ABOUT THE FOUNDER – PEJU LAYIWOLA

The WYART initiative was borne out of her early life experience. Her mother, Princess Elizabeth Olowu is an artist and as a child she grew up learning a lot from her. Her mother was also involved in art training and as a teacher, she not only taught her students while in school but was involved in several community projects sponsored by the then Bendel State Government to teach women and young girls in rural communities. She also taught art and crafts lessons on television. So as a young girl, Layiwola used to tag along with her mother to teach these women. For her, it was a rewarding experience contributing meaningfully to the lives of these people. They showed gratitude by praying for her and some will even gave her coins as a show of appreciation. Many of them were really poor women – unemployed and school drop-outs. Women formed the majority of these groups she taught over a long period of time. Even though WY art was established five years ago into a structured body, its activities have been on for a long time.
With such a history of a strong tradition in the arts it is obvious that Layiwola did not stumble on art and teaching by chance but has been part and parcel of her growing up from when she was a teenager. As an artist and scholar, Peju Layiwola has distinguished herself in the aspect of research, art practise and more recently the empowerment of women through the WYART initiative which is her pet project. Having produced the first vocational training VCDs in Nigeria, Peju Layiwola says that her mission is

My mission is to "bless people with my God-given talent; to see art being taught in every home and school. I, therefore, call on women to acquire skills because once you have a skill, you can never go hungry. Additionally, as a mother it is so easy to pass these skills to your children. It has worked for me and I think it is a success story." | read more

Why art? Because Art is life and Art is beauty. So we try to put in beauty into the lives of people by empowering them through skill acquisition. Art is one aspect through which Nigeria has contributed meaningfully to world civilization. We have had a rich traditional past and our heritage is of great renown....

The main mission of this Foundation is to empower women and youths, without any discrimination based on class, religion or age. We have trained so many women and youths in local and urban communities and also through religious groups that identify

The WYART initiative was borne out of her early life experience. Her mother, Princess Elizabeth Olowu is an artist and as a child she grew up learning a lot from her. She was always engaged in one activity or the other. She was also involved in art training and as a teacher, she not only taught her students while in school but was involved in several