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HomeNewsArchivesSCENE & HERD -- APRIL 18, 2000

SCENE & HERD — APRIL 18, 2000

ANOTHER HEADY AFFAIR: The new owners at Blackbeard's Castle are keeping the old custom of hosting an Easter Bonnet Contest — and, of course, it's coming up this Sunday. Dave Abers, managing partner of The Inn at Blackbeard's, as the hotel/restaurant complex has been rechristened, says the event "will have the same format, with prizes for the most elegant, most creative and most humorous hats, with a separate kids' competition" open to those up to the age of 12. Prizes will include off-island trips, local hotel and restaurant certificates and cash awards, he says.
Judging will take place at a parade around pool set to begin at 2 p.m. There's no entry fee, and competitors can sign up earlier in the day, Abers says. The traditional Easter Sunday brunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and "Reservations are already coming in quickly," he says. It will feature a limited a la carte menu, plus entertainment by resident guest artist Richard Berman on piano and Darr Conradson on vocals.
By Abers' reckoning, this will be the 13th year for the bonnet contest, under three restaurant ownerships. To learn more, call 776-1234.
THE ART OF RECYCLING: Maho Bay Camps environmental artist-in- residence Larry Livolsi arrived on St. John last week and is into his busy two-week schedule demonstrating and involving others in creative ways to recycle not only glass and aluminum but also No. 1 and No. 2 plastic containers.
Livolsi, founder of Lorenz Studios in Lakeside, Conn., developed Maho Bay's innovative glass and aluminum recycling programs in the '90s. In recent years he demonstrated glass-blowing and provided a crusher at the resort for others to recycle their bottles for that purpose. Now he has come up with a plastic remanufacturing program that is being incorporated into the resort's recycling system.
He brought with him a plastic shredder, a melting tank and molds made from recycled aluminum that he and others are using to create artistic and functional items from discarded plastic jugs, bottles and other containers. Here's the remaining schedule for his free demonstrations and workshops, alternating among glass, aluminum and plastic recycling, at Maho Bay.
Tuesday, April 18 — plastics, 10 a.m. to noon; aluminum, 2 to 3 p.m.
Wednesday, April 19 — plastics, 10 a.m. to noon; glassblowing, 2 to 4 p.m.; slide show presentation in the camp dining pavilion, 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, April 20 — plastics, 10 a.m. to noon; aluminum, 2 to 4 p.m.; "Meet the Artist" wine tasting and glass signing, in the pavilion, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Friday, April 21 — set up equipment for Earth Day demonstrations in Cruz Bay.
Saturday, April 22 — participation in Earth Day celebration in Cruz Bay, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday, April 25 — plastic, 10 a.m. to noon; glassblowing, 2 to 4 p.m.
Wednesday, April 26 — glassblowing, 10 a.m. to noon; aluminum 2 to 4 p.m.; slide show presentation, dining pavilion, 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, April 27 — plastics, 10 a.m. to noon; glassblowing, 2 to 4 p.m.
School classes and other groups are welcome to attend any of the sessions. To learn more, telephone 776-6226 and ask for environmental resources manager Ginger Kreofsky.
WHO'LL SHINE AT STARFEST VI: The line-up of talent for the 6th annual Reichhold Center for the Arts talent revue is a long one, with the emphasis, more than ever, on youth. There'll be a young new emcee, too, with University of the Virgin Islands theater freshman George Silcott Jr. taking over where Robert Luke left off after the first five fests.
David Edgecombe is still the man in charge, with Josephine Thomas-Lewis back again as music director, Malaysia Rabsatt as choreographer, Rose Maduro as costume mistress and Melissa Neille and Shenique Bridges as production managers.
Here's who's on tap for the three Mother's Day weekend shows:
Among the singers, there'll be Delyno "Pressure" Brown and Rafael "Rafi Jah Siano" Gris, both from Charlotte Amalie High School, doing a reggae duet; April "Jewel" Jackson and Marsha Rawlins, singing gospel; Shenica Grant, Eugene Kuntz, Christopher "Switcha Cat" Moron and Antonet Petersen-Biscombe, singing rhythm 'n' blues; Kenrick Augustus, singing reggae; and Chevonne Richards. The University of the Virgin Islands duet Duce, comprising Shaneel Richards and Petrani Cornelius, will also sing r&b.
Taking their turns in the spotlight dancing will be Ashley "Fire Bash" Frett, Elizabeth Pichardo; and mocko jumbies Phillip Bernier and Natasha Moolenaar.
Divina Muse-Hart will present a dramatic reading.
And helping to segue from one segment to the next will be the STARfest VI dancers — Jade Pilgrim from Addelita Cancryn; Johanie Taylor from Sts. Peter and Paul; La'Monique Morris, Shalani Vanterpool, Cubie-Ayah George and Chanika-Chisa George from CAHS; and Shana Rivera, Kinila Callender, Devany Blyden and Shaneal Gilard from UVI.
