Jeremiah “Olayinka” Ojo

Founder of Ilèkùn Wa

Brooklyn, New York

Jeremiah Olayinka Ojo is an artist, cultural entrepreneur and community advocate with a passion for empowering and connecting African diasporic communities through visual arts, culture, and creative education 

As a multidisciplinary artist, Jeremiah’s work investigates personal productions of desire with emphasis on both communal acceptance and cultural belonging through space, objects, and ideologies. His artistic work has involved Still Portrait photography, sculpture, and mixed-media assemblages that are inspired by excavating his personal history and transcultural identities. His professional challenges in shifting between commercial work and the contemporary fine art world, coupled with his Masters degree in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art & Claremont Graduate University, shaped Jeremiah’s current efforts in helping artists build sustainable plans for their careers.

As the Founder of Creative Milieu, LLC, a creative professional development enterprise, Jeremiah works with various arts organizations and institutions, guest lecturing and facilitating workshops on career and entrepreneurial development for creative professionals. Driven by his passion for African diaspora visual literacy, Jeremiah also founded Ilèkùn Wa (Our Doors), a tech-enabled management agency facilitating & cultivating opportunities for visual artists of African descent to create, sustain, and thrive.

Over the last decade, Jeremiah has become a sought-after arts and culture management consultant, working internationally in artist career development, gallery management, and arts education. His collaborative work with Black emerging contemporary artists, art institutions, corporations, and collectors has carved a pathway of cultural connectivity throughout the African Diaspora. Jeremiah has forged an alliance of both artist and art galleries in North America, Europe, and Africa working to economically advance the cultural production and consumption within their communities.  In addition to working with independent artists and galleries as a business advisor, Jeremiah has worked with numerous international art fairs including Frieze, VOLTA Basel, The Armory Show, and Prizm Art Fair. Jeremiah is also a lecturer at Columbia University’s Teachers College Arts Administration Graduate Program.

Jeremiah holds a Bachelors in Public Policy- Nonprofit Management from the Andrew Young School of Policy at Georgia State University and a Masters in Art Business from both Sotheby's Institute of Art & Claremont Graduate University’s Center for Business & Management. In 2018 was the inaugural Graduate Research Fellow at the National Council of Arts & Culture in Nigeria, Additionally, Jeremiah was a visiting Critic at the Royal College of Art - London for the School of Paintings 2020 Graduate show. Jeremiah has served on the board of numerous arts organizations including CHOP Art, Black Artist Coalition, Prizm Art Fair, AIR Serenbe Artist Residency and currently, he serves on the Black Art Futures Fund.

When he’s not negotiating deals for artists or staffing the creative economy, Jeremiah finds inspiration in repurposing & capturing found objects on his daily bike rides through his Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.