July 15: Artist Talk and Open Forum, La Vaughn Belle and Jeannette Ehlers

Join the artists on Sunday, July 15 at 4:30 p.m. at Bajo El Sol Gallery in Mongoose Junction for an artist talk and open forum featuring St. Croix artist La Vaughn Belle and Danish artist Jeannette Ehlers, creators of the “I am Queen Mary” project.

I am Queen Mary used a mix of traditional and high tech sculpture techniques to create a large scale temporary monument in Denmark, the point of departure for which is the historical figure Mary Thomas, an important leader of the ‘Fireburn’ labour revolt on St. Croix. The Fireburn began on October 1, 1878 as an uprising against the contractual servitude that continued to bind workers to the plantation system after the 1848 abolition of slavery in the Danish West Indies.

On March 31, Belle and Ehlers inaugurated their collaborative monument in Copenhagen and created a global conversation around Denmark’s colonial past, Queen Mary and the Fireburn and the impact of public art. The project was covered in over 100 media outlets, including the New York Times, the BBC, the Guardian, Time magazine and Le Monde, with an estimated reach of 1 billion people.

Sponsored by the USVI Department of Tourism and CHANT the artists have launched a three-island artist talk tour and public forum to engage with the Virgin Islands community about their project.

Come listen to the artists discuss their groundbreaking artwork, participate in an open discussion and find out what’s next for “I Am Queen Mary”.

For more information please contact: 340-332-6236 or info@iamqueenmary.com.