Artist Oluwatobi Adewumi Explores How Home is Carried Across Places in James Castle House Residency
September 9, 2026
Selected through a nationwide call and announced in November 2025, self-taught multidisciplinary artist Oluwatobi Adewumi joins the James Castle House for an eight-week residency through October 31, 2026. His work explores identity, culture, migration, and the emotional landscapes shaped by movement across place. Born in Nigeria and now based in McNeil, AR, Adewumi creates multimedia drawings and paintings that bridge realism and abstraction, layering figures, portraits, and symbolic objects to examine how personal and collective histories are carried, transformed, and expressed.
Inspired by James Castle’s use of everyday and found objects, Adewumi plans to use materials gathered in Boise as well as draw from his personal archive of photographs, documents, textiles, and other ephemera retracing his experience of immigration to create new work.
“The James Castle House residency resonates deeply with me because it honors place, memory, and the quiet power of introspection — all themes central to my work as a contemporary Nigerian American artist,” says Adewumi. “Like Castle, I believe in the power of “making do,” and transforming the ordinary into sacred storytelling.”
Adewumi’s work has been exhibited and awarded nationally and internationally and includes public art commissions with Bentonville, AR and Miami Beach, FL. His work has been collected by the North Dakota Museum of Art and The Bunker Artspace in Palm Beach, FL. He has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, the Foundation House Residency, and Arts Letters & Numbers. Learn more at tobiadewumi.com.
The community is invited to meet with Oluwatobi Adewumi at the following events:
Inside the Studio
- October 23, 6 - 8 p.m. (details forthcoming)
All events are free and open to the public.
Learn more about Oluwatobi Adewumi’s residency at: jamescastlehouse.org/residencies/the-participants
About the James Castle House
The James Castle House is a historic site and museum serving as a testimony to the legacy of self-taught artist James Castle. As stewards of this legacy, the James Castle House is responsible for managing Castle’s historic living and working spaces, art and artifact collections, and offering public opportunities to engage with the site. More information: jamescastlehouse.org
About the Boise City Department of Arts & History
The Department of Arts & History is Boise’s local cultural agency dedicated to fostering a sense of belonging through accessible and place-based arts and history. Our mission is to cultivate a distinct sense of place which reflects Boise’s rich past, diverse communities, and unique natural setting. Our operations empower and serve Boise residents as we create opportunities that nurture and sustain Boise’s past and its creative economy.
