Maria Ogedengbe

Maria Ogedengbe is best known for Missouri GOURDen, a.k.a. the “GOURDzebo,” a public artwork and cross-community shekere garden. Her “object-based painting” projects for the cities of Kansas City, Missouri and Olathe, Kansas include a hammock wrought from painted canvas and boats with painted sails. Photo-based imagery that makes use of props she creates has been shown on billboards in Kansas City and Chicago. Her work has been awarded First Place cash prizes twice in the Missouri Top 50 at the State Fair Fine Arts gallery. Solo exhibits of Ms. Ogedengbe’s work have been held at the Centro Fotográfico in Oaxaca, Mexico and at the University of Lagos art gallery. Her installation at the Lied Art Center, r-r-ruban vivi, was the subject of a 2023 interview on Spokane Public Radio. Her works, our wife and Calabash Buoys, and artist’s talk were presented at Casa Artom in Venice in May 2024 through Wake Forest University where she recently served as a visiting professor of painting. Ms. Ogedengbe holds an MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale School of Art.