Cephas Yao Agbemenu

Cephas Yao Agbemenu studied at Kpando Secondary School, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University at Buffalo. The recorded working language is English and Ewe. Employment is recorded with Kenyatta University and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Distinctions recorded are Fulbright Scholarship.

• Name — Cephas Yao Agbemenu • Born — 29 May 1951 • Birthplace — Leklebi-Kame, in the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa • Occupation — Artist, educator • Known for — Wood carving

Cephas Yao Agbemenu was born on 29 May 1951 in Leklebi-Kame, in the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa. • Illustration — Family Portrait taken before Cephas Yao Agbemenu left for the US in 1978, he is third from the right, standing, wearing a dark suit. He grew up in Ghana, going to school where art and crafts lessons were a part of the curriculum. He also learned farming, backyard gardening, fishing, trapping and hunting. All requiring good coordination and visual abilities in order to complete those tasks. Agbemenu went on to Secondary School at Evangelical Presbyterian Secondary School in Hohoe, Volta Region, where he took his Ordinary-Level School Certificate in Art, English Language, Ewe Language, Maths, General Science, Principles of Accounts, Geography. He then attended Kpandu Secondary School, Volta Region. He completed this program with Advanced-Level School Certificate, his major subjects being Art, Economics, Geography, General Studies in the year of 1972. in June 1976 he completed a bachelor's degree in Fine Art with First Class Honours at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, majoring in Sculpture, Painting, Art History, English Literature, Art Appreciation and African Studies. Agbemenu then obtained his Master of Fine Arts Degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo (February 1980). His major subject was Sculpture, including Wood Carving, P.O.P, Concrete and Bronze casting, with Painting, Drawing and Art History as his minors. • Illustration — Cephas' Sculpture "Freedom of Speech" 1980. Notice the padlock over the lips. Sculpture was carved from Elmwood.

Agbemenu started to teach at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 1977 with Art, Sculpture and Drawing. He has taught African Art, Sculpture, Black History in a global perspective in many different countries, along with Ceramics, African History, Culture European Art History and African Carvings. In 1987 he started as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Fine Art, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. Lecturing: Contemporary African Art; Sculpture and traditional African Wood carving.

Agbemenu was a member of and contributor to the African Proverbs, Stories and Sayings Committee chaired by Father Joseph Healey founded in Nairobi, Kenya. In June 2008 Professor Agbemenu was awarded a grant to compile a booklet of 100 EWE Ghana Proverbs with African Symbols as illustrations of the proverbs, translated into English. The work has been published on the www.afriprov.org website. The Theme of "Reconciliation and Peace". A Collection of EWE Proverbs was published with illustrations and translations by Cephas Yao Agbemenu on 1 November 2010.