Francis Akosah
Teaching Scholar, Studio Art (Sculpture)
Area: Studio Art
Education
B.A., Kwame Nkrumah’s University of Science and Technology
M.A., Eastern Illinois University
MFA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Research Interests
Sculpture
Biography
Francis Akosah is a Ghanaian-born interdisciplinary artist and sculptor whose practice explores cultural memory, ritual, and material transformation through clay, metal, and mixed media. He currently completing his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture with a minor in Art History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2025), where he also serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. He holds a
Master of Arts in Studio Art from Eastern Illinois University (2022) and a bachelor’s degree with honors in Integrated Rural Art and Industry from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (2018).
Akosah’s work is rooted in both traditional and experimental processes, including bronze, iron, and aluminum casting, mold-making, welding, and digital fabrication. His teaching experience spans multiple institutions and continents, including studio instruction in mold-making, sculpture, and community-based art at UT Knoxville, and metal design instruction at KNUST in Ghana.
His sculptures and installations have been exhibited widely across the U.S., including at The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts (NC), Ewing Gallery (TN), Sloss Furnaces (AL), the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art, and international venues such as the Tebbs Art Gallery(UK) and the Museum of Science and Technology (Ghana). Akosah has held residencies at the Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum (IN), Center for National Culture (Ghana), and the Sloss Metal Arts Visiting Artist Program (AL).
A recipient of numerous awards, Akosah was honored with the 2024 Dille Award for Best Graduate Student and the 2023 Tri-State Sculpture Award. He has also been recognized by Midsouth Sculpture Alliance, the National Society of Leadership and Success, and Eastern Illinois University’s Distinguished International Student Award. His work has been featured in Phoenix Art Magazine, Embattled Bodies Magazine, and Blue Room.
Through teaching, fabrication, and public engagement, Akosah continues to develop a multidisciplinary practice that merges ancestral techniques with contemporary concerns, creating objects and experiences that examine identity, resilience, and collective history.
