Ashby Mo
Ashby Mo is a devoted conceptual artist who creates masks and three-dimensional collages. He also currently volunteering at the Westbury Youth Centre as an art facilitator, and supporting the Centre’s garden and reading program. Ashby is passionate about helping children and young people from Westbury pursue their dreams.
Ashby Mo in his studio at Westbury Community Centre © Thom Pierce 2023
Empowering the youth of Westbury wasn’t on Ashby’s mind when he approached the youth centre to find studio space for his art. It just so happened that they offered him a space to work in return for his time volunteering to help teach kids how to read. It was initially a way of paying the rent but it quickly turned into so much more.
Sometimes you have to go looking really hard for purpose and meaning, sometimes it finds you.
Ashby is a devoted conceptual artist who creates masks and three-dimensional collages that explore issues to do with magic and sorcery. Coming from a community such as Westbury in Johannesburg, he knows how hard it can be to find mentors from within your community, especially in a field such as fine art.
Westbury has suffered at the hands of increasing gang violence over the last few years and, even though it is a very small suburb in a very large city, its reputation is growing as one of the most dangerous parts of Johannesburg.
Working out of the youth centre gave Ashby a chance to provide the artistic mentorship, that he could never find, to a new generation of upcoming artists in the community; and has solidified his passion for art as a vehicle for social change.
Over the last 5 years, in return for his studio space, Ashby has been mentoring a group of local artists through a creative recovering program, providing them with tools and exercises to open up their creativity and use it as a means of self-expression. He is passionate about art and the important place that it holds within society, especially for the youth, and through his program, he hopes to empower the kids from Westbury to go out and confidently pursue their dreams.
Alongside his artistic courses, he also runs the reading program and community garden at the youth centre.
Find the original post of Ashby’s story on THE ACTIONISTS.
Learn more:
Find Ashby on Instagram @stdiosba
Mashup/WYC Success Stories Series
