Story By: Brayden George

MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The University of Montevallo recently opened its newest art exhibit in the Poole Art Gallery at the Alan and Lindsey Song Center for the Arts. The exhibit, “A Labor of Love,” is a mixed-media collection by Ghanaian artist Vincent Frimpong. 

Frimpong was born in Accra, Ghana, and received his bachelor’s degree in industrial arts from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He moved to the U.S. in 2021 to earn his master’s degree in ceramics art from the University of Arkansas. 

Since moving to the U.S., his work has been exhibited across multiple states, art galleries and college campuses. Frimpong has received many grants and fellowships, including the 2025 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Emerging Artist Fellowship. 

He now serves as an assistant professor of art at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. It’s in this role Frimpong gets to share his passion with younger generations. He hopes that, through his work being exhibited, students will be inspired to believe they can have success too. 

“It makes them know that it is possible. I always tell my students you can make it in art, and most of the time they do not understand,” he says. “So showing in the universities gives me the leverage to keep telling the next generation of artists that, ‘It is possible. We can do it. We can make it in the art world.’”

At the root of all of Frimpong’s art is the question of “What does it mean to be African?” This is the inspiration behind the symbols and flares of Ghanaian culture interwoven throughout his art. 

I am making art in a different world now. They understand and perceive and interpret art differently. So I try to think about ways that I can try to merge the two cultures.

Vincent Frimpong

While he is now a permanent resident of the United States, Frimpong still holds tightly to his Ghanaian culture and heritage. Its influence shapes how he combines culture and creativity, allowing his work to appeal to diverse audiences. 

“I am making art in a different world now. They understand and perceive and interpret art differently. So I try to think about ways that I can try to merge the two cultures,” Frimpong says. “Not just my culture … but I leave room for audiences to also interpret the art in their own way.”

Through weaving his own culture into his creations while still leaving opportunity for people to make their own interpretations, Frimpong truly builds the art bridge between culture and connoisseur. 

“A Labor of Love” will be on display in the Poole Art Gallery through Dec. 5. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is open to the public with no cost of admission.