Artists, historians, and art curators are teaming up to present “Expressions of Heritage,” a free course about art in the Virgin Islands that begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Everyone is invited to attend the series of six weekly workshops, which will be held at the St. John School of the Arts.
“This series will explore different historical periods, art forms, and cultural movements, blending historical context with current contemporary creative practices,” said Priscilla Hintz Rivera Knight, one of the series organizers and presenters.
Knight will be leading off the series this Wednesday with an overview of the cultural diversity of the Caribbean, looking primarily at Indigenous, African, and European influences and traditional Creole art forms. Her presentation will include Taino artistic practices such as petroglyphs, ceremonial artifacts and symbolic motifs.
Each week presenters will delve into a different historical time period and relate it to works currently being produced. “From indigenous Taino artistry to the creative expressions of contemporary Virgin Islands artists, participants will uncover how art has been used to reflect identity, resilience, and cultural transformation,” Knight said.
Although each of the six sessions can be enjoyed on its own, participants are encouraged to sign up and attend all six workshops to “fully understand the historical trajectory of USVI art,” according to Knight.
The series is a collaboration between the St. John School of the Arts – now in its 44th year – and The Gri Gri Project, whose mