NAGB Events: July 2008

The Nat'l. Art Gallery of The Bahamas
_______________________________________

Courtesy of SMITH + BENJAMIN's
Bahamian Art / Culture / Community Mailing Service
"uplifting the creative spirit of our community"

NAGB Needs Volunteers for the Summer

Hello Artists,

The National Art Gallery is in need of volunteers this summer to assist us with our Bahamian Concert Series and the Brazilian Film Series.

If you are interested or know of anyone who is - or if you have any queries - kindly email at your earliest opportunity Miss Erica James, Director of the NAGB at emjames@nagb.org.bs.

Thanks so much for your help and support.

--
National Art Gallery of The Bahamas
gallery tel: [242] 328.5800/1
gallery fax: [242] 322.1180
gallery eml: info@nagb.org.bs
gallery web: http://www.nagb.org.bs/

Popop Art Conversation with... Jeanne Chiang: Wed. Jun. 25

POPOP STUDIOS center for the visual arts
invites you to an art conversation with...
artist-in-residence - JEANNE CHIANG

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 7pm

(located at 26 Dunmore Avenue, Chippingham)

Carifesta X - Call to Artists & Artisans

Dear All:

The Department of Culture is earnestly seeking to increase the number of authentic Bahamian craft items at Carifesta X in 2010.

More space has been given to the Bahamian contingent and the Department wishes to make the presentation as stunning and culturally rich as possible.

If you know of an artist or artisan who might be interested in having their items both displayed and sold at Carifesta X, please contact Melissa Allen at 326-0204 or at 326-0147; Wendel Demeritte at 326-0147 or at 326-0149; or Angelique Mckay at geliquesmck@yahoo.com as soon as possible.

Items include (but are not limited to): Books, Reproductions of paintings, DVDs, CDs, Jewellery, Shell crafts, Straw goods (various
styles), T-Shirts, Clothing, Carvings, etc.

Please pass the word.

Sincerely,
Erica M. James
Director
National Art Gallery of The Bahamas
West and West Hill Streets
P.O. Box SS-6341
Nassau, N.P.
The Bahamas

T: 242.328.5800/1 ext.227
Fax: 242.322.1180
Eml: emjames@nagb.org.bs (or) walklikeagiant@gmail.com

New Bahamian ArtWorks Store

Popop Artist Talk: Natalia Vasquez - Wed. May 28

Popop Studios : Center for the Visual Arts
invites you to attend an

art conversation

with Popop's Artist-in-Residence

Natalia Vasquez

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 @ 7pm
Popop Studios : Center for the Visual Arts
26 Dunmore Avenue, Chippingham
tel: 242.322.7834
www.popopstudios.com

D’Aguilar Art Foundation

The D’Aguilar Family is proud to announce the formation of the D’Aguilar Art Foundation, an organization that will honor the legacy of Bahamian art patron Vincent Y. D’Aguilar. Vincent D’Aguilar was a pioneer Bahamian art collector who supported the development of the visual arts of The Bahamas for over 30 years, by assisting Bahamian artists through the purchase of their art works, and by giving artists encouragement and criticism to take risks in their artistic endeavors.

The goals of the D’Aguilar Art Foundation are as follows:

* To establish a travel grant program to expose young Bahamian artists to original works of art around the world. In this connection, The D’Aguilar Art Foundation will launch its “Global Discovery Program” to provide travel grants to Bahamian art students at the tertiary and post-graduate level. The grant will contribute to the costs of airfare and accommodations, so that young artists have the opportunity to visit museums and galleries abroad. Vincent D’Aguilar believed strongly in the powerful impact of seeing works of art in person. Accordingly, the Foundation hopes to encourage young artists to view a wide spectrum of important art works around the globe.

* To preserve and stabilize the D’Aguilar Art Collection, which presently includes approximately 450 art works by Bahamian artists. The collection will be accessible to art students, scholars, collectors, and other visitors on an appointment basis once the Foundation’s new premises open in December 2008.


