• Super Admin
• 08 Mar, 2026

Abiodun Olaku is a master artist. He is a painter who has put in over four decades into studio art practice. He is one of the founders and trustees of the Universal Studios of Art, Iganmu, located within the precincts of the National Theatre, Lagos. He speaks to Edozie Udeze on why the USA was established and how they have been able to make the place a training hub for all manner of artists. The Universal Studios of Art (USA) Iganmu, Lagos, has been in existence for the past decades. Established primarily as one of the hubs of private studios practice in Nigeria, the founders also use the outlet to train and help and mentor young and less privileged artists. These young artists or those who want to become apprentice artists come from far and near places. Most of the student interns come from different higher institutions to get exposed to the real ideals of studio art experience and practice. Over the years therefore these students have come to be the best they can in their profession. Some have even risen to the level of winning awards locally and globally. Abiodun Olaku is one of the founders and patrons of the Universal Studios of Art. He has been there from the inception. He has seen and participated in the grooming, training and indoctrination of many artists who have passed through this tutelage. In an interview with The Nation, he explained the genesis and the goals of USA. He said, "I am a member of board of trustees of the Universal Studios of Art, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. I am also one of the studio artists here. My main area of focus is painting. What we have been doing here is to give support and assistance to the younger artists. Students come from different higher institutions to do their industrial training here. Some come as youth corps members also with background in fine arts or industrial designs and so on. So, we mentor them. We prepare people also for professional training, people from different art institutions. We have some set of programmes that usually accommodate any one who has just basic interest in fine arts, those who wish to become professional fine artists. So we groom them and help them to secure admission into higher institutions. "We also help them, where necessary, to get their 'O' level papers that will help them secure admission into schools. Through that intervention, the skills in them are well polished and put in readiness to become what they want to become. In addition, we host students from all over Nigeria who have to acquire their field experience before they graduate. These include students from colleges of education, polytechnics, universities, public and private. Any institution that offers visual arts, their students can come in here to be so properly groomed. This place has the total wherewithal in terms of facilities, space, manpower, professional and seasoned fine artists to train them. It is what we have volunteered to do to assist the profession to grow and ensure the younger ones get it right from the word go". "We are often in touch with schools. And we encourage them to come here to have those necessary exposures to be able to practice the profession better. Here you encounter practical realities of visual arts. Students from the polytechnics benefit more for they spend one full year for the industrial training. Students from the universities spend less. Some stay for 3 or 6 months. After that we also have programmes for fine art graduates who come in here as interns. So, we can of course put them through some rigorous practical training. Some even during their NYSC come in for more and better exposure", he said. The truth of the matter is that USA is like a market place of arts. In fact, it is a marketplace of all that make visual arts attractive. Right from the gates to the studios, what you encounter shows you that artworks breed, hibernate and resonate here. The art of woods, carvings, iron and steel. Metals, images, figures, masks. Clay pots, painting, woodworks, all, litter the arena. Studios are everywhere. Artists, old, young, experienced, inexperienced hover within the premises. Artworks are hung in places. Some stand in fullness as if commanding you to pay attention to them. It is a beehive of studios of everything visual arts and the owners keep busy all day, all months, all year round. The busyness of USA has become infectious. Once you enter there, arts permeates you without allowing you space to breath. Masks of different hue would stare you in the face. Images of people, figures of all styles, shapes and forms beckon on you. It is like a house of antiquities or a museum of artefacts where all manner of art works inhabit. It is usually a glowing, glorious moment to be in USA to behold artworks in their best epitome and reality and forms. Olaku continued: "Those who come as NYSC members we blend their experience as corpers with what they learnt in school. Then we are also available to help them navigate the challenges they have as fine artists. Some of them come here with different challenges that need our professional touch to ease them off. For those of us who have practiced long enough, we share the experience, we give them template with which to overcome the challenges and move on. We teach them how to maximize their potential. In addition, we have a programme for people from other professions like Engineering, Banking and so on who come here to learn. Some have natural penchant for visual arts and they want to develop and hone it. We also help to trim and put them in proper shape. Some of them are already big people in their respective professions, yet they also wish to be visual artists. We take them on; we train them to be more proficient and more committed. "So these are what we have been doing over the years. However, on a personal note what some of us have noticed is that the issue of current happenings in the social media space has taken its toll on the level of commitment from the students, or shall I say, the younger artists. "What we get as feedback from this generation is that they do not need mentorship. They assume to know it all. Or they prefer or feel that you do not need to grow through the ranks to become a better or bigger artist. They see this issue or self help that exists now as the fastest way to reach stardom. The social media account or when they feel they can see works on the internet and copy and become big overnight. Nothing is original to them any more as long as you can copy someone's works or download to make it your own. It is a big problem. But what we keep saying to them is that no big and sincere artist grows by being artificial or by being cosmetic. "The fact that you graduated does not mean you have got the capacity, whether technical or experience or intellectual. You need to be guided by those who have been there before you. This is what we try to let them know. Unfortunately some consumers of art works or those out there have helped to contribute to the impression that life is on the fast lane. You do not need to be in the profession and grow as it were. They have the impression that once you are out of school, you can immediately blow your own trumpet, create your niche and so on. Even today, we have plenty of artists who did not have formal or informal inductions who are big. It is so because the industry is not guided by any set or rules or constitutional rules. So, it is easy come, easy go. But that is not good enough. "We need to be guided by set of conducts backed by law so that we can safe-guard some certain principles. It is good to moderate some certain framework in the industry. You can't be a lawyer, for instance, without passing through some processes. Or become an architect overnight without the professional set of rules and regulations. We need that also in the visual art profession. The industry is too big to be left without a professional set of rules to guide it and make the people conform". Source: https://thenationonlineng.net/in-universal-studios-of-art-we-make-artists-more-professional/