about
Oluwadara (Dara) Ojugbele is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural worker born, raised and working in New York. Dara’s paintings, drawings, collages, and animations are comprised of rhythmic, scattered, and in-between compositions that often feature mystical symbolism, patterns, flora and fauna, sacred objects, and narrative elements that are wacky, surreal, or speculative. Driven by self- and communal reflection, her practice centers on free-flow narrative building, ancestry, ecologies, and epistemic reclamation to explore relationships between heritage, environment, and inner and outer being. Her curatorial practice further studies these themes to highlight a diverse range of expressions within African diasporic life. Dara is a recipient of a Kossak Fellowship Grant and Vermont Studio Center residencies for painting. She has co-organized film and cultural events and series presented in collaboration with the African Film Festival, Inc., the Museum of Modern Art, Film at Lincoln Center, Maysles Cinema, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, among others. Dara holds a BFA from Hunter College. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Social & Environmental Justice Studies at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and is a 2025–26 Social Practice CUNY Fellow.
