would be unable to
afford the training is the Young @ Art event held at City Mall, Onikan
on Children’s Day.

“We spent about 1.8
million naira on that day; and had about 450 children who participated
in the programme for free. We had to employ 65 tertiary students as
programme facilitators,” he recalls, while expressing hope that Young @
Art can replicate the feat in future.

Lack of sponsorship

The one challenge
the programme faces, however, is a continued lack of sponsorship,
although Omolayo hopes that the situation will improve soon with the
likely support of a multinational company.

He reveals also
that, “we are talking to the Lagos State government about establishing
more centres.” He further praised Governor Fashola of Lagos State as a
role model. “He is one of the most creative governors we have had in
Nigeria. And I point him out as an example to the children when I tell
them that leadership is about service,” says Omolayo.

This class of 2010

This year’s Young @
Art programme, which admitted children between the ages of four and 16,
culminated in an exhibition that held September 4 at the gallery, in
Onikan. Omolayo maintains that there was no selection of the children’s
best works, explaining that, “The programme is not academic; everyone’s
work is the best. Prices are moderate, but we want children to be
appreciated. Last year, a piece went for about 7,500. This year, it
went for 10,000.”

Revenue from the
works will be split between the children and the organisation, and
Omolayo advises that parents let their children get hold of the money
from the articles sold. “Let them know that for their creativity, they
have earned this particular amount,” he declares.

Omolayo’s love for
children and his enthusiasm to develop their artistry is infectious. He
opines that teaching children art does not just require teaching skills
or a degree in art, but a genuine love for the children and a
willingness to pass your knowledge to them in the most pleasant of
ways. He concludes that facilitators who work with him usually “get
infected with the love I have for the children.”

The children mirror Omolayo’s emotion as, in a chat with NEXT at
their booth at the recently concluded Art Expo, they extol the
personality and efforts of the artist whom they fondly call ‘Uncle
Biodun’. According to Damilola Akindele, one of the oldest students,
who had been involved in the training for the third year in row, “Uncle
Biodun encourages you to do what you love to do. If you can paint, he
gives you loads of canvas. It’s fun.” Ten year old Osemudiamen Okozie
also remarks that the artist gives them confidence to “use our
imagination to create new things that will develop our environment.”