Dr. Folayemi Wilson

Biography

Folayemi Wilson is a Professor and Associate Dean of Access and Equity in the College of Arts & Architecture at Pennsylvania State University. Their work focuses on celebrating Black imagination through object image making, utilizing technology, resistance, and self-determination. As a co-founder and principal of blkHaUS studios, a socially focused design studio, Wilson uses design as an agent of change to uplift and transform marginalized communities. They have been a grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Propeller Fund, and are also a two-time recipient of an individual artist grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. In early career roles, Wilson served as a graphic designer and art director in New York, founding Studio W Inc. that worked with clients such as Black Entertainment Television (BET) and Condé Nast Publications. Their academic positions have included roles at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Rhode Island School of Design, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and California College of the Arts. Recent notable work includes a commission from the City of Chicago for public art related to a new subway station, an essay in 'Expansions' for the 2020 Biennale Architettura in Venice, Italy, and a contribution to the anthology 'Black Experience Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection' (2022).

Research Interests