Month: August 2011

Bahamian artist Dede Brown has added her own Caribbean flare to the Never Ending Mural project in Ipswich. She said; “the mural has become a very enthusiastic community driven project, involving many people living in the town. Having played a small part it is easy to see how this inspirational project has captured the town’s imagination”.

Over the past three months, four student artists at Popostudios have been exploring their creativity and experimenting with various art forms as they develop their skills. College of The Bahamas students Richardo Barrett, June Collie, Keva Fawkes and Alistair Stevenson are all Junior Residents at Popopstudios.

An exhibition of work by artists Bettina Furnee and Dede Brown, who have participated in an Artists in Residence Exchange between Ipswich and Popopstudios in The Bahamas, as part of Stories of the World, a project at the heart of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

At Popopstudios International Center for the Visual Arts, student artists are getting a chance to form their future artistic practice in a creative, experimental and educational atmosphere.

College of The Bahamas students Richardo Barrett, June Collie, Keva Fawkes and Alistair Stevenson were all selected by Popopstudios ICVA as their second set of Junior Residents, receiving studio spaces within which to produce their work from June to August.

Popop’s Dede Brown was featured this week in The Bahamian Art & Culture newsletter. Dede is currently participating in an Artists-in-Residence Exchange Programme in England, where she is working on a Junkanoo themed project exploring her “Bahamianness”.

Popopstudios newcomer – textile artist and quilt maker Jan Elliot recently had a quilt displayed at the Festival of Quilts Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham UK, which ran from 11 – 14 August. The piece, “Ostrich Syndrome”, was part of the NE5 exhibition at National Art Gallery of the Bahamas last year.

How many Bahamians can say they know their constitution and their fundamental rights? On the top floor of the Harry Moore Library and Information Center lies the law library if you want to educate yourself, but if you want to take a shortcut, make sure to look over Khia Poitier’s untitled mural in the same area. It’s hard to miss — against a background of vivid tangerine and silhouettes that span floor to ceiling, Khia presents chunks from the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual as outlined in the Constitution of The Bahamas.

It’s been a year of change for Bahamian artist Margot Bethel. After years of taking part in group shows in Nassau, she returns to the scene with her solo art show, “Departures”, opening at Popop International Center for the Visual Arts this evening.

“I think doing a solo show was a challenge I think I felt I needed to push myself towards,” she says. “For some reason, despite having a difficult year, I decided this would be the year for that.”