Frank Okoth

Frank is 30 years old and has been painting at Uweza Art Gallery since he finished high school in 2014. He was working in construction jobs when he happened to walk by the gallery in Kibera and decided to learn more. His parents initially discouraged him from pursuing art as a career because they felt he wouldn’t be able to earn an income and he had never painted on canvas prior to joining Uweza’s art progam.

Today, Frank is the manager of the gallery and one of the gallery’s best- selling artists. He also leads Uweza’s weekly art classes for children at the gallery. He is now able to support his family and his parents are supportive of his career.

Frank’s favorite subjects to paint is portraits. Through his work, he hopes to bring a different perspective to the way society thinks about human faces and humankind. He often adds patterns to faces, which makes his paintings look unique. According to Frank, people can learn a lot from artists in Kenya and Kibera. He believes that one can pass messages through art and that art can be used to educate the community and to promote peace. In the future, his dream is to help more people, especially children and youth, in his community to make it through art like he has. 

Frank can be found on Instagram at @okothfrancis82.