Based on an audience opinion poll to determine favorite performers from past STARfests, this year's show will feature as guests artists gospel vocalist Yolandita "Landi" Jackson, r&b singer Terence Gumbs and comedian/roller blader extraordinaire Robert Luke.
Performances are May 13-15. Tickets are $20 (covered section), $12 and $8, with discounts available for students, STARfest alumni, seniors and groups. They may be purchased at the Reichhold box office (call 693-1559 for hours) or via charge card on the Reichhold web page at www.reichholdcenter.com.
HANG-UPS AT EVERY TURN: In the midst of pre-Carnival mania on St. Thomas, an interesting phenomenon has occurred. There are five new art shows up — two of them photography, in both cases black and white. And while the biggest of the lot is about to come down again Wednesday, the artists represented have the option of moving their works en masse to another site.
Here's a brief walk by what's on the walls:
Mango Tango in Al Cohen's Plaza is showing paintings by Luis Kean and a few paintings but mainly found-object sculptures and a spin-the-wheel game by his nephew, Jon Euwema. Gallery owner Jane Coombes came up with the title "Is It Genetic?" for the show because these creative kin share a penchant for finding their own way in terms of both subject matter and interpretation.
Both got early art instruction from Luis' aunt Aline Kean, who at 98 still paints, and who was at the opening reception on April l 9. Luis went off to New York as a young man to study art then returned to St. Thomas where he taught for a while at the old Wayne Aspinall Junior High School. Most people who didn't know him back then have come to know him until recently as the helpful produce clerk at the Sub Base Pueblo.
But there are no still lifes with bananas or grapes in this show. Actually, Kean has one still life, but its most compelling component is a big green frog. His 16 paintings, all oil on canvas, cover a lot of artistic territory — several clearly "after Picasso," a couple of representational seascapes (one with floating fish across the sky), a traditional nude and several abstract group nudes.
And then there are the pieces that Coombes likes the best: two works that resemble cut- paper collage, depicting in monotones land, water, distant hills and sky — one titled "Eclipse of the Moon" and the other, a triptych, "Eclipse of the Sun" — and a complex painting Kean calls "Storm from the Plane." This one has the look of a giant blue mushroom cloud or massive waterspout suffused with electrical energy suspended over the sea.
The "real Luis," Coombes says, "paints art from the heart. He doesn't choose colors to go with somebody's sofa."
Kean's nephew, Euwema, meantime, makes a living in architectural design while indulging his muse in the visual as well as performing arts. Both his paintings and his sculptures in the show see
m to radiate the synergy of dynamics and mechanics that are the essence of good architecture. The five paintings feature cartoon characters in sci-fi settings. The two largest canvases, about 4 x 5 feet, depict the same little humanoid astride huge fantasy beasts on land and at sea having a "Transportation Problem" as inflatable inner tubes go zipping off into the distance.
Euwema plays coy when asked to interpret their significance. "They're just cartoons, about guys with a transportation problem," he says.
Fifteen of his 16 sculptures are smallish concoctions of creatures who are alien but friendly, often with endearing light bulb or marble eyes. "Valvehead" and "Brother from Uranus" especially are as cuddly as works made of old pipes, wire, skulls and other skeletal segments, feathers, glass and the like can be. "San Fly," a free-standing critter with a scuba regulator as head and torso, is similarly inviting.
The opening reception was a happening. "Jon physically spent all day before the opening rearranging the furnishings in the gallery," Coombes says. Both artists wielded the other kind of paintbrushes, coating walls and wooden pedestal cubes in white. Peter Kemmler, who had a show of his own at the Mango Tango recently, helped reposition the track lighting.
There was guitar and percussion music, with Jon himself, stained-glass artist Shomo and Wize Gize member Jake Adams taking turns on the congas. Clan members who came calling included, in addition to Miss Aline, UVI president Orville, Josie, Cami and Allegra Kean; Jon's mother and Luis' twin sister, Luisa Euwema; Jon's father, Roland Euwema; and Jon's brother Jeffrey, who came over from Puerto Rico for the occasion.
The Color of Joy in American Yacht Harbor had an opening Thursday for a showing by a photographer who has not previously exhibited locally, B. Greg Miller. He's not the Agave Terrace owner but a civil engineer who came to St. Thomas from New Hampshire in 1992 on a six-month assignment with a Public Works road construction project that lasted for 18. By the time it was over, Miller had closed his stateside business and settled in permanently in the territory, eventually forming what today is BGM Engineers and Surveyors on St. John.
This, of course, doesn't explain his interest in photography, or the significance of the works in the show. Here's where they come in: Miller has always loved to travel, and for a number of years he has been a volunteer with Engineering Ministries Inc. (EMI), a not-for-profit organization that provides short-term engineering and architectural services to developing countries. His volunteer stints — typically for two weeks at a time — have taken him to Bolivia, Borneo, Haiti, India and the Philippines. Having always been interested in photography, he found "it was a natural to photograph the people and places that I have visited."
