by Emily Glimco, Communications and Marketing Coordinator, June 2021Addison resident Taiwo Owoniyi is always working on something, whether it’s his art, his music, or his job as a CNA. But when he has the chance, he seeks out the library.
“Most of the time if I’m sitting at home I have to do all the things that need to be done, but not what I want to do. The library always comes to my mind as a place of inspiration. A place that you go to acquire some knowledge and wisdom,” said Owoniyi. “You know that when you come to the library everybody has something to gain.”
On his library visits, Owoniyi enjoys reading or browsing for new ideas in the stacks. One day in late 2019, he got much more inspiration than he had been expecting: he stumbled upon an art class being held in the library’s Creative Studio.
“I usually come to the library not for painting or for art, but on this fateful day I said ‘Okay, there’s a little class going on,’ so I said ‘let me peek and see what’s going on, just to see,’” said Owoniyi.
Owoniyi arrived just in time for the class to start and was swiftly welcomed inside. The instructor set him up with a canvas, paint brush, and acrylic paints, then gave the first sets of direction to the class: first the horizon, then the sky, then the landscape.
“When I’m painting, I can close my eyes and imagine what I’m going to paint. So I used my own imagination to paint the tree and painted it in my own way, giving it some movement,” said Owoniyi. “When [the instructor] came back around she said ‘You’re an artist!’ and I said ‘No, I’m just listening to what you’re saying.’ Later she came back, saw my work and said ‘You must be an artist,’ and I said ‘Yes, but I’m just trying to express myself, not show off.’”
But soon, Owoniyi’s skill was impossible to hide when the instructor asked each student to put their work on display.
“At end of class, she put [my canvas] in line with the rest and said ‘We have an artist here,’” said Owoniyi.
Owoniyi is no stranger to oil paint, ink, and pastel, but he had never painted with acrylic paints before taking the library’s class. Experimenting with a new medium inspired him to jump back in to painting, which he had put aside during his time working in a printing house and doing graphic design work.
“The last time I painted had been maybe 7 years ago, so after what I did in that class, it really motivated me to move back to painting,” said Owoniyi. “When I left the class I went to the art shop and got some oil paint, canvas, frames, and started practicing.”
A few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, but Owoniyi never stopped painting. He set up a studio in his home and even joined three local art leagues—Naperville Art League, La Grange Art League, DuPage Art League—to practice even more. In May 2021, Owoniyi brought in one of the paintings he made from a Naperville Art League painting prompt to the library and told his story about the class that inspired him to start painting again. The piece he showed to library staff is called “When the World Sleeps” and shows an eclipse of the moon. “When the eclipse comes, the world becomes so dark. I imagine that even the moon closes its eyes to sleep,” Owoniyi said. “When the moon sleeps, everything sleeps.”
Any time he isn’t painting, Owoniyi is working on his music. Owoniyi is a gospel musician who has released an album and a number of songs through his enterprise, Toga Music Ministries Int.
“Before the pandemic I was writing this song about Jesus calling everybody back home to accept him, and I was thinking that I’d like to send a message to everybody, not just people who can speak English,” Owoniyi said. “We have a lot of Spanish speakers [in the Addison area] and I don’t speak Spanish, so I thought music would be one way to reach out to everyone.”
When Owoniyi decided to translate part of his song into Spanish, he turned to the library for help translating his verse and soon connected with Adult Services Associate María del Carmen Cifuentes, who helped him translate his lyrics.
“Tai would regularly come to work at the library, and I met him after he asked at the desk if someone could get some help him with Spanish for a project. He explained he was translating on a song verse he had written,” said Cifuentes. “We worked on some of the phrasing based on the rhythm of his music and also worked on the pronunciation. I enjoyed learning about Tai’s creative process as well while we worked together.”
While his bilingual gospel song is being saved for a future recording, Owoniyi is excited about the project and was glad to have gotten the help he needed from Cifuentes.
“Even sometimes I sang the song the way it was supposed to be and she was able to sing it back, in Spanish, which really helped,” said Owoniyi. “If she didn’t sing it out, there’s no way I’d be able to get the song word for word. She really helped me out.”
Cifuentes, too, was glad to have connected with Owoniyi to help with his song translation and hopes the community finds their own creative spark at the library as well.
“He reconnected with his love of art through our Creative Studio, and he’s now sharing his talent with the community,” said Cifuentes. “I hope hearing Tai’s story will encourage the community to explore all the library has to offer. They may just find inspiration for their next creation or the start of new learning experience."
And what advice does Owoniyi have for fellow artists who may be struggling to find their spark?
“You can’t give up on what you learn. I’m the kind of person that when I start something, I don’t want to let it go. I just want to see it to the end and see what it’s going to be,” said Owoniyi. “Whatever your passion is, make it happen. Have the determination to do what you love to do. You don’t give up on your talent, your gift. Never give up.”