About
Lola Ayisha Ogbara (b. 1991) is a Nigerian-American artist and curator from Chicago, Illinois. She earned a BA from Columbia College Chicago and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. Ogbara explores haptic (sub)conscious frameworks, utilizing the body form, as well as its absence, to contemplate the complexities of emotion, belonging, looking/seeing, labor, time, and space through sculpture, installations, time-based media, and curatorial endeavors.
Ogbara’s work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, QTR: A Journal of Trans and Queer Studies in Religion (Duke University Press), the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art Journal, and Whitewall. Notable exhibitions include a recent solo exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as exhibitions at the Studio Museum of Harlem, The Luminary, Kavi Gupta, Kemper Museum, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Hyde Park Arts Center, and Elmhurst Art Museum. Awarded residencies and fellowships, including the Arts + Public Life at the University of Chicago, Alfred University, ACRE, Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist Residency, and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, among many others.
Ogbara continues enriching the contemporary art landscape, striving to create meaningful connections and facilitate transformative introspection through art. She is currently based in Chicago, Illinois.
Ogbara’s work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, QTR: A Journal of Trans and Queer Studies in Religion (Duke University Press), the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art Journal, and Whitewall. Notable exhibitions include a recent solo exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as exhibitions at the Studio Museum of Harlem, The Luminary, Kavi Gupta, Kemper Museum, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Hyde Park Arts Center, and Elmhurst Art Museum. Awarded residencies and fellowships, including the Arts + Public Life at the University of Chicago, Alfred University, ACRE, Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist Residency, and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, among many others.
Ogbara continues enriching the contemporary art landscape, striving to create meaningful connections and facilitate transformative introspection through art. She is currently based in Chicago, Illinois.
︎: leaux@lolaogbara.com
CV
Image by Silvia Ros
Speaking Engagements & Dialogue
Panelists (from left to right) Erol Scott Harris (Artist), Lola Ayisha Ogbara (Artist + Center), and Armani Howard (Artist) in conversation with exhibition curators Vic Mensa and Chanelle Lacy at Kavi Gupta(far left and right).
I speak at universities, museums, cultural institutions, conferences, and arts organizations on topics including:
• Interdisciplinary art and conceptual practices
• Ceramic craft and sculptural methodologies
• Curatorial equity and community-centered arts management
• Black visual culture and spatial politics
• Sound, memory, and embodied ways of knowing
• Creative labor, rest practices, and artist sustainability
Whether through lectures, class visits, panel discussions, performances, or workshops, I aim to cultivate thoughtful, rigorous, and inclusive conversations that invite participants to engage deeply with form, history, and imagination.
Selected Speaking Engagements
My past engagements include presentations, visiting artist lectures, performances, and panel contributions at institutions across the country, such as:
2026
- Visiting Artist Lecturer, Columbia College — Chicago, IL
- Spatial Poems: Panel Discussion, MASS MoCA — North Adams, MA
- 4x4 Screening and Talk, Museum of Contemporary Art — Chicago, IL
- Visiting Artist: Ceramics, School of the Art Institute of Chicago — Chicago, IL
- Haus: An Introspection of House Music…, Chicago Architectural Biennial — Chicago, IL
- Freedom’s Muse, Logan Center for the Arts — Chicago, IL
- Black Visual Culture / Black Visual Life Symposium, University of Rochester — Rochester, NY
- Visiting Artist Lecture, Alfred University — Alfred, NY
- Black Space: Architectural Historiographies & Spatial Landscapes, SSCAC — Chicago, IL
- A Promised Land on the Horizon, South Side Community Art Center — Chicago, IL
- isinmi: a performance of rest practice, The Luminary — St. Louis, MO
- Hues of Black & Blue Artist Talk, Hyde Park Arts Center — Chicago, IL
- Light Work: Black Art Practice in Contemporary America, Logan Center — Chicago, IL
- Moments In Between Artist Talk, Hyde Park Arts Center — Chicago, IL
- Blackness and Belonging…, Neubauer Collegium, University of Chicago — Chicago, IL
- Visiting Artist Lecture, Washington University Seattle — Seattle, WA
- DADAH Film + Art Lecture Series, Webster University — St. Louis, MO
2019
- If It Wasn’t for the Woman: Reimagining Portraiture…, St. Louis Art Museum — St. Louis, MO
A full list of engagements can be found in my CV.
I am available for:
• Studio visits & Artist talks
• Keynote lectures
• Performances
• Panel discussions (as a panelist and moderator)
• Classroom visits
• Workshops
• Curatorial conversations
• Interdisciplinary dialogues across art, design, sound, and social justice
If you're interested in inviting me to speak or collaborate, please reach out through the contact page or email me directly. I look forward to building thoughtful, transformative experiences together!