POD: Stephen Onyango
Posted on : Monday, February 10, 2025
This People of Downtown Blog features owner of Legend Productions and Legend Art Gallery, Stephen Onyango. Stephen was born in Kenya Africa and moved to Canada in 2008 to attend the UofL New Media program majoring in film making and minoring in drama. Stephen had always been interested in film and video making since he was a child, and was interested in acting and just wanted to find a way to make people happy. “ I got my first degree in journalism and found that I loved the camera and I loved being behind the camera at that time,” Stephen says, “So I decided I was going to be behind the camera because I loved it so much and I loved how it works, the editing, the shooting of the video, and the getting of the information.” Through the experiences at the UofL, he determined that his true passion was film making “I’ve been doing it for a long time now that I believe this is where I am supposed to be.”
Legend Production Films is a cinematography business through which Stephan has created commercials for locally owned businesses, as well as businesses across Canada. The filming business also does wedding films, recruitment videos and documentary-style films. The other business run through Stephen is Legend Art Gallery. “The gallery gives opportunity to local artists as well as artists from other parts of the world to come here and showcase their work which may not be seen otherwise.” With so many artists in the city and only 5 art galleries in the area, there is no place for all these artists to put their art. However, Stephen describes what it means to have his gallery and providing a space where artists can come speak to him and have the opportunity to have their art seen.
Stephen started Legend Productions in 2015. After graduating in 2014, and struggling to find a job straight out of university, Stephen decided he would start his own business in film making. After working just with film making for a couple of years and finding a new space in Downtown Lethbridge, Stephen decided he would fill this new space with art. The gallery, located at 519 7th St, south has been designed by multiple artists from murals on the floors to different walls in the gallery.
Outside of his business, Stephen has multiple hobbies that keep him busy including dancing. He has recently started lessons and has enjoyed learning different styles such as salsa, macarena and also contemporary pieces. Another hobby for Stephen is cars. He has a specific interest in building and restoring cars. “Right now I’m building a 1979 Lincoln continental, just bringing it back to better performance.” When asked about his favourite form of art expression, Stephen wholeheartedly stated cinematography as his favourite. “When I capture something in video, I capture the story,” says Stephen. He enjoys capturing the stories of individuals, businesses, mural creating and more. Bringing these stories and individuals to life in a way they wouldn’t otherwise experience is what drives his passion. “Making a movie and making them see it as “this is who you are” it makes me very happy.”
Having a business downtown, Stephen says, “you can find a lot of hidden gems downtown. The gallery is not somewhere where I want everyone to show up at one time. It’s a hidden gem where you come in and you would never know something like this is in this building because its a space that kind of takes you out of Lethbridge.”
Recently, a new artist that has been showcased in the gallery is a Iranian-British woman who showcases what she titles “African Art”. “Her art is all about black women and black pride.” Including these art works especially during Black History Month is a great way to promote and celebrate black culture. Stephen explained that it is very important to acknowledge and celebrate Black History Month as well as all histories around the Lethbridge area. “There is a lot of history in and around Lethbridge that people take for granted.” Stephen explained, “Not only is black history important to black people, but it’s important for everybody else.” There is a lot of history to be acknowledged behind the diversity of Lethbridge and North America as a whole, and Stephen has a vision for the future of Lethbridge. “Having people live together is a very big thing. I love people and having people live in unity and having people get equal opportunities would be a beautiful thing.”
Stephen gave some ideas for how you and the community can support Black History Month, “On a small scale, there are a lot of black owned businesses in Lethbridge, so if you can support those businesses in Black History Month, or even just learn something about black history.” By learning something, you are educating yourself, you can help to celebrate black history and shape the future. “Once you get to know your neighbour, you get to understand them better, and know who they really are.”
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