* To continue to support Bahamian artists and aspiring artists, by selectively purchasing art works that complement and expand the current D’Aguilar Art Collection.

* To loan art works from the D’Aguilar Collection to suitable art exhibitions and other appropriate venues, especially those that promote the Bahamas and Bahamian artists.

The D’Aguilar Art Foundation will launch its “Global Discovery Program” with a cocktail party and art exhibition at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm on Thursday, June 19th, 2008. The art exhibition continues on the following day from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Tickets priced at $25 will be available at the door or from BIFF (call 356-5939 for information).

“Hidden Treasures from the D’Aguilar Collection”, a selection of 25 private family art works, will be exhibited during the cocktail party. This event will be held in conjunction with the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) as a precursor to the “Big Screen Art Scene” fundraising event, which is being held at Popopstudios Centre for Visual Arts (PCVA) on June 21st, 2008. BIFF will donate part of the proceeds from the Big Screen Art Scene to the D'Aguilar Art Foundation.

For further information, please contact Saskia D'Aguilar, sds.bahamas@yahoo.com, or 357-9263.

NAGB Discussion: What Do Artists Want? - Thu. May 22

National Art Gallery of The Bahamas
gallery tel: [242] 328.5800/1
gallery fax: [242] 322.1180
gallery eml: info@nagb.org.bs
gallery web: http://www.nagb.org.bs/

What's in a sign?

I find some signs in The Bahamas are quite interesting and attractive. I especially like the hand-painted art signs found around these islands. View signs of The Bahamas at Flickr:

Bahamas Signs 1
Bahamas Signs 2

"Decorative Artworks" - Opening Wed. Apr. 30

The Ladder Gallery
presents

Decorative Artworks
Work by Del Foxton

Opening Reception:
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 7pm
at the New Providence Community Centre
Blake Road & JFK Drive

Visit The Ladder Gallery WebSite
_______________________________________

Courtesy of SMITH + BENJAMIN's
Bahamian Art / Culture / Community Mailing Service
"uplifting the creative spirit of our community"

Funding The Arts

By THEA RUTHERFORD, Guardian National Correspondent, thea@nasguard.com


When a great artist dies, his influence inevitably lives on. And when the art community mourns, its tears flow into memories that beg for something more inspiring than an epitaph or a statue in his memorial. They beg for continuance, for a way to honor the fallen that mirrors the passion that permeated their lives.

And so it was with the late Brent Malone, a chameleon of an artist who could not be pinned to any one genre, but seemed to rediscover himself as an artist and re-opened the minds of his audience throughout his life.

Malone's death, so much like his life, has inspired an avenue for young artists to follow their dreams of becoming artists who would not have to separate creating art from making a living. Shortly after his memorial service in late February 2004, Malone's family and friends worked with the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas to establish an Artist-in-Residence Program in his honor. The Brent Malone Artist-in-Residence Program would be awarded to a promising Bahamian artist each year, giving the individual the crystalline opportunity to work solely on art.

Read Full Story

Edible Artwork by Culinary Artists

i m a g i n e t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s . . . .

Beautiful cakes and fabulous food for great parties and special
events....

Edible Artwork by the Culinary Artists of
www.bahamasdreamcakes.com

:: Visit us today at - http://www.bahamasdreamcakes.com/
:: Email us at - possibilities@bahamasdreamcakes.com
:: Call us at - (242) 328-7832

Photos of the 1st Annual Authentically Grand Bahamian Spring Festival

Photo: Robbin Whachell



The Annual Authentically "Grand" Bahamian Gift and Craft Festival was held on Friday, April 4th at 6pm at Taino Beach, and was a huge success. Artisans from Grand Bahama and throughout The Bahamas were on hand to show off their wares. Participants were judged during the event and Grand Bahama Ministry of Tourism has announced the winners.