Gallery owner Corinne Van Rensselaer decided to call his show "The Colors of Black and White." While this might suggest cultural diversity, which is evident in the subject matter, that's not what the title refers to. The "colors" are the bright-hued, raw-edged cloths that he hand-dyes and uses as broad borders behind his white-matted pictures that are framed in simple brushed aluminum or black. Many of the photos are thus embraced by hot pink, serene aqua or sunny yellow, often with shading or secondary color effects. Two photo studies of V.I. Carnival celebrants are wrapped in red and yellow batik streaks.
There are 20 pieces in the show, all priced at $500 and all but one black and white. The lone color photo is hung directly above a nearly identical black-and-white image shot across the Fort Christian Museum courtyard. See for yourself which one you like better. The show also includes a scene at Hull Bay beach, several architectural pieces, a half dozen-fishing boat or beach scenes and another half-dozen people studies.
Miller, whose next EMI adventure will be in Zambia, uses a Nikon 8008 camera and usually shoots with 100 ASA film. He doesn't do his own developing and printing but is fortunate to have found a stateside processor he can trust — one recommended by longtime St. Thomas photographer Bob Coates. "Black and white photography is now an art form, like everything else done by hand," Miller observes.
Gladys' Cafe in Royal Dane Mall is the venue for St. Thomas photographer Dale Hendricks' retrospective showing that also opened last week — of 27 black and white pictures he took between 1968 and 1979. He calls the exhibit "Spirit of Virgin Islanders Captured on Film" but also tags some of the pictures "Still Alive," although most of their subjects no longer are.
These are people studies, with the camera's eye often locked on those of the mostly solitary subjects, but sometimes opting for views from behind instead. The latter include a man with a cane looking out over St. Thomas harbor, a woman walking along the waterfront with a shopping bag in one hand and a fresh fish gripped by the tail in the other, and another of a man seated on a box atop a bucket near the bow of an inter-island boat, again gazing out to sea. Four pieces all titled "Granny"depict two different women in their domestic settings.
There's one grouping of three pictures of men who are not eyeing the photographer. One looks heavenward, arms akimbo; another in a captain's cap directs his barker's hustle to unseen visitors; and a third just conveys a cheerful demeanor in his crisply pressed long-sleeved shirt and slacks.
You have to be an old timer yourself to recognize most of Hendricks' subjects, except for "Ms. Sandy," the identified portrait of longtime Market Square vendor Sanderilla Thomas, looking sassy in her head wrap. The less-knowledgeable viewer is left to wish there were a way to know more about these people captured on film going about their daily business. The 12 x 14 silver-print photographs, matted in white, framed in black and hanging on the restaurant's exposed-brick walls, are priced from $95 to $250.
Cuzzin's Restaurant on Back Street is the showplace for St. Thomas painter Marsha Stein's 5th annual Carnival exhibit, as it has been for the previous four. This year's offerings are 17 acrylics, again displayed on exposed brick walls. Eleven of them depict the high- stepping mocko jumbies for which the artist is known. The others comprise a view of Hotel 1829, a townscape overlooking St. Thomas harbor, a sugar mill, a cottage in a floral setting and two panoramas looking from one island across serene waters to others on the horizon.
In the case of one seascape, the largest piece in the show, Stein has painted an extension of the imagery onto the plain wood frame in which the canvas is recessed. It's an interesting effect — in essence, the opposite of the traditional frame, which serves to restrict and contain the art inside.
Adding a new element to this year's show is a 19-inch ceramic plate featuring mocko jumbies in parade that's a collaboration between Stein, who painted the images, and ceramist Lynn Piccassi-Berry, who formed and fired the piece. "This plate is one of six that are completed in a series that is under design for Carnival 2000," Stein says. Both artists have studios in Tillett Gardens.

The 12th annual Caribbean Colour exhibition of 108 works by 52 adult artists and 31 students is open to viewing Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Port of Sale Mall in Havensight (see separate story under "Showcase"). But when the show, sponsored by the St. Thomas-St. John Arts Council, comes down Wednesday, it won't necessarily just fade away.
Rhoda Tillett has invited the exhibiting artists to move their works en masse to the Tillett Gallery, provided that they're prepared to enter into the standard consignment contract which specifies the standard gallery commission of 40 pe
rcent on the purchase price. That double what the Arts Council is taking, but Caribbean Colour this year is only a five-day show, whereas in years past the works have hung for a month.
"It's time to get something different in the gallery," Tillett says. "Whether we hang the pieces downstairs or upstairs [in the old Pennysaver offices above the new Pistarckle Theater] will depend on how many artists want to make the move." For those who do, she adds, "people who weren't able to get to the Havensight hanging can still see the works from the show."
TO BE SEEN: Scene & Herd previews arts and entertainment events open to the public on St. Thomas and St. John. To have material considered for inclusion, provide it in writing by the Sunday before desired publication date. Fax to 776-4812 or e-mail to jetsinger@viaccess.net.

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