COVER STORY .

Kamilu Alebiosu

Painter / Parking lot attendant


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Published: Aug 19, 2009

Neal Santos

You know that bus boy, delivery person, parking attendant you pay little notice to? Guess what he does on the weekends.

Kamilu Alebiosu is an 11-year veteran parking attendant at Patriot Parking, a small lot wedged beneath the overpass that connects Old City to Delaware Avenue. He's 43, bald, doughy, has a large, toothy smile and speaks with a lyrical accent. We sit down on makeshift seats to chat while he waits for people to drive up in their SUVs. When they do, he gets up from his chair and gives them directions or parks their cars. From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, he is just a parking attendant, making $8 per hour. On the weekends, though, Alebiosu is a painter.

Alebiosu creates scenes inspired by nature and his Nigerian home: trees with large willowy branches, a woman with a rotund belly carrying a basket on her head, flowers imbued with color and movement. "I'm really moved by the setting of my environment," Alebiosu says. He received two degrees in fine art in Nigeria before moving to the U.S. at 31. He chose Philadelphia because he had friends living here and, while on the job hunt, found that the director of the school of art from Lagos Technical, an alma mater, had already made the move and was a manager at Patriot.

Alebiosu's two lives are separate. The lot provides his "daily bread," allowing him to pay his bills and send money to his wife and two teens. His work, which he sells via galleries or the Big Green Earth Store (934 South St., 267-909-8661, biggreenearthstore.com), usually sell for about $40. He used to sell them for more but noticed that patrons were attracted to his smaller, cheaper pieces rather than mammoth canvases.

He laughs when I ask him if he ever thought he would make a living as an artist. "Artwork does not provide me that," Alebiosu says. "But it provides me the pleasure of doing it."