With another school year coming to a close, many parents are turning their attention to fun yet dynamic summer activities to keep their kids on their toes. From sailing to music to sport camps, there is something for everyone these days – and in the midst of options, Popopstudios International Center for the Visual Arts offers a four-week art camp that is sure to stimulate creativity.

The Summer Camp for Kids, open to 8-16 year olds, will divide the participants into groups by age and skill level in order to appropriately challenge and encourage each participant to tap into their creativity.

Each week they will tackle a different topic or theme.

Running between July 9 to August 4, parents have the option to enroll their children for any number of weeks – from one to four – that suit their needs, since the participants will engage in a variety of activities that help them complete a final project every week within their weekly topic or theme. In addition, every student will contribute to a final group project that will remains on the grounds.

Allowing budding artists to spend their summer in an environment like Popopstudios ICVA will provide a significant learning experience, says Education Officer Katrina Cartwright.

“I think this summer camp is a great way to give your child time to explore their options and talents,” she said. “This isn’t like being in school – it’s a more intimate environment where these creative talents that usually aren’t nurtured can be expressed, and lots of our resident artists can inspire that.”

Indeed with its regular classes, exhibitions and community made up of local and visiting artists- in-residence, Popopstudios ICVA provides an active and dynamic space perfect for aspiring artists. These resident artists will introduce a variety of art-centered activities for the groups every week, and participants will also take weekly trips to other gallery spaces and nature preserves that tie into their weekly topics.

The summer camp classes for children come as a break from two semesters of adult art classes offered in the space that has seen great success not only in developing artistic skills in its participants, but also in growing the Popopstudios presence in the community.

“All of our classes are not only a way to give people the opportunity to pursue a hobby or hone their skills or take independent classes to prepare them for college at a later date – but the other side was to get people here to see what Popop is about,” said Cartwright.

“It’s such a wonderful center for the arts. The space is alive and constantly growing. So being able to have that kind of feedback and having a community interact with Popop on not just an education level but as a gallery space and community of artists, I think that is phenomenal.”

The art camp for children is only one part of summer programming at the space, says artist-in-residence and curatorial coordinator Heino Schmid. They plan to also host an open studios event where visitors can take a peek into the various artist studio spaces on the grounds, as well as some playful thematic exhibitions – including an exhibition of work by the summer camp students at the end of the four-week experience.

Indeed, along with this program, the new educational opportunities, including the summer art camps, tie in to the commitment by Popopstudios ICVA to develop and strengthen art in The Bahamas.

“What I find is the space for classes and the space of artist studios and the gallery have a symbiotic relationship under the Popop banner,” says Schmid. “They feed off each other and I’m excited to see how this develops in the coming months—having the students join our community, come to exhibition openings, and maybe exhibit their own work or work-in-progress from their classes.”

“There is a different feeling between the educational structure and our gallery structure, but that overlap informs the Popop statement to push art forward,” he continues. “I think the grounds lend themselves to that creative endeavor—a friendly, internal, open space that can provide a dynamic situation for children this summer.”

The Summer Camp for Kids will run on the grounds of Popopstudios International Center for the Visual Arts between July 9th-August 4th, Mondays to Fridays, with workdays starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m.

Cost is $240 a week which includes the 5 day camp, equipment, facilities and materials, field trips (including bus services), and an exhibition showcasing the student work. An optional lunch package of $5 per day is also available.

Parents can pay an initial installment of half the fee in advance and the balance at a later date. Deadline for registration and partial payment is May 26th (balance must be paid in full by June 30th). All fees are non-refundable.

For more information, check out Popopstudios Programming or call 322-7834.

Sonia Farmer,
The Nassau Guardian
Arts & Culture
Published: Saturday, May 12, 2012

Combining Health and Wellness with the value of Art and Beauty. The Salus Project is for young artists to express themselves in all five areas of Wellness: Spiritual, Financial, Physical, Emotional and Social.

The launch is on May 17th, 7-10pm, in The Ladder Gallery at New Providence Community Centre, Blake Rd. & JFK Drive. The art will be displayed for four weeks.

The Family Medicine Center on Blake Road is set to open an art gallery on the premises under the Salus Project in order to introduce artwork that promotes wellness.

