Stella Idiong Art Gallery — A Place After her Name

_{Picture of Stella Idiong Art Gallery front view}

You feel a sense of belonging. Damn. You walked into elegance just to admire how talented people can be. You keep asking yourself, am I a spoon? Is this where our cultural heritage is preserved? The ambience was giving. I kept staring till I was called to question. Are you an art lover? I replied, Yes, it's just that the place I'm standing just feels like an ancient modern carve where we get to see stories we have heard in art.

This place wasn't in existence as of the time I started my journey at the University of Uyo. When was it built? Let me tell you what I was told and what I used my eyes to see.

Have you had a legacy built on your name? This is what happened, and this is the reason why this place isn't named after the school but a person who I'm about to describe. Professor Stella Bernard Idiong is her full name but shortened as Stella Idiong to make the legacy she kept in the institution as the first female professor of fine and industrial arts in Nigeria, a feat no one has beaten.

_{First Fine Art Gallery in Uniuyo}

10 years after her death in 2008, the art gallery was established and commissioned by the then governor of Akwa Ibom State because his wife is the daughter of the late Stella Idiong. This gallery was built by her family to retain and create a lasting impression in the art and minds of the students and teachers. She's defined in her arts even though she's dead physically.

The immortalisation of her legacy as a creative icon and a scholar was upheld in this innovation. On the 28th of January, 2018. It was built. How come I wasn't aware of this building? Thanks to steem-atlas. During its commissioning that day, the gallery held an inaugural exhibition where one of the most celebrated artists in Nigeria, Bruce Onobrakpeya who donated an artwork to the gallery. Other students in that department did the same.

_{The Art Gallery and parking lots}

Why did I say it's new to me? Because I'm used to the old fine art gallery at the town campus of this university. I've attended a couple of exhibitions by students who display their artworks in a grand style. This was one of the exhibitions I was present at and witnessed, though I wasn't on Steemit then and my old phone got flashed. All memories I captured were gone, but the memory in my mind is still fresh.

So this particular fine art gallery has stood the test of time, though it's archaic now with less modernised arts, as it has been transferred to the Stella Idiong art gallery at a permanent site. So while this remains in check, most of the artworks kept her before the existence of the new gallery are being transferred to the new, making this place more like a past tense, though still in use. The migration of most artworks to the main gallery started a year before the commissioning, and the faculty itself is currently there.

Founded by the family of Prof. Stella Bernard Idiong in honour of their mother's legacy in the school, the art gallery is located at the permanent site of the University of Uyo, Nigeria, which makes it a university-owned art gallery operated by the staff at this university. It is also a government-run art gallery, as the University of Uyo is an institution under the federal government of Nigeria.

The management

Being owned by the school doesn't make just anyone manage the art gallery. This art gallery is managed by the Department of Fine Arts, the department of the late professor whose legacy is held up high in this building. Senior lecturers and art scholars have served as part of the management team, as not one person directly manages the place, and every 4 years, there are changes made in the administration. The names of these scholars aren't directly stated except for the known late founding figure who was an artist and an educator.

The structure of this building looks more like a concave building hidden in the desert as one of the world wonders. ** Let's start with its rooftop, which is part of the building designs. It's not built with ordinary roof sheet materials to avoid exposure to wind, which may take it off balance as it's in an isolated place. The rooftop has several gables and an elevated section as the centre. Each gable has windows that reflect light rays into the building.

_{The rooftop}

The architectural style is quite impressive, as it's one of the most outstanding buildings on the campus. It's kind of slightly bent with curved pillars in front of the building as though these pillars were bones. This is where they have their entrance, with a protection mounted at the main gate entrance to prevent unauthorised access when not in operation.

_Entrance

There are no ticketing areas or signs, as it's not a cinema or theatre. It's accessible to everyone as far as your purpose of visit is stated, and you limit your taking of pictures. I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the interior. So I did it in code.

_{Side view of the gallery}

They have no outright waiting areas, as it's just deserted in a lonely place in the university, covered with grass, though the exterior aisle is where people use to access the main entrance. There are no gardens or fountains, but definitely, there are a few statues in the exterior. I made a video of some of the statues, as I couldn't cover a wide number due to the grasses. **In their former art gallery, there are lots of seating areas for both students and lecturers.

There's even an outdoor area for the celebration of known exhibitions by students. It's centralised a few kilometres from the old gallery. In this old gallery are visible and enlarged statues with names of students written and the date of exhibition. I took pictures with one of the statues at the Stella Idiong art gallery.

_statue

It's a modern artistic gallery with its interior as heaven. The ambience in its interior is so captivating that you'll feel you've arrived. The walls are modern and screed with white paint. The lighting is too notch; there are white and brown lights high above the POP covers which reflect and make this place a place of contextual and architectural design.

_{The interior}

The air-conditioners are well mounted, and there are no outright seats, as you're there to view artworks. There are a few seats for the elderly and infirm, stationed by the management. Cleanliness is 100%, and the beautiful decorations from the arts make it even more appealing.

I've personally been to the arts gallery, but I've not attended an exhibition in this particular arts gallery. It was in their former location I attended an exhibition. The major exhibition they had was at the end of 2023, where important personalities came to admire students's arts. I actually interacted with a staff member in the arts gallery. She was friendly, though very cautious; she told me not to capture people's arts. The cultural display of my country is shown on certain artworks featured in this arts gallery.

The only supporting facility here is their restroom for staff and offices. They don't have cafés and the likes of them. Only seniors or superiors can make use of the restrooms, as others would have to leave the gallery to do so. The offices aren't accessible to anyone except students who come in there to place artworks under the supervision of their HOD. They may give rooms for the disabled, but I'm not aware of such at the moment.

This arts gallery offers services like guided tours if external bodies come for excursion purposes. I can remember a secondary school in my city came to visit the art gallery to admire artworks and also learn from the paintings therein. This excursion is guided by a staff member or two in the gallery. Artist meetups aren't done here, as there are no seating areas, but such is done in their old arts gallery. Workshops too are held in their old arts gallery, though they have a couple of studios here.

There are no tickets to entering the art gallery. It's free for all who want to have a good glimpse. Event schedules are clearly communicated and sent across to the whole institution, both the annexe and town campuses. Since it's not directly a business firm, the need for customers isn't ideal. They have arts admirers who come there on a private level or as students in the institution to do research and also meditate on certain things. Communication and security are held in place to avoid art theft.

In all, Stella Idiong Art's Gallery is one of the best art galleries the University of Uyo has ever had. This is a great feat for them. It's one of the best in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria as a whole, if not the best, and it would interest you that all the artworks there are from students and scholars of the university, no external bodies. Below are a few specifications.

I invite @sampson01, @whitie and @vickyson