Brandan Odums to give keynote at 2019 Visual Art & Design Showcase // Mizzou Endeavors

Published on Oct. 10, 2018

Brandan Odums is a highly sought after visual artist and filmmaker who uses these chosen media to tell stories and make statements that transform the minds of viewers as well as the spaces in which his work appears. He will be at Mizzou to deliver the keynote address at the fourth annual Undergraduate Visual Art & Design Showcase, which will take place Feb. 11-15, 2019.

In 2013, Odums completed a series of graffiti murals depicting iconic African-American civil rights leaders at the Hurricane Katrina damaged Florida Avenue public housing complex in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. Given the name #ProjectBe, the space unexpectedly received national attention, bringing spectators from all over to see the art before the deserted complex’s set demolition date.

Following the success of #ProjectBe, Odums came across another abandoned five-story apartment building on the West Bank in New Orleans in 2014 and began working on #ExhibitBe. The completed space was the largest street art gathering in the South, gaining national attention and welcoming more than 30,000 visitors during its three-month opening exhibition.

In 2016, Odums debuted his first solo show in New Orleans in a 35,000-square foot warehouse named #StudioBe, welcoming hundreds of visitors as well as school tours from around the region.

Odums is also the founder and director of 2-Cent Entertainment LLC, a New Orleans-based youth education social enterprise that produces mixed media content and workshops in the overlap between pop culture and social awareness. Partnering with organizations such as Scholastic and Better World Books to give away tens of thousands of books to local youth, 2-Cent serves countless youth in New Orleans.

Large mural on building — Brandon Odums uses art to transform abandoned spaces into large murals that tell stories.

He has also directed music videos that have appeared on MTV, VH1 and BET. Odums has been honored as one of “20 Artists You Should Know” by Complex.com and earned the Presidential Volunteer Award from the White House and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship.

For more on the Visual Art & Design Showcase, visit undergraduatestudies.missouri.edu/showcase.