Founded by Dr. Graham Cates and Nurse Anita Cates out of their passion for wellness and art, The Salus Gallery breaks through the traditional gallery setting and brings art in to the public places of care to assist in the healing of patients and to bring about a deeper understanding of wellness and art.

“The Salus Project will have an amazing impact on our clients and staff, ” says Dr. Cates.”It is a wonderful opportunity for new and seasoned artists to showcase their work within a healing environment.”

Latin for wholeness, wellness and salvation, ‘salus’ is a perfect name for the gallery and for the project itself. For the founders art is an expression of life and therefore is a perfect channel to express the multi-dimensional concept of wellness in all its elements: physical, emotional, social, financial and spiritual.

Its new exhibition, “5 Elements, 5 Artists” invited five student artists to address these different aspects of wellness that are integral to a more successful life.

The founders point out that students are the foundation for the future of art in the Bahamas and therefore should be lifted up and honoured and given every opportunity to showcase their talents.

Before this exhibition goes to its final home of the Family Medicine Center, however, viewers can engage with the work at the Ladder Gallery in the New Providence Community Center at its opening on May 17 from 7:00pm to 10:00pm, where it will remain on display for four weeks.

The founders point out that as beauty, art and wellness are core values upheld by New Providence Community Church, it’s the perfect place for the exhibition to start. After all, everyone in the community can benefit from a reminder to practice wellness in their daily lives.

Participating Artists: Preston Hanna, Yutavia George, Jeffery Meris, June Collie and Kachelle Knowles

Too often, art classes act in an “academic vacuum” said College of The Bahamas art instructor, John Cox. To give his advanced students experience in the local art world and to “breathe life into the art program” at The College of The Bahamas, he helps them plan and carry out site-specific art pieces.

The latest location is the new building at The College of The Bahamas, the state-of-the-art Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre – fitting since Harry C. Moore was a lifelong patron of the arts.

Over the next few weeks, Arts&Culture will be examining the installations in this library by his Art 400: Advanced Painting students.

“Butterflies” by Yutavia George is on display at the Harry C. Moore Library and Information Center. Photos by Edward Russell III / TNG

Some things are often so tiny you miss them – but the installation by art education major Yutavia George on the glass wall of the computer center in the Harry C. Moore Library and Information Center has undeniable presence.

That’s because though each of the 150 tiny and intricate wire-and-bead butterfly sculptures come together to make up a charming glittering display. Just like their real-life counterparts, the tiny creations don’t reveal their true impressive beauty until the viewer investigates their complexity up close.

And impressive they should be – each butterfly took George 30-40 minutes to make. Add that up for 150 butterflies in total, and the time spent is mind-boggling.

“This piece branched off from two other pieces I was trying to do, and through the hardship of trying to create these pieces, it made me think of concept – how much time it takes for someone to come up with a brilliant idea,” she said.

“The piece itself was time consuming for a reason, so that whole process of getting the work done was actually fulfilling the concept of it. But I enjoyed it.”

Indeed to George, the piece, titled simply “Butterflies”, honors the labor of process. Such a piece is perfect for an academic library setting, reminding viewers of the hard work and ultimate payoff of sticking with a great idea.

“At the library, thought is encouraged,” said George. “I knew it had to be placed in the library and I thought that was wonderful – people sit and think in the library all the time, they spend hours in the library working on their ideas. So the butterflies for me really represent ideas and how long it takes for someone to come up with something so beautiful.”

Though you would think with the extensive process that already went into this piece, George would be celebrating her victory. But the ambitious artist who originally aimed for 200 butterflies wants to continue her labor of love and cover an entire wall with the tiny creations, becoming an inspiration for her commitment to process.

“The reason I chose butterflies is because I feel like ideas fly over your head, and you’re just trying to catch them like butterflies in a net,” she said.

“And when the sun hits them, they really shimmer, and the light behind the glass illuminates them, and it’s like the beauty of ideas. It has a presence for such little things.”

