EDUCATION
2026 CFA: New York Academy of Art, NY
2024 MFA: The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, IL
2022 BFA: University of Ottawa, ON
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
2025 Art Restoration at Van Der Plas Gallery, New York
2024 Production Designer at The Black Sheep Collective. Creating a quilt for sexual abuse survivors. Involves advanced design and textile skills. https://www.cnwmedia.com/article/common-thread
2024 Workshop at The FourtuneHouse Arts Center, Title: Spectrum of Expression https://thevisualist.org/2024/02/spectrum-of-expression-a-workshop-led-by-mesoma-onyeagba/
2023/24 Teaching Assistant at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago Course Titles: Repertoire •Oil Painting •Fashion-Sewing Techniques: Fundamentals •Fashion Construction •Color Theory •Fashion Studio: Delivered clear instructions appointed by the teacher on the creative processes in fashion construction and painting. Demonstrated a strong sense of community, understanding and enthusiasm in the classroom. Provided encouragement and support to students.
2022 Live Interactive Painting at The Drake Hotel, Toronto https://www.thedrake.ca/events/table-drawing-at-the-drake-hotel/
2021 Mural Artist & Graphic Designer at The University of Ottawa
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
2026 Three Quilt Collected by Consulate General of Finland in New York City, NY
2025 Organic Fate Collected by Beth Rudin DeWoody at The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, FL https://www.thebunkerartspace.com
RECOGNITIONS / AWARDS
2025 Exellence in Art Certificate for Ten Moir Gallery
2025 Exellence in Art Award for Light Space Time Gallery
2024 Municipal Art League Fellowship Award
2024 Odyssey Travel Grant Award
2022 Suzzane Rivard-Le Moyne Award
2021 Emerging Artists to Watch, Online edition, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. https://toaf.ca/news-releases/get-to-know-this-years-award-recipients/
SOLO – THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024 From Blue, to Bright, Fourtunehouse Art Center, Chicago, IL Trio Show
2024 The Common Thread Project, Chicago Art Department, Chicago, IL Duo Show
2024 Mesoma Onyeagba, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT Solo Show
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 60th Annual Cain National Show, Joseph A. Cain Gallery Juried by Tabitha Whitley, Corpus Christi, Texas
2026 Everything and Nothing at All, Field Projects Gallery curated by Ivy N. Jones (Welancora Gallery) Chelsea, NY
2026 Good Vibes in Color, Café Littles, Jersey City, NJ
2025 Annual December Juried Show, State of The Art Gallery, Ithaca, NY
2025 Autumn on Orchard, Van Der Plas Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2025 Threaded Realities: Women, Identity & Fashion, The Kota Alliance New York, NY
2025 Under The Influence, Gallery14C, Jersey City, NJ
2025 Sustenance + Survival, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Gallery, New York, NY
2025 August Breeze, Longing for Eden, Van Der Plas Gallery, Manhattan, NY
2025 Zero Art Fair by The Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY
2025 Made This to be Heard, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Online
2025 Percep-ción, BronxNet Tv (Be You Fest), Bronx, NY
2025 Abstracts, Light, Space & Time Online Art Gallery
2025 THREADED VISIONS: Fashion in Art, BWAC Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2025 Women in The Heights: Hair – Untangling Identity, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Gallery, New York, NY
2025 Winged Feet Exhibition & Auction, Hop Arts Center, Massachusetts
2024 Graduate Exhibition, SAIC, Chicago, IL (MFA Thesis Exhibition)
2023 Summer Group Show, Gallery Henoch, Chelsea, NY
2023 Embodied Knowledge, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2023 Black Heritage Month, SAIC Galleries, Chicago, IL
2023 Intense Tactile, Online Edition, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
2023 Color, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL
2022 Annual December Juried Show, SOAG, Ithaca, NY
2022 2nd Annual Juried Show, Art Gallery of Mississauga
2022 Constellate / Consteller at the Department of Visual Arts, University of Ottawa (BFA Thesis Exhibition)
2022 How I Love You, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2022 Summer Lounge, Court Tree Collective, Brooklyn, NY
2022 People Patterns, Gallery 115, Ottawa, ON
2022 The Pique spring edition, Saw Gallery, Ottawa, ON
2021 Visual voices, Online Edition, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair
2021 Le Mapping, University of Ottawa (Gallery 115), Ottawa, ON
2019 Portrait Plates, University of Ottawa (Gallery 115), Ottawa, ON
SELECTED PRESS / FEATURED ARTICLES
Sami Tsang: Made This to Be Heard Curated Collections https://toaf.ca/curated-by-sami-tsang/?swcfpc=1
Create! Magazine https://www.createmagazine.co/artists/mesoma-hammida-onyeagba https://www.createmagazine.co/blog/create-magazine-issue-52-finalists-summer-2025
Bridge Street, abc news channel 9 https://www.localsyr.com/video/sharing-culture-through-artwork/10528179
Yale Daily News, Solo Show ♡ https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/09/12/ely-center-of-contemporary-art-showcases-naturememory-and-cultural-identity-in-three-new-shows/
Business Insider, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/mesoma-onyeagba-mesmerizes-with-delightful-portraits-at-vogue-forces-of-fashion-event-1034325789
Chicago News Weekly, https://www.cnwmedia.com/article/common-thread
1883 Magazine, https://1883magazine.com/amy-sherald-and-beth-rudin-dewoody-add-mesoma-onyeagbas-art-to-their-collections/
FAD Magazine, https://fadmagazine.com/2025/02/10/mesoma-onyeagba-aims-to-build-community-through-art-collaboration/
New Haven Independent, https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/ely_center_embodied_knowledge
Nosy Mag, https://www.nosymag.ca/articles/colours-in-harmony-inside-the-world-of-mesoma-onyeagba
Debaser, https://www.debaser.ca/news/meeting-mesoma
New American Paintings, MFA Annual Issue, https://www.newamericanpaintings.com/issues/165
Vogue Forces of Fashion, https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/inside-forces-of-fashion-2023 Photo: 47/65 by Hunter Abrams Vanguard News Nigeria: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/01/famous-paintings-vogue-forces-of-fashion-mesoma-onyeagba/
