Nnenna Okore

Straddling art, research, and teaching, Nnenna Okore engages ecological problems through her arts-based participatory practice. She has been involved in numerous environmental art projects and exhibitions designed to produce research, dialogue, and artmaking about current waste issues. Largely deriving inspiration from her natural surroundings, Okore creates delicate works of art using biodegradable materials like bioplastics, cheesecloth, and fibers to engender awareness about sustainable practices in the art field. Nnenna Okore has a BA from the University of Nigeria in Nsukka (Nigeria), an MA and MFA from the University of Iowa in Iowa City/IA (USA), and a Ph.D. from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She is a Professor and the Head of the Art Department at Chicago’s North Park University. Her works have been exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City/NY (USA), the Spelman Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta/GA (USA), the Museu Afro Brasil in São Paolo (Brasil), the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis/TN (USA), as well as the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland/OH (USA), among others, and have also been included in the Bruges Triennial (2021), the Chengdu International Biennial (2021), and the inaugural Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennia (2024).