Sonia Farmer,
The Nassau Guardian
Arts & Culture
Published: Saturday, May 12, 2012

DAB – Solo Exhibition by Artist Marco Mullings
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Central Bank of the Bahamas Gallery. Show runs through end of May. Contact: 324-3840

For children between ages 8-16

July 9th – August 4th, 2012

Program Description

As part of Popopstudios’ ongoing educational programming initiative a summer camp will be held to cater to aspiring young artists between the ages of 8-16 years. During the camp they will exposed to various disciplines and participate in both group and individual activities.

Their experience will be enhanced by weekly trips to galleries and nature preserves with assignments being formatted to encompass dominant themes in the places visited. The camp will be divided into four weekly sessions with workdays starting at 9am and ending at 3pm. An optional lunch package will be offered separate from the initial fee. At the end of the month a one-day exhibition will be held showcasing the work that the children made over the course of the camp.

Overview
The camp will be separated into weekly sessions with two assignments running consecutively daily. One assignment will be an individual project that must be completed within the week while the other will be a group project that continues over the one-month period. Students will be divided into three groups of 5-7 people, with each group having an instructor (professional artist or educator) and intern (art student enrolled at a college/university). Groups will be divided based on age and skill level.

The group project will be an outdoor sculpture/mural project, which will remain on Popop’s grounds and focus on the overall theme of the camp. Individual projects will be modeled around the designated weekly fieldtrips.

Each week will begin with a short presentation that familiarizes the students with the topic for their individual projects and will culminate in a field trip to a gallery/preserve/workshop. The camp is organized so that students can choose to participate for one week or an entire month. As students will change weekly, participation in the one-day exhibition will be optional.

Weekly Schedule

Classes will run Monday-Friday, 9am -3 pm. Mondays will begin with a 10 – 15 minute presentation and discussion focusing on the topic for the week. Students will then be divided into groups to begin designing their individual projects, which they will continue to develop over the course of the week. Fridays will be allocated for field trips. As it is unlikely that field trips will last the entire day students will be given the option of using the remainder of their time to either complete their individual assignments, or if they are done, work on the group project.

Daily Schedule
Days will be divided into three sessions with a 15-minute break in the morning and 45 minutes for lunch.

The schedule will change slightly on Mondays and Fridays. On Monday 15 minutes of the morning session will be allocated to the topic presentation and discussion. All field trips will begin at 9:15 on Fridays. Students should return to Popop’s grounds by 12:30. After lunch students can either complete their individual projects or work on the group project.

Cost and Outline of Services Offered

The cost per week is $240
The following is an outline of what the fee per week covers.

1. 5 days at Popopstudios from 9am – 3pm.
2. Equipment, facilities and materials.
3. Field trips including bus services.
4. Instructors- Professional studio artists or art educators.
5. Art exhibition showcasing student’s work.

An optional lunch package of $5 per day, inclusive of a drink, must be paid for at the beginning of every week. Lunch menus will be available for prior viewing so that meal days can be chosen.

Participants will be asked to pay an initial installment of half the fee in advance (monies paid would depend on weeks of enrollment), and then pay the balance at a later date.

DEADLINE for registration and partial payment is May 26th, 2012.
Balances must be paid in full by June 30th, 2012.
All fees are non-refundable.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Sunflower Organization, under the patronage of Sir Orville Turnquest and Sir Durward Knowles, has chosen to celebrate the life, works, character and friendship of Jackson Burnside III – architect, artist, and culturally passionate Bahamian for this year’s Sunflower Day.

The Sunflower Organization has been promoting the celebration of life since May 2000. Sunflower Day is an uplifting way to remember those we love who have passed on as well as to be aware of the presence of those we love who are still alive.

This year’s Sunflower Day takes place Saturday, 12 May, 2012 and will be an evening of entertainment at the Dundas Theatre combining an exhibition and 2-hour concert of music, song, art, dance, photography, film and literature as well as a special tribute from Sir Sidney Poitier and an exciting Junkanoo rush-out in Jackson’s honour. There will also be a Grief Recovery Institute information table at the concert should you wish to pursue a proven programme of recovery from grief.

Sunflower Memory Boards will be on display for the month of May at Doongalik Studios Art Gallery on Village Road, the Sign Man on Shirley Street and at the Dundas Theatre on the night of the concert. You can post your own memories by email at our email address below, see posted memories on the Sunflower website, or you can bring your letter-sized memories to personally post on the Memory Boards at any time during May 2012.