Read Full Article

Philip A. Burrows - Accomplished Bahamian director, actor, producer

By FESTIVAL STAFF WRITER, For the Guardian

Philip A. Burrows was born in Nassau, Bahamas on December 10, 1956. He is an accomplished Bahamian director, actor and producer. Mr. Burrows is a 1974 graduate of Aquinas College where he was the most active participant in the National Arts Festival. At that time Aquinas was a force to be reckoned with in festival, under the leadership of Andrew Curry and Father Chapman.

Mr. Burrows is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. He served as the Artistic and Resident Director of the Dundas Repertory Season from its beginning in 1981 through 1997. Mr. Burrows left The Bahamas in 1997, for three years, to introduce and teach a Theatre Arts program at Lester B. Pearson College in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

As an actor, he has appeared in Edward Albee's "Zoo Story", Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" and Lyle Kessler's "Orphans" in Nassau; and in New York, he played, among others, the role of 'Alton' in Lorraine Hansberry's "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window".

His first appearance at the Dundas was in 1976 as a member of the Nassau Amateur Operatic Society in "Hello Dolly", and then in 1977, he appeared in their production of "Finian's Rainbow". He later put his musical ability to work as co-director of E. Clement Bethel's "Sammie Swain" and of the first Bahamian opera, "Our Boys". Of the latter he was also responsible, with Winston Saunders, for the libretto.

Mr. Burrows has been steadfast in his commitment to the cultural development of our nation.

In August 1991, he headed the contingent of some 30 performers, which took part in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where under his direction, the first production of "Music of the Bahamas" was staged. For the Ministry of Tourism, he directed three Cacique Award ceremonies. He also wrote and directed "Bahamian Rhapsody" which was performed at the Apollo Theater in New York.

Mr. Burrows was also responsible for the co-direction of the 20th and 25th "Anniversary of Bahamian Independence" productions staged on Clifford Park, and he directed the 30th anniversary production. His television credits include "Quincentennial Update"; the Bahamian game show "Brainstorm", of which he was creator and executive producer; and the television program "Guess Who's Cooking" of which he is director, producer and editor. He also served as producer for the video production of "Music of The Bahamas", "The National Art Gallery . . . A Work of Art" and "The Bahamian Macbeth". In October 2001 he made his film-directing debut with the production of the Bahamian film "Powercut".

Mr. Burrows has been instrumental in exposing other Bahamians to the theater and the many opportunities that this artistic form offers. He has brought a number of original works to the Bahamian stage, most notably, "You Can Lead A Horse to Water", "No Seeds in Babylon", "Powercut", "Father's Day", and "I, Nehemiah, Remember When..". He has also held numerous acting workshops, both in Nassau and in Freeport.

Visit Philip's WebSite

POPOP Artist Talk: Lynn & Holly Parotti

PopopStudios
presents an Artist's Talk by Artists
Lynn and Holly Parotti

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
PopopStudios Gallery at 7pm
Dunmore Avenue, Chippingham
Nassau
__________________________________

Courtesy of SMITH + BENJAMIN's
Bahamian Art / Culture / Community Mailing Service
"uplifting the creative spirit of our community"

Bahamian Entertainers

Find out about our Bahmian entertainers, past & present.



Bahamian Entertainers at Native Stew.Com
Musicians & Entertainers of The Bahamas
ThoughtKatcher Enterprises

Doongalik NewsLetter - April - 2008

View Doongalik NewsLetter - April - 2008

NAGB Events: April 2008

Courtesy of SMITH + BENJAMIN's
Bahamian Art / Culture / Community Mailing Service
"uplifting the creative spirit of our community"

NAGB Events: March 14-27, 2008

Courtesy of SMITH + BENJAMIN's
Bahamian Art / Culture / Community Mailing Service
"uplifting the creative spirit of our community"

E. Clement Bethel—Champion of the Nation's Arts

By: THEA RUTHERFORD, Guardian National Correspondent, thea@nasguard.com


Long before the National Arts Festival was named in his honor in 2005, the late E. Clement Bethel had been a national champion of the arts.

