CLEVELAND — According to Rentech Digital, there are more than 40 wax museums throughout the United States. However, none of them are here in Northeast Ohio.
But thanks to Sharmir Oglesby, best known as "Mr. Officials," we're in luck because his creative prowess knows no bounds.
"Everything I do stemmed from something that someone else couldn't produce," explained Oglesby. "No one's really doing the 3D printing the sculpting, especially in the black community, you don't see a lot of people doing arts. Um, so there was no training."
Entirely self-taught, the Cleveland native is a teacher-turned entrepreneur.
"All my life I've been creating I didn't know building paper people and Lego people would lead me to wax figures," said Oglesby.
His journey began in local classrooms, using hip-hop music and culture to connect his students to the Spanish language.
"Teaching those classes, I had to be creative and I had to use rap and our culture to learn," explained Oglesby. "So I would use, you know, different, you know, rappers or celebrities to, to reach my students, to meet them where they are."
Little did he know, that moment would come full circle as he would go on to create life-size wax figures of hip-hop icons. His realistic wax figures have taken social media by storm, earning him more than 130,000 followers on Instagram.
Nipsey Hussle, Michael Jackson, and his latest piece, Takeoff have all earned him national recognition.
"I just want to express it. I just wanna show everybody, hey, this is a gift that I've always had." said Oglesby.
But a unique craft like wax figure making can be quite expensive.
"It's an expensive hobby," said Oglesby. "When I did the takeoff, it was $25,000 just for, just to start just for materials."
Towering over his peers, many encouraged him to abandon the arts for alternative outlets.
"I'm just glad I didn't give up and I didn't stop because, you know, a lot of me being six four, a lot of people wanted to force me to basketball or sports," he explained.
Determined to succeed his way, Mr. officials isn’t afraid to take a leap of faith.
"So I'll be either the first to succeed or the first to fail. And if I fail, that's a learning lesson, and I'm the first to do it."
Sharmir "Mr. Officials" Oglesby is currently crowdsourcing in hopes of taking his wax figures on the road. For more information and to follow his creative endeavors, you can follow him on social media.
Black Light is a series created by 3News Reporter Kierra Cotton aimed at exposing the hidden talent within Northeast Ohio’s Black community. If you'd like to suggest a feature to Kierra, you can connect with her via email at kcotton@wkyc.com.
More from Kierra can be found below:
Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report that aired October 6, 2023.