Tickets for the concert will be available at the Dundas box office, Doongalik Studios Art Gallery and the Sign Man for $25 in advance or $30 at the door.

The Sunflower Organization is a not-for-profit organization promoting the celebration of life. Donations in addition to the ticket price will be put to excellent use. Proceeds will be responsibly used by The Sunflower Organization and the Jackson Logan Burnside III Design Library and Research Centre to promote the love of life.

Fashion designers won’t be the only ones in the spotlight at the much anticipated Islands of the World Fashion Showcase (IWFS) on May 11th and 12th.

Four artisans from very different design fields have accepted the challenge of taking materials they would traditionally use to build and accessorize homes, offices and other buildings and make them fit on a new kind of canvas – the human body.

Val Pintard, Apryl Burrows and the team of Reuno Pratt and Elizabeth Clarke are the first official class of the newly created category of IWFS, the Jackson L. Burnside Fashion and Design Presentation. The division highlights one of the many passions of the late Jackson Burnside, which was his desire to find ways to take natural products and merge them with the built environment. With a local fashion designer to guide them, these artisans have spent the past three months creating garments out of unconventional materials including fan decks, floor samples, palm berries, pebbles, sisal and tropical almond.

Not only do their pieces need to look good on a rack, they also need to be able to make it down the catwalk. The pieces will be reviewed by Pam Burnside, wife of the late Jackson Burnside, Marcus Laing, CEO of InsituArch Caribbean Magazine and John Cox chief curator at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas and founder of Popop Studios International Center for the Visual Arts.

Production Manager for IWFS, Indira Moss, said that the design concepts are very intriguing and she is looking forward to getting a first look at them today.

“This presentation literally brings to life the concept of wearable art, which is what fashion is at its core,” said Moss. “Fashion has influenced and been influenced by architecture and interior design for decades and we are excited to see how these participants have interpreted the relationship between these art forms.”

Meet the Designers:
Val Pintard Flax

Born in Nassau, Bahamas, Val Pintard Flax developed her keen interest in art and design at Queens’s College and then the College of The Bahamas.

She received her Master’s in Architecture and Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has lived abroad for most of her life. She has worked as an architect and interior designer in Atlanta, GA and throughout the Caribbean and gains her inspiration from nature. She holds to the philosophy to “Live Simply, by design”.

Architect Apryl Jasmine

No stranger to the Bahamas’ fashion arena, Apryl Burrows spent most of her adolescent years expressing herself through the use of arts and crafts. After working with Sabrina Francis and the late Jeffrey Taylor, she was accepted to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), in New York, where she majored in Fashion Design.

In 1997 she studied at Polimoda in Florence, Italy before moving back to New York, to freelance as an assistant designer, technical designer and illustrator.

After returning to The Bahamas, she pursued her career and became the first designer to have had her fashion art installed in both the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas and The Hub Contemporary Gallery in 2009.

She helped found The Bahamas Designer’s Association, an organization that invites professional designers to pool their talents and resources along with professional business associations to promote themselves and the Bahamian fashion industry.  She is also a member of the advisory committee for the fashion department at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI).

Architect Elizabeth Clarke

EPC Designs

Elizabeth Clarke’s desire to educate was obliterated after picking up her first issue of Architectural Digest. A Bahamian native, Clarke moved to Marbella, Spain in2003 to study Interior Architecture. The avid traveler then moved to Vancouver, Canada and New York City before returning to The Bahamas in 2008. After a stint with Plan It Bahamas, she created her firm EPC Designs a year later.

Her work is showcased in the HGTV, “Designer’s Portfolio” on the cable network’s web site. She has also been showcased in The Nassau Guardian’s Lifestyles Section, Bahamas Realty Now with Sara Parker, Serenity in Design Interior Design Inspiration Magazine, (Charlotte, North Carolina) and InsituArch Caribbean Architecture Magazine. Her style can best be described as eclectic with an ethnic flavor.

