Folayemi Wilson

Folayemi "Fo" Debra Wilson is an American interdisciplinary artist, designer, and academic administrator. Her practice includes work as a furniture designer and maker,[3] installation artist,[4] muralist,[5] and graphic designer.[1] Wilson is the first associate dean for access and equity in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture.[6][7]

Folayemi Wilson
Born
Folayemi Debra Wilson
NationalityAmerican
Other namesFo Wilson
Alma materNew York University Stern School of Business,[1]
Rhode Island School of Design[1]
Occupation(s)designer, furniture maker, artist, curator, writer, academic administrator
Known forgraphic design, installation art, furniture design
MovementAfrofuturism
AwardsMacDowell fellowship (2018)[2]
Websitewww.fowilson.com

Early life and education

Wilson has an MBA degree from New York University Stern School of Business, and a MFA degree (2005) in furniture design from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[4][1]

Design career

In her early career she worked as a graphic designer, art director, and creative director.[8][1] Wilson worked for Essence and YSB magazines.[1] In 1984, Wilson was named the first female art director at Essence magazine.[9] In 1991, she established Studio W., a graphic design studio, building off her professional experiences from work in the magazine industry.[1]

In August 2016, she co-founded with Norman Teague the blkHaUS Studios, a design studio based in Chicago.[7][10][11] Their work was social practice–focused, in order to make public spaces in Chicago more inviting.[11] The blkHaUS Studios' Back Alley Jazz project worked to revive the jazz culture and traditions found in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s; they brought together local musicians, architects and artists to build events and performance spaces.[11][12]

Visual art career

In 1995, Renee Cox, Fo Wilson, and Tony Cokes created the Negro Art Collective (NAC) to fight cultural misrepresentations about Black Americans.[13]

In 2008, Wilson constructed a fictitious, 19th-century style scientific exhibition commemorating Sartje Baartman (also known as "The Hottentot Venus") during a residency at the School of Art + Design at SUNY/Purchase.[14]

Her 2016 installation Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities, was a constructed, full-scale, 19th century, fictional, slave cabin with a cabinet of curiosities full of a 100 items of what an African American woman of this time period may have owned or dreamed of owning.[8][15] Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities was an ongoing, Afrofuturist project and was used as a location for related events and performances; on display in 2016 to 2017 at the Lynden Sculpture Garden in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[15][16]

In 2019, she was commissioned to create public art for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) within the newly built Damen Green Line station.[17][5][18] Her work is in the museum collection at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.[2] Wilson has served on the board of the American Craft Council (ACC).[2]

Academic career

In July 2021, Wilson was appointed as first associate dean for access and equity in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture.[6][7] She previously was the co-director of academic diversity, equity and inclusion at the Columbia College Chicago.[6]

Publications
  • McLaughlin, Beth; Wilson, Fo (2010). The New Materiality: Digital Dialogues at the Boundaries of Contemporary Craft (exhibition). Stephanie Cole (artist). Fuller Craft Museum. ISBN 9780934358217.
  • Wilson, Fo (2013). The Baartman Diaries (Chicago, Illinois: Studio W Editions).
  • Dark Matter: Celestial Objects as Messengers of Love in These Troubled Times (exhibition). Folayemi Wilson (artist). Candor Arts. 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

See also

References
  1. Bateman, Anita; Vendryes, Margaret. "Onward Fo! From Graphic Designer To Conceptual Artist And More". International Review of African American Art (IRAAA). Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  2. "Fo Wilson – Artist". MacDowell. 2018. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  3. Visser, Deirdre (2022-03-16). Joinery, Joists and Gender: A History of Woodworking for the 21st Century. Routledge. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-000-54549-4.
  4. "Conversation: Making Sound". Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  5. Wisniewski, Mary (3 May 2019). "West Side must wait until 2021 for new CTA Green Line station at Damen". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  6. Walsh, Niall Patrick (July 19, 2021). "Penn State Architecture appoints first associate dean for access and equity". Archinect. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  7. "News: Folayemi Wilson named as Penn State Arts & Architecture's first associate dean for access and equity". Best Architecture Masters. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  8. "A Look Inside Eliza's Cabinet of Curiosities". International Review of African American Art (IRAAA). Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  9. Art Direction, Volume 36. National Association of Art Directors, National Society of Art Directors. Advertising Trade Publications. April 1984. p. 8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. "The Chicago Monuments Project Grapples With The Hard History Of Some City Statues". WBEZ Chicago. 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  11. Adamson, Glenn. "The State of American Craft Has Never Been Stronger". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  12. Reich, Howard (March 14, 2018). "Back Alley Jazz Revives a Chicago Tradition". Newspapers.com. Chicago Tribune. pp. 4–2. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  13. "Wilson, Fo. (active Milwaukee, WI, 2010)". African American Visual Artists Database (AAVAD). 2010-09-17. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  14. Wilson, Fo (2013). The Baartman diaries. Carla Williams. Chicago, Illinois. ISBN 978-0-615-67669-2. OCLC 967781217.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. "Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities at Lynden Sculpture Garden". Wisconsin Gazette. 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  16. "Fo Wilson: Eliza's Peculiar Cabinet of Curiosities". Lynden Sculpture Garden. June 19, 2016. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  17. "Damen Avenue at Lake Street transportation facility returns train access to neighborhood". Building Design + Construction (BD + C). 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  18. "New $60 Million Damen Green Line Station Set To Open In 2021, Officials Say". Block Club Chicago. 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
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