For proof positive that the arts are a-thriving, Havensight on St. Thomas is the place to be Friday evening. At the Port of Sale Mall end of the shopping expanse, the 12th annual Caribbean Colour art exhibition opens with a reception from 5 to 9 p.m. And just across the parking lots, from 6 to 9, the Havensight Mall Association is hosting one of its Dockside Jamboree celebrations with bands, mocko jumbies, quadrille dancers, and arts and crafts vendors showing their wares.
A total of 52 U.S. and British Virgin Islands professional artists — including a dozen from St. John — and 31 students have their works on display in the Caribbean Colour show, presented by the St. Thomas-St. John Arts Council. It's hanging in a long, white-walled passageway at the Wendy's end of Port of Sale, which installed track lighting for the occasion.
Caribbean Colour is unique among the territory's art shows in that it consists of self- selected works by as many artists as choose to take part. Each one can enter one work in as many as three of the four categories — oil paintings, water media (watercolor, gouache and acrylic), three-dimensional (sculpture, some collage) and other (pastel, pen and ink, charcoal, some mixed media, etc.). There's also a separately judged student category encompassing all media.
"It's a wonderful opportunity to get an overview of the tremendous talent our Virgin Islands artists represent — and of the excellent training our young people get in the territory's school art programs," Arts Council president Susan Edwards says. The opening reception, additionally, affords visitors the opportunity to meet virtually all of the exhibiting artists from St. Thomas and many from the other islands.
Edwards, who also chairs the Caribbean Colour Committee this year, adds, "I've taken part as an artist in most of the shows over the years, and this one is definitely of high quality with great diversity. And it's a great location!"
Prizes, sponsored by Diamonds International, MSI Building Supplies and The West Indian Company Ltd., will be awarded at the reception. Throughout the evening, thanks to a grant from the V.I. Council on the Arts, there will be music by the St. Thomas-St. John jazz ensemble Gbogbodada. Taking its name from an African language word for "Everything is everything," the group consists of Jay Robinson on flute, Eddie Bruce on guitar, Cliff Finch on bass and Amin Gumbs on drums.
Making music at various locations over on the Havensight Mall side will be Imaginations Brass, Sea Breeze and steelpan bands. The co-presenting mall association and the Committee to Revive Our Culture are promoting the event as a pre-Carnival occasion to "jump up, let loose and have fun." The sponsors are WICO, Hunter Food and Spirits (Mount Gay Rum) and Bellows International (Coors Light, Heineken).
Food and drinks will be available at both venues — complimentary hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar at the art show, and local foods and cold drinks for sale at the jamboree.
Of course, merchants in both malls will keep their doors open until 9 p.m. Those in Havensight will be offering merchandise for a drawing of door prizes, and at Caribbean Colour there'll be a raffle of donated items.
One incentive for the Friday night liveliness in the Havensight area is the fact that two large cruise ships are staying in port late — The Majesty of the Seas and the Ocean Princess. The goings on are thus an opportunity for residents not only to "mingle with family and friends," but also to "greet our hotel and cruise visitors with a warm and friendly smile and share in our island culture," Havensight Mall Association director Linda Pinson says.
Caribbean Colour is presented by the St. Thomas-St. John Arts Council, a not-for-profit, membership-based arts advocacy organization (not to be confused with the government's V.I. Council on the Arts — although it frequently is). After Friday's opening reception, the art show will hang Saturday through Tuesday, April 15-18, open to visitors from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. On Saturday, Addie Ottley will do a live remote audio tour of the visual treat from 3 to 4 p.m. on WSTA/Lucky 13.
Caribbean Colour opening receptions typically attract "quite a crowd," Edwards notes, "but serious shoppers will be able to return during the day to have a second look at their leisure." All of the works on exhibit are for sale. The Arts Council will take a 20 percent commission on purchases.
To learn more about the art show, call Edwards at 774-0105. For details on the Dockside Jamboree, call Pinson at 777-5313.