Architect Reuno Pratt

Padishah

Born and raised in the City of Freeport, Grand Bahama, Reuno Pratt has always had an intense passion for the visual arts, architecture, and design. With a childhood dream of becoming an architect intact, Pratt attended the College of The Bahamas to study the field. After graduation he continued his endeavours as an employee of Monarch Architects in Nassau, Bahamas. The exposure drove him to excel at communicating through visual arts presentation, 3 – D Model Renderings, and graphic design principles.

In 2009, he formed Padishah, to create highly stylized conceptual artist’s 3 – D model renderings, graphic designs, and architectural drawings for architects, interior designers, and construction companies with an artistic look and feel for enhanced graphic and visual appeal. He is an annual addition to the graphic design team for the annual Shakespeare in Paradise Theatre Festival.

The unique designs will debut to the public on May 10 at the official opening reception for IWFS at Hillside House and will be later installed at Doongalik Studios for the rest of the month of May.

About Islands of the World Fashion Showcase:  Endorsed from its inception in 2008 by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), Islands of the World Fashion Week has been successful in fulfilling its mandate of promoting island designers from around the world and exposing them to international media and buyers.

The two-day event will showcase ten designers at each event representing island nations around the world, along with international designers. The event in May will highlight designer resort, sports and swim wear and accessories. November will feature designer couture, pret-a-porter and casual wear and accessories.

By Vanessa Clarke

If artists and politicians had a relationship status on Facebook, it would certainly read as “It’s Complicated”.

Art in its many forms has undeniable power, able to bring groups of people across social strata and cultures and even social beliefs together in an instant – just think of the myriad of pop culture musical references and local performances used in our political rallies. Did people really think Tina Turner would appear at an FNM rally? Did it matter once the turnout stretched beyond the eye? And how many undercover PLPs, DNAs or undecided voters attended – or attentively kept an eye on their TV screens at home – waiting to catch a glimpse of the beloved internationally-acclaimed musician? That’s some powerful art.

Yet local artists will openly admit feeling like the jilted sweetheart of their political paramours, finding a lack of funding for their endeavors and no certain systems for their craft that can only be put in place by politicians through law. The truth is being an artist in The Bahamas means paying 45 percent duty on your supplies, battling a one-dimensional view of Bahamian culture that is synonymous with Junkanoo, a lack of government-issued incentives to develop their craft (funding, scholarships, awards, residencies, gallery/performance spaces, public art initiatives) and the push for sun-sand-and-sea tourism over untapped cultural tourism.

On the other side, politicians balance the cries from the art community for such change with the ever-pervasive belief that art is a luxury. Such efforts often give only just enough to artists for boasting rights during election time, yet leave artists unsatisfied and often resentful. The unfortunate inability to commit wholly to the arts in all of its forms just continues to perpetuate the art-as-luxury idea instead of helping the public to realize the necessity of art to expand the definition of Bahamian/Caribbean culture and identity.

After all, here in The Bahamas, the major political parties are reduced to a single color to drive their campaigns – “Red Splash” and “Gold Rush”. And if that’s not art as the most basic, one-dimensional way to powerfully define Bahamian identity, then I don’t know what is.

Yet the resistance too from the political side comes from a long history of spats between artists and politicians – after all, art, as said before, is powerful, and when not in favor of the status quo can be quite problematic for authority figures defining issues for society in black-and-white terms or altogether pulling the wool over the public’s eyes. Through socially critical work, artists keep authority figures and societies honest, and complicate objective stances with subjective realities.

Take the work by artist Dionne Benjamin-Smith. In her earliest printmaking pieces, she explored the politics of the feminine in raw, honest linoleum-cuts that confronted viewers with its uncensored imagery and themes.

Now working in digital media and drawing more heavily from her graphic design background, she continues to make work that keeps authority on its toes. For that she’s been called an artist that expresses social commentary or a political artist, and has garnered equal shares of criticism and praise for her fearlessness and ability to present troublesome political decisions or social trends in clever representations, such as the “Black Crab Pledge of Allegiance” and “Bishops Bishops Everywhere But Not a Drop to Drink”.

“What drives me is speaking the truth – showing the naked emperor – so people can make their own decisions on how they view a situation,” said Benjamin-Smith. “I am constantly thinking about issues I see before me. I pray about them and I am often moved to express them in some way through the work. Hopefully, people will see the truth of a situation and that the authority figures will see that the people aren’t stupid. Hopefully, it helps bring truth to a world that is very messed up.”

