The Sacred and Illustrious Space of Studio Be

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) —Brandan “Bmike” Odums is the Founder of Studio Be. Studio Be is a place where art immortalizes the culture of New Orleans, civil rights, the human experience as a whole and art.

“Studio Be is a product of alchemy. Studio Be is a product of love. This began in 2016, that was initially a popup exhibit. We’ve been blessed to be here for almost seven years now. I think art has a function. There is always the challenge of what is the function of the art that you do? One of my mentors spoke about how indigenous people wove baskets together. The baskets were beautiful, but they had a function. They did something that served the community. I always try to think about what my art does to serve the community,” says Odums.

Odums is as adept with a paintbrush and a spray can, as he is with a camera. His success with art studios stems from his work in film and television. Now, his imagination takes flight off of Press Street in New Orleans in a 35,000 square foot building. However, the story of Studio Be is much older than the studio itself.

“I caught myself doing a lot of music videos in appreciation of the culture in New Orleans and that led me to these abandoned spaces in the middle of the city where it was attractive for backdrops for music videos in these forgotten abandoned properties,” says Odums.

Brandan Odums’ first show exploded as an international phenomenon titled Project Be, which was in 2013 in the Florida Housing Projects and was illegal. It was shut down but another project was opened on the West bank.

After much attention, a building owner opened up the door for where Studio Be is today in the Bywater Neighborhood.

“In this space, you see a lot of people I admire in history. You see work from young artists, where it is there first time showing their art to the world. You also see the collective of artists showing in this space and showing their work too,” says Odums.

Brandan Odums known as “BMike,” doesn’t only use his space for his own artwork. He uses it, as well as other spaces around the country to allow other artists to have a platform. This February, in honor of Black History Month, Odums plans something unique.

“On this month, we’re doing some special things, including this show called Eternal Crowns, where we are giving space for young artists and young voices to showcase their work. This comes as a collaboration. People from the Eternal Seas Team painted the backgrounds on a bunch of canvases and we then went and dropped those canvases off to schools around the city. We are working with different art teachers and school programs. The students are painting on top of those canvases as a collaboration. These are different voices coming together to celebrate black history. It’s called art in the age of black power.”

Murals have been the larger-than-life canvas that has gained a lot of attention in inner-city neighborhoods throughout the world. They give the people they represent a voice and that is what Brandan Odums loves the most about creating them.

“What I always enjoyed about murals, is that they go to where the people are. They are an amplified voice. The big mural on the outside of Studio Be is a friend of mine’s daughter who I grew up with. I was thinking about the outside of the space of Studio Be and I remembered a poem written by Cleo Wade, who is a poet from New Orleans. We talked about collaborating together. She sent me that poem and it was around mother’s day. The poem was directed in support of women. When I read the poem, I imagined this image of a little girl with her hands up, an image of royalty. This is one of the pieces that a lot of people are excited to see. This is what I enjoy doing. I enjoy being an amplifier for voices that are around. I think that is a beautiful thing.”