My name is Ibiyinka Alao, and I am an artist and architect who won the grand prize of the United Nations International Art Competition amongst 61 countries. I am currently the President and CEO of The Mauch Chunk Museum and Cultural Center located in The Poconos region of Pennsylvania https://mauchchunkmcc.org/

The story of an artwork I made has been turned into a book which won the grand prize of a Scholastic children's book contest. That story has been experienced by over five million people around the world and has become the basis of a National Science Foundation-funded research project into the study of fireflies' communication at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and The Pennsylvania State University https://www.psu.edu/news/schuylkill/story/art-space-penn-state-schuylkill-host-ibiyinka-ibi-alao-exhibition

I am in the process of building a museum, church and environmental center around the Susquehanna and Schuylkill River Basins of Pennsylvania that will house my artworks and be a destination for healing, finding Africa and firefly enthusiasts from all over the world. The project comprises a building that is designed with the highest regard for sustaining a greener environment and natural vegetation to support native plants and animal life. It's called The Firefly Oyster Art Museum and Science Center. PBS recently made an award winning documentary about it: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-exchange-leoqhh/

DESIGN:

The design which won the grand prize of the National Institute of Architects' Most Original and Sustainable Building Student's Award is designed by Ibiyinka to look like the combination of the two native Pennsylvania organisms - the firefly and the oyster - that the science research is about. The main structure, which will have a theater for the performing arts, Eternity in Our Hearts Christian Church and an Art Gallery, is derived from the oyster shell and is a bionic architecture style edifice. The tower, which rises up from the firefly light source, will house studios, galleries, health and research centers, living spaces, offices and an observatory. The entire structure will be a destination for families and tourists and a sanctuary for artists and scientists to be in residence while working on their crafts or research. We hope that it will be a place of renewal, re-imagining, and finding redemption as the oyster makes pearls out of its irritations. https://www.ibiyinka.com