Stanley Osaheni Agbontaen grew up in Benin City, Edo state, South-south Nigeria. He studied for one-year at The Creative Art Academy in Benin City, and completed his education at the School of Art and Design at Auchi Polytechnic, where he graduated with a Higher National Diploma [HND] in Fine Arts. He stood out as the best graduating student in his class which earned him the rector's Academic Prize Award (Certificate of Excellence) in 2002.

Stanley’s niche involves the uses of palette knives and oil paint to achieve amazing action packed sceneries. His creative artistry is seen in his work of art through skillful design and arrangement that dissipates the beauty of creation in the hands of a master craftsman.

In 2006, he received the Federal Capital Territory award as the Best Mixed Media Artist for his contributions to the development of Art in Abuja (Nigeria’s capital). During this time Stanley participated in several group exhibitions including "Two American Icons & Six Young Nigerian Contemporary Artists" where he exhibited alongside famed artists like Jacob Lawrence and Lois Mailou Jones. 

Due to the unique nature of his works and contributions to societal developments through the arts, the US state department in 2007, nominated and sponsored Stanley on the International Visitor and Leadership Program. He toured nine US states and was an active participant in the workshop of “Promoting tolerance through the Arts.”
In recognition of his work, Stanley Agbontaen is listed in the Arts and Artists file in Smithsonian Libraries’ Collections. In 2009, he was featured in the exhibition, Africa Now, sponsored by the World Bank, Washington D.C. where they also acquired one of his pieces for their permanent collection.

Stanley is also the President and Founder of “Center for Arts and Cultural Heritage”, a humanitarian organization that promotes equity and economic development through investments in youth education, intellectual development and empowerment. To date the organization has invested in several major rural areas in Northern Nigeria.

He is a full time artist