VILLAGER

b. Lagos, Nigeria 

currently lives and works in Baltimore, MD

Education:

University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD

2021- 2022 MS in Marine Estuary Environmental Science


Towson University, Towson, MD

2020 BS in Environmental Chemistry, minor in Biology

Residencies + Awards:

2025 - Baltimore Mayor's Office Individual Artist Award, Baltimore, MD

2025 - Inaugural Kaleidoscope Mural Retreat Artist, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Free Fall Baltimore Grant, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Maryland State Arts Council Grants for Artists Award, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Black Arts District Community Sponsorship Grant, Baltimore, MD

Artist Talks and Guest Lectures:

2024 - Visiting Artist Lecture, Gouache and Paint, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Visiting Artist Lecture, Architecture, Urbanism, and Built Environments PhD Dissertation Circle, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Facilitator, HAVE FAITH- with HOPE McCorkle and FAITH McCorkle, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Artist, OHUN ÀṢẸ, Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower 

2024 - Panelist, Kreative Keynotes, Vinyl and Pages, Baltimore, MD

2023 - Panelist, Holiday on Holliday, Baltimore City Hall, Baltimore, MD

2022 - Artist, Chesapeake Arts Center, BUSH BOY!, solo exhibition Artist Talk

Selected Performances:

2025 - Bon Secours Community Center: Black History Month, Ancestral Thanks

2025 - The Compound, (MASTER)MIND

2025 - Morgan State University, Emperor King Bishop Ensemble, Djembe & Vocal accompaniment

2024 - The Peale Museum, THE POWER OF CHOICE 

2024 - Creative Alliance, All the words I haven't said - keyboard, FX, and vocal Accompaniment

2024 - Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, Pheonix in the Portal

2024 - Creative Alliance, Bahia Meets Baltimore: A GENTE Fundraiser

2024 - Maryland Art Place, Spiritual Ginger

2024 - THE ROUSE COMPANY FOUNDATION GALLERY, THANKS THANKS THANKS,

Professional Development:

2025 - Inaugural Kaleidoscope Mural Retreat Artist, Baltimore, MD

2022 - Mural Painter, Project Backboard, Patterson Park Basketball Courts

Solo Exhibitions: 

2024 - Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, ÀṢẸ: Embodying the Divine, Baltimore, MD

2022 - Chesapeake Arts Center, BUSH BOY!, Brooklyn Park, MD

Duo Exhibitions: 

2025 - Creative Alliance, STARS & PORTALS, Baltimore, MD (June)

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2025 - Southside Contemporary, Diasporic Crossing, Richmond, VA 

2025 - Quid Nunc Gallery, Afro Futurism: Rooted in Tomorrow, Baltimore, MD

2025 - Atrium Artspace, HARD TO NAIL, Baltimore, MD

2025 - Gallery Reimagined, Self-care Through Art, Baltimore, MD

2025 - M&T Bank Exchange, Unveiling Equity, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Riggs & Leidy Gallery (MICA), B24 Artscape, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Papermill Playhouse, AFROFUTURISM: 100 years after the Harlem Renaissance, Millburn, NJ

2024 - Artspace Vigidal, Sou(l): Mostra de Arte Afro-Diaspórica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2024 - Waller Gallery, Just Among Us, Baltimore, MD

2024 - SGK Virtual Gallery Space, Heritage & Harmony: Black Artists Shaping Futures, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Alchemy of Art, Illuminating the Unseen, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Motor House, Category is Red, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Accelerator Space, Baltimore Art Auction to Benefit Love & Cornbread, Baltimore, MD

2024 - M&T Bank Exchange, Unveiling Equity, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Chesapeake Arts Center, Creative Freedom: Celebrating Black History Month, Brooklyn Park, MD

2024 - THE ROUSE COMPANY FOUNDATION GALLERY at Howard Community College, MOLASSES, Columbia, MD

2024 - Motor House, TRUCE | The war in the world | The war within, Baltimore, MD

2023 - Baltimore City Hall, Holiday on Holliday: Baltimore’s Mosaic of Holiday Hope & Harmony, Baltimore, MD

2023 - Max Gallery, The Awakening, Baltimore, MD

2023 - Superchief Gallery LA, BLAQ SHEEP, Los Angeles, CA

2023 - Gallery 410, We Create By Being, Baltimore, MD    

2022 - OCA MOCHA, Full Scope, Baltimore, MD  

2022 - OCA MOCHA, Embodying Empowerment, Baltimore, MD

2022 - Motor House, Learning to Love As I Do, Baltimore, MD     


Auctions:

2024 - Calabar Gallery NIGERIAN ART AUCTION in collaboration with TAAG Gallery, Nike Art Gallery, USA, Lagos Art Shows, NYC


Community Engagement + Facilitation:

2024 - Stage Hand, dancing with my shadows: a journey to self-discovery by HOPE, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Guest Juror, MORGANNALE STUDENT WORK EXHIBITION, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Creative Consultant, ARCH 305: Design and Human Behavior, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Facilitator, CONVERSATIONS IN CANVAS with Kehinde Applewhite, Gallery 410, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Facilitator, CONVERSATIONS IN CANVAS with BlissArmyKnife, Mezzanine Gallery, Bromo Seltzer Tower, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Facilitator, CONVERSATIONS IN CANVAS with Adewale Alli, Baltimore, MD for CONVERSATIONS IN CANVAS, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Lead Facilitator, RHYTHMS AND RECONNECTION, Bromo Seltzer Tower, Baltimore, MD

2023 - Lead Facilitator, Cyanotype Workshop, Nomu Nomu, Baltimore, MD

2023 - Installation Assistant, Heaven is in Baltimore, Eubie Blake Center, Baltimore, MD

2022 - Volunteer, Nomu Nomu, Baltimore, MD

2022 - Facilitator, Community Art, Paint, Filbert Street Garden, Brooklyn Park, MD    

Curatorial Projects:

2025 - Guest Curator, Rooted in Time: Africa's Past, Present & Future, Wazobia Arts and Culture Festival, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Guest Curator, HARD TO NAIL, Atrium Artspace, Baltimore, MD

2024 - Curator, ÀṢẸ: Embodying the Divine, Mezzanine Gallery, Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, Baltimore, MD                                                   

Press and Publications:

Baltimore Banner, The artist VILLAGER creates rituals of remembrance with ‘AfroAbstracture’ in BOPA exhibit, Angela N. Carroll

NUNAR, VILLAGER’s Art Ignites an Expansive Vision of African Identity, Jamilah Scott

NjArts.net, Afrofuturism exhibit at Paper Mill Playhouse is also concerned with the past

Bmore Art, Annie Howe, VILLAGER, Maryland State Archives, 

Baltimore Banner, Artists exchange between Baltimore and Brazil highlights Black culture, 

BmoreArt Calendar, ÀṢẸ: Embodying the Divine” – solo exhibition by VILLAGER

Baltimore Office of Promotion and Arts,  Artscape, B 24 Exhibition 

Actuality, Perception of self                                                                

7: the magazine by Ethan Velez          


* denotes upcoming status