Release date: July 23, 2007
Kennesaw State artist hosts open studio for new public art project
Contact: Cheryl Anderson Brown, Assistant Director of Public Relations
770-499-3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu
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(Above) Ayokunle Odeleye (Below) One of the new sculptures in progress |
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KENNESAW, Ga.—Kennesaw State University Professor of Art Ayokunle Odeleye has opened his private studios to the public through July 29 to showcase his latest public art projects. Commissioned by Rockland County in New York, Odeleye is completing two 16-foot tall stainless steel abstract figures for Spring Valley Memorial Park in Spring Valley, New York. He is also working on a memorial sculpture project for the City of Wilmington, North Carolina. Visitors to his studio can view both projects before the sculptures are shipped to their respective destinations for installation. Odeleye’s sculpture studios are located at 2542 Young Road in Stone Mountain. The studio is generally open in the afternoons and evenings, but guests are asked to call 404-210-0746 to schedule a visit.
Ayokunle Odeleye has worked as a professional sculptor for 31 years since receiving a master’s degree from Howard University in 1975. His studio specializes in the creation of large-scale sculptures for public spaces primarily in the media of metals and wood. He has created public art for cities across the nation from Atlanta to Alaska.
Odeleye is also an arts educator. He has taught art at Howard University and The Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington D.C., and at Spelman College and Georgia State University in Atlanta. Currently, he is a professor of art at Kennesaw State University, where he has taught sculpture and a variety of art classes for the past 17 years.
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A member of the 35-unit University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive‚ residential institution with a growing student population approaching 20‚000 from 132 countries. The third largest state university in Georgia‚ Kennesaw State offers more than 60 graduate and undergraduate degrees‚ including a new Doctorate of Education in Leadership.
The KSU College of the Arts is one of only four Georgia institutions to have achieved full national accreditation for all of its arts programs.