Inside all children lives some sort of talent, some sort of treasure of the ears or eyes or mind. And knowing this, Edward Clement Bethel always sought it out. A classically trained concert pianist himself, he teased beautiful music out of children still young enough to play in the streets, and molded their natural talents into awe-inspiring works of art. Beauty came after people had been stretched beyond what they had limited their own natural capacities to.

"He always said children will do anything you challenge them to do if you nurture them and support them, and it was amazing the music he would get out of these youngsters," said his widow Dr. Keva Bethel.

As a man who strived on testing the elasticity of musical talent in others, Bethel spent a gulp of his relatively short life spreading himself generously across the surface of arts and culture in The Bahamas.

Penetrating this colorful surface almost daily, Bethel unearthed the power of culture and the arts to move the human spirit to greatness. He wove what he found into the choirs he directed and entered into the Music Festival (which eventually became the National Arts Festival), into the students that he nurtured and into the works that he composed and preserved. He did all of it with a sense of urgency, the shadow of early death hovering over his shoulders. His family had suffered from a congenital kidney illness, and his own father had died at the age of 39. He would outlive all but one of his five siblings.

"This whole specter of potential early death gave him a tremendous sense of urgency about doing what he wanted to do – realizing the dreams that he had not only for himself but for The Bahamas in terms of artistic expression," said Dr. Bethel.

There was lots to do, a whole generation of people to draw notes out of, to keep invaluable cultural traditions alive.

Bethel was awarded a scholarship from the Bahamas Government, which he used for advanced studies in piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1957. He would later receive a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship to pursue a Master's degree in ethnomusicology at the University of California Los Angeles in 1976.

By the time he returned to London to study piano performance in 1964, he had married his wife Keva and had one young daughter Nicolette. When he returned at the end of his studies, he saw his 7-month old son Edward for the first time. "He was extremely attached to his family," said Dr. Bethel. "He loved his children. He loved me."

Bethel's love was deep and filled with contagious laughter. Even as he lay in his hospital bed before his death in 1987 at the age of 49, his widow remembers the way he would make the nurses laugh. "He loved people and was interested in them," she said.

His interest easily translated into an ear for talent and a commitment to national development, crystallized by the excitement of the Independence era. His choirs of singers of all ages were cannons of cultural pride for an infant nation crawling onto a battlefield of social change.

"In a sense it was an extraordinary privilege for people of our generation to have this very unique opportunity to contribute to these important social movements, and to watch so many things unfold that had not been possible before."

Ever the classical pianist, Bethel performed a number of concerts throughout his life. He also conducted orchestras and had directed the Nassau Renaissance Singers. He authored the evolution of his own work "Sammie Swain," a ballet that he wrote in 1968 for the Cultural Olympics held in Mexico City. The work became a folk opera that was performed during the Independence celebrations a few years later.

Bethel served the education system for most of his life. He taught at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels before becoming education officer for music and eventually cultural officer.

"He got school bands in most of the high schools. In the primary schools they got a lot of instruments. And he fought to have specialist music teachers in all of the schools." Bethel also established the National School of Dance.

As an adjudicator for the National Arts Festival, he witnessed talent around the country first-hand. "One of the things that was very, very significant for Clement was going around for the adjudication for the National Arts Festival to all the different islands of The Bahamas. He became very, very enamored of his country."

He was appointed director of a newly formed Department of Cultural Affairs, a post he occupied until his death.

The arts permeated Bethel's life and colored his friendships. And in his earlier life he dabbled in them all. He painted. He wrote.

As dawn began to fade on the life he always suspected would come to an early end, he said to his wife: "I've actually lived longer than I thought I probably would ... I have done most of the things that I would have liked."

By that time, Bethel had already triggered a never-ending salute to the omnipotence of music and the immortality of the arts in the country that would outlive generations.