St. Johns County entrepreneur opens gallery centered around contemporary African art

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local woman hopes to expand cultural experiences in St Johns County through art. The Ovico Gallery just opened its doors to kick off Black History Month.

Action News Jax anchor Tenikka Hughes talked with the owner about what she hopes visitors will take away from the collection on display.

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Everywhere you look in Ovico Gallery are canvases covered in bold brush strokes, bursting with color. The work is by Nigerian artist Chike Onuorah.

It’s current home is from the vision of Ugochi Nwoga. The St. Johns County entrepreneur just opened Ovico Gallery off North Fifth Street in St. Augustine with the intention of creating a space for locals to experience contemporary African art.

Nwoga said, “I’m a huge fan of the artist and have been for a couple of decades now and my passion for African and African talent and exposing that African talent into the Western world, and so those two, the merging of those two gave birth to this gallery.”

Nwoga, who is a proud Nigerian American, spent the last few years working directly with the artist to acquire the pieces, having them shipped in from Africa and even flying to Nigeria to pick some of them up herself.

Nwoga, who is a mom of three, established Ovico Gallery while working full time as chief finance and strategy officer at her family business, TLAY Healthcare Services which is located in the same business complex.

When asked where she found the inspiration to open the gallery while working full-time, Nwoga said, “There’s this saying, you go as the spirit leads, right? So, when you believe in something and want something and things are kind of lining up the way they should, the time just it’s created. It’s just there and you find actually, the time you do have to be more strategic with it.”

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The gallery is a strategic labor of love.

Every piece and placement is a thoughtful reflection of a passion Nwoga wants everyone to come and share.

“I want them spending time with every single piece and really giving it, you know, some insightful sort of time and looking at it and appreciating it and really walking out like, wow, that was amazing,” said Nwoga.

The gallery is open to the public and they are having a special Black History Month event on Feb. 19 and 20. If you’d like to set up a visit you can contact Ovico Gallery here: https://ovicogallery.com/.

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