Her latest collection of work, “Birthright for Sale” which was on display at Popopstudios Center for the Visual Arts during the Transforming Spaces 2011 tour, aimed to bring new perspective to recent political decisions regarding the sale of Bahamian land and Bahamian companies. Ripped-from-the-headlines issues such as the BTC sale to Cable & Wireless and the Mayaguana land sell-off are repackaged as everyday cheap Bahamian products like Mahatma Rice, Wesson Oil and Carnation Cream, shown as individual products then represented in ubiquitous food store ad placements, all shared on a loop of digital image slides to non-descript elevator music.

“All these huge swaths of land being given away for such little in return; it grieves me,” said Benjamin- Smith. “I’m witnessing these things and I wondered how to express this indignation, how to show people what’s being done because so many people don’t see. How do I express that our land is being sold away from under our feet?”

“The idea of them selling The Bahamas as a product came to me, selling these places that were and are special to me and is the birthright of me and my Bahamian brothers and sisters,” she continued. “I included the details of the transactions on each product so people could see the truth of the matter – that their birthright was being sold like a product off the shelf – for a pittance.”

Like in her earlier pieces, Benjamin-Smith brings the absurdities of reality to extremes in order to shake a response from her viewers. Indeed the pieces, critical of both politicians’ decisions to sell off Bahamian land like a cheap product and of the public for not holding them accountable, are a case of “laughing so as not to cry” – the product design itself is enough to weigh on any viewer’s conscience.

Indeed her work is a powerful voice in contemporary Bahamian art, being one of those artists who feel the responsibility to keep authority figures and their decisions in check for the greater good – and in a smart, respectful way, too. She even makes her pieces first and foremost for the people she’s questioning, allowing society at large to bear witness to such confrontation and find their own voice in the crossfire.

“I’m respectful of the position of authority, and God says to be so, however when they’re doing wrong or they’re not honoring or doing the things they need to be doing, then they need to be shown,” she said.

“I want them to see how their actions affect society. I’m always wanting the politicians to see – and to understand that they’re not doing these things in darkness, they’re not doing this without people seeing and knowing, and hopefully they will be convicted that some of their actions are hurtful and detrimental and affect people.”

With work like that by Benjamin-Smith, the fear shared by many politicians is always that the art itself will not supplement them and their decisions but rather come to define them or usurp them and become the center of controversy – and a force for social or political change – themselves.

Indeed when it comes to politics, often a single image can define an entire political movement or change – from J. M. Flagg’s 1917 Uncle Sam “I Want You” poster to Shepard Fairey’s 2008 Obama “Hope” poster, artists have been taking their social and political beliefs to the public eye. But whether to slant public opinion or shed truth on a matter, such work has great power that stays in the public’s consciousness throughout time – whether they consider such work fine art, tribute, or extreme propaganda.

Take a mural recently designed by Kishan Munroe, commissioned by the Democratic National Alliance candidate, Wayne Munroe. The impressive piece shows Wayne Munroe close to the front of a pack of people from a wide cross-section of Bahamian society walking in the glow of a lighthouse toward a better future, leaving catastrophe – in the symbol of a shipwreck and natural disasters – behind.

It’s easy to label the work as a piece of political propaganda, yet Munroe insists it’s an idea he’s been manifesting for some time during his travels abroad. As quite the global political and social activist, Munroe has traveled worldwide to find the source of the human experience which he reflects in his artwork. He’s attended protests for Occupy Wall Street and stood in solidarity with global groups calling for justice. Knowing this progressive background may be the difference between taking a cursory look at his mural and searching for the deeper meaning he always aims to incorporate into his work.

“The sketch wasn’t specifically for them, it was an idea I’ve always had, a theme I’ve always wanted to work with,” said Munroe. “Wayne Munroe has always supported my endeavors, and he wasn’t trying to take advantage of me for political reasons.”

“In the beginning he was only asking for something to beautify the place, and me being the artist that I am, I decided to take it to a totally different level, especially after my mural (on ‘Da Balcony’) burned down on Bay Street,” he continued. “I felt compelled to make a statement, another national statement about contemporary issues we have, and something that is more uplifting, relevant, and doesn’t sugar coat issues.”

