A Tribute to the Life of Artist Noni Olabisi
By: Dewey Tafoya
"The Yellow Dot on mostly everything I paint is a representation of the Sun within as well as without.
It is the giver of life.
It’s also my way of honoring, paying homage and my gratitude for life that connects us all as one.
I believe being an Artist is a gift, a key to unfoldment, like a lotus flower whose birth is out of the water of chaos, new beginnings, and as I seek more light the chaos around me and in me starts to disappear, only to reveal its true nature, which is light.
My work is about Resurrection and Transformation.” - Noni Olabisi
I will always remember Noni Olabisi. I’ll remember her for her art but mostly for her contributions to her community through her murals. I had the brief chance to work with Noni when we both worked for the city’s Summer Night Lights program. I would visit the park she was assigned to once a week to do pop-up screen print workshops, a park that was near where she lived in south central Los Angeles. I was always in complete awe that I was working alongside Noni Olabisi and would often ask the youth and adults if they knew who this great woman was, because they needed to know that they had a living legend working at their park, as I showed them pictures of her murals though my cell phone. I was lucky to have the chance to talk with her, get to know her a bit and of course meet her family; Noni always had her family around her.
In 2018 I had the opportunity to curate the Self Help Graphics Dia de los Muertos art exhibition and Noni was one of the artists on the top of my list. I wanted the exhibit to be a diverse collection of artists who could offer a different perspective to the regular Dia de los Muertos themes. I was nervous and apprehensive to ask her and was super happy when she agreed to participate and said, “Of course friend”. The night of the exhibit she was there along with her family.
I’ll always remember Noni Olabisi. I’ll remember her with her family around her. I’ll remember her teaching kids at the park how to paint. I’ll remember seeing her at art shows amongst her peers and friends. I’ll remember working alongside her at the park. I’ll remember her murals and how much they empower me and the community. I’ll always remember my friend Noni Olabisi.
“Death to the Ego/Here Comes the Sun, 2008” (pictured) and “King James Version, 1999” (pictured) are two of Olabisi’s serigraph prints produced at Self Help Graphics & Art. “Olabisi was renowned for her powerful style of expressive figurations of Blackness. Murals such as 1992’s ‘Freedom Won’t Wait’ (on the wall of Good Fred’s barbershop at 1815 W. 54th St., where Olabisi cut hair part-time) features close-ups of Black figures, their faces wincing in pain. They were Olabisi’s service to a community desperate to be heard after the 1992 unrest that tore through their very neighborhoods.” – LA Times. Read more about the life of Noni Olabisi here.
Noni is survived by her son, Orondé Spears, and her grandson, Jabari Spears. A memorial took place the weekend of March 18, 2022. If you would like to honor the legacy of Noni Olabisi and support her family, please visit their fundraising page here.
Dewey Tafoya is an Artist and the Master Printer and Assistant Director of the Professional Printmaking Program at Self Help Graphics & Art.
1. Artist Statement: California Community Foundation.
2. Mural photographs: SPARC.
3. Noni Olabisi featured prints: “Death to the Ego/Here Comes the Sun, 2008” and “King James Version, 1999” from the Self Help Graphics archives.