Empire built on encouraging words

Mentorship is Yisa Akinbolaji’s purpose.

It’s a role that came naturally for the decorated visual artist, who grew up in Nigeria as the eldest of 13 children, and a responsibility he aims to pass on to others.

“The talent that was embedded in me would’ve been wasted if I didn’t find others who were not selfish, who mentored me,” he says, seated in a busy studio outfitted with cameras, computers and art supplies.

Akinbolaji, 65, is the founder of Creative Foundation, an organization that runs after-school programming in the arts and technology out of a small strip mall in St. Vital. The space is new, but the concept is not.

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Akinbolaji tapped into an innate love of art as a child in the late 1960s, when he and his siblings were forbidden from playing outdoors amid the Nigerian Civil War.

“During that period I would illustrate the stories that my grandma told me with any objects I could find, like charcoal from my mother’s firewood. That’s where the experimentation started,” he says.

Art was an enjoyable pastime until a chance encounter at his first job as a bank teller in Lagos. Akinbolaji was sketching to pass the time between customers when a man approached the counter and noticed his drawings.

“He suggested to me to pursue an art career. I didn’t know what I could get from art,” he says.

In spite of his parents’ wishes, he followed the stranger’s advice and enrolled in art school — a decision that would lead to a debut exhibition at the Nigerian National Museum, international acclaim and prestigious teaching and lecturing positions.

Akinbolaji — a multimedia artist whose work is inspired by his Yoruba culture — was teaching art at a local boarding school when the seeds of his future foundation were planted.

“I was in that school for eight years and it was not only fine arts that I was teaching the kids, it was how to succeed in life, doing your homework, time management, self-discipline,” he says.

He launched Creative Foundation in 1994 with the goal of inspiring young people to reach their full potential with artistic workshops and wide-ranging seminars led by accomplished speakers.

For Akinbolaji, connecting youth with positive role models beyond their parents and teachers was more important than following a strict curriculum.

He experienced the power of external mentorship first-hand as a defiant teenager when a neighbour encouraged him to start thinking about his future.

“It was the same thing my parents were telling me, but I realized that when I was spending more time with my studies and my investigations, I was doing better in school and I was enjoying doing better. That’s exactly the kind of thing I want to multiply, so that we can have more happy people,” he says.

Akinbolaji continued making art and organizing foundation events in Lagos until another fateful encounter, this time with a laptop owned by an art collector.

“He told me, ‘This is the tool of the future, you need to know how to use it.’”

There were few computer-training programs in Nigeria at the time, so Akinbolaji looked abroad and moved to Winnipeg, where an uncle was living, to attend Red River College Polytechnic.

He planned to return to Nigeria after graduating, but had second thoughts. There was political unrest at home and electricity was being rationed.

“Common sense was telling me, ‘Yisa, now you know how to use a computer. If you go back there, there is no light for you to even use it,’” he says with a laugh.

Instead, he set down roots in Winnipeg — a decision that would lead to Akinbolaji being recognized as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2023 for his artistic achievements and community leadership.

Between volunteering with local arts groups and making inroads as an exhibiting artist in a new city, Akinbolaji was keen to bring the Creative Foundation to Canada. He found classroom space at Red River and has hosted workshops and lectures at his alma mater for hundreds of high schoolers over the last two decades.

The pandemic forced Akinbolaji to find a new home and Creative Foundation opened its own St. Vital studio in 2023.

Today, the charitable foundation runs evening and weekend classes in visual art, coding and web design for kids aged 10 to 16. The goal is to teach useful hard skills and mentor important soft skills, such as communication, leadership and even good sleep habits.

“It’s more than tutoring,” says Garry Green, owner of Framing & Art Centre.

Green was initially struck by Akinbolaji’s colourful, kinetic artwork and invited him to exhibit in his shop. Shortly after, he was convinced to join the board of Creative Foundation by the organization’s gregarious, determined leader.

“I liked the fact that here was this humble artist who was trying to go back to his community and helping young kids excel and accelerate their learning. His strength of character has been inspiring for me,” says Green.

This weekend, Creative Foundation and Africanad co-host a talk with Dr. Fola David, a Nigerian medical doctor, artist and Guinness World Record holder.

Last year, David sketched a 1,000-square-metre artwork, entitled The Unity of Diversity, on a soccer pitch in Lagos to create the world’s largest drawing by an individual.

“I always look for talent that will help amplify my message,” Akinbolaji says of his philosophy for selecting speakers.

“Fola David is very successful. If two, three kids can listen to him, it could really change their lives.”

The event is Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Creative Foundation, 1615 St. Mary’s Rd. Visit creativefoundation.org for more information.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com