So is it propaganda? Then again, it depends whose interests are being served, and how damaging that is to the wider public. Many may find the road signs sharing “abstinence-only” tips or blatantly declaring “homosexuals aren’t allowed into my kingdom” as problematic pieces of propaganda Bahamians see every day that perpetuate ignorance and hatred, however well-intentioned they may be by those who placed them in the public’s eye.

From the artist’s perspective, Munroe believes his piece doesn’t exist to gain DNA votes from the public – it’s a call to action to the Bahamian public in general, including politicians. After all, it’s only DNA-centered because the party commissioned it – he insists he would have made a similar mural had the FNM or PLP approached him instead.

“The message would still be the same, it would have the same feeling. The piece isn’t of Wayne Munroe; Wayne Munroe is of the piece,” he said. “I don’ feel it has that strong of a political implication because at the end of the day this is about the progression of a people to move forward.”

“That’s why he’s closer to the front – not right at the front – because he is of the people. But most of the dynamic figures are those before and behind him, because the composition overall comes from the motion of the people as one.”

Indeed, by no means is the poster one-dimensional: from the “in-between” orange hue mixing red and yellow, to the figures – worker, educator, planner – who all have a role to play to salvage society, to Wayne Munroe’s garb of half-lawyer, half-everyday man, the mural is an impressive call to arms to not only the public, but to politicians as well, to move through these turbulent times with a master plan to uplift the nation.

Indeed, to Munroe, everything we see and do is a political act whether we are consciously aware of it or not, and has consequences. For him, such work is a rarity in Bahamian culture, and he calls for artists to continue to make work that challenges its viewers with its social commentary.

“Any art is propaganda, because at the end of the day you’re trying to get people to respond to your thoughts, to what you believe and what you want the piece to say,” pointed out Munroe.

“It’s important for me to be able to not only share my international experiences but also to actually use a visual language to create an alphabet for Bahamians to understand. This is a visual language of globally turbulent times but it’s also a Bahamian dialect of a visual language they can understand.”

In the end, who can say when art crosses into the sphere of propaganda? If an artist’s work isn’t openly critical and rather praises a politician or a movement, then many may say such a tribute – like Munroe’s – is propaganda by nature. Is this fair? Must artists only be critical, or can they be in support of an idea without being blamed for selling themselves out?

A clever way to address political beliefs no matter what the alignment is through humor – and with the road to the 2012 election unfolding the way it has been with a exhausting amount of mudslinging and bipartisanship from three main political parties, there is no shortage of material for satire, as seen in the various comics or cartoons in the daily newspaper.

Especially in this digital age of social media where nothing escapes the public eye, the true ugliness of political races happen in real time – more so now than in any other time in history. For artist Damaso Gray, whose piece “The Amazing Spectacular Circus 2012” has been making the rounds this political season, the use of satire can keep things in perspective. In this outrageous piece, Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie battle it out on sea creatures while Branville McCartney observes from a distance, giving new meaning to “the silly season”.

“I wanted to bring humor to the occasion to enlighten the people of the grandeur of events in Bahamian history,” said Gray. “I feel that it was about time that we see politics from an unbiased and insightful point of view.”

“I think that the audience should see it as just that amusement rather than take it so seriously. I would hope the public sees the election campaign as it really is: a spectacle to amuse and gain the interest of the people at any cost, using multiple props and comedic mudslinging.”

Yet Gray also operates from a space of honoring history, recognizing his role as an artist often intersects with that of a historian, and makes his work accordingly. In the diptych, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide”, two elderly figures sit in front of two political signs – one for the PLP and one for the FNM. Gray points out that he wanted to show that these people are very set in their ways, but that the younger generation could “capitalize on their mistakes” to move the country forward.

In the end, he insists it’s important, once the viewer understand the humor in his work, to move past it and come to the realization that Bahamians have to be for Bahamians – not for a certain party.

“My work I would hope gives an unbiased report of the event and gains a humorous but rationale response where it is plausible to see the event retrospectively,” he said. “I would hope the public would embrace and appreciate the art as it is one of the greatest political battles in Bahamian history.”

“I would hope politicians value our opinions on the how we feel about the process. It is significant that they engage artist to document Bahamian history and I hope that they see it fit to create historical spaces for the arts.”

Indeed, at the root of every politically- or socially-minded piece – despite criticism, despite support, despite humor – is that very hope to be taken seriously as a member of the voting public who wishes to see a better Bahamas – a member of the voting public who sees the potential in Bahamian society and culture as still tragically untapped by their political caretakers.

For the artist, politics continues to offer a torrid affair, a constant balancing act what is and what could be, that irresistible urge to ask “what if?” even when presented with hopelessness. And if their work can help even one other member of the voting public not to decide who to vote for but to think beyond red, yellow and green, then perhaps they too can demand politicians of any party build that bridge between reality and dream together.

Sonia Farmer
Arts & Culture
The Nassau Guardian
Published: Saturday, May 5, 2012

Cabinet 3 with artworks by Robin Hardy. All of his wood sculptures feature local wood such as guinep or sapodilla.

The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) and the Nassau Airport Development (NAD) have partnered to beautify the airport. The inaugural exhibition occurred in 2011, with February 2012 marking its second rotation.

In charge of the project is Curatorial Assistant, Ashley Knowles, who curated 7 cabinets with the Curatorial team: Jackson Petit, Nastassia Pratt and Averia Wright. Each cabinet features works by different 3D artists.

Hoping to bring some diversity airport, Knowles intends to make a “call-for-artworks” for the September 2012 rotation encouraging all types of 3D artists to submit proposals.

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Too often, art classes act in an “academic vacuum” said College of The Bahamas art instructor, John Cox. To give his advanced students experience in the local art world and to “breathe life into the art program” at The College of The Bahamas, he helps them plan and carry out site-specific art pieces.

The latest location is the new building at The College of The Bahamas, the state-of-the-art Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre – fitting since Harry C. Moore was a lifelong patron of the arts.

“I think a lot of people don’t know what a supporter of the arts he was and these pieces bring attention to it,” said Cox. “It presents a present and future effort to make the library a monument to contemporary visual expression.”

Over the next few weeks, Arts&Culture will be examining the installations in this library by his Art 400: Advanced Painting students.

Often art pieces are more than what they initially seem.

Those who may have glimpsed the beautiful mural in the video section on the first floor of the Harry C. Moore Library and Information Center by Giovanna Swaby probably felt pleased by its pastel palette and cute imagery – until they explored the piece up close.

In the center, surrounded by painted fluff, lies a tiny video screen on a ten second loop of a dying [bug]. It seems arbitrary, but with a title like “I Keep My Eyes Fixed on the Sun”, Swaby offers an analysis on human behavior when faced directly with adversity.

“I decided to use bold and bright colors for positive happy images to catch the eyes – that’s where you’re supposed to look first, it’s to distract you from what’s really happening at the center and core of things,” Swaby explained. “It’s a metaphor really for how instead of directly managing an issue, you decide to cover it up or distract from it which in turn creates a bigger problem in the end.”

“It’s supposed to be ironic,” she pointed out. “I chose this space because when you walk in from the door you see it from far away. I don’t want the video to be the first thing you see. I’m hoping it attracts people to walk over and see and then discover the video.”

Displaying such a piece in the library of an academic institution gives it a whole other layer of meaning for Bahamian society at large, says the artist.

“I knew the piece was going to be in here so I wanted to do something relevant to the library and learning,” Swaby said.

“I feel like avoidance is a relevant issue in The Bahamas and in some ways how the country is governed – for example how the educational system is designed for regurgitation for a standardized test. There’s no learning going on because there’s no critical thinking, and we don’t directly address that issue.”

The piece was a challenge to construct in order to ensure the video doesn’t overheat, says Swaby, but the payoff is immense – the clash between a painted fairytale cartoon and the reflection of an ugly reality through a TV screen ensures its impact on unassuming viewers.

“I don’t really choose my medium, I come up with a concept or idea first and develop it from there,” she said. “I just thought it was a simple concept and that’s what I usually like to stick with and build around.”

Sonia Farmer
Arts & Culture
The Nassau Guardian
Published: Saturday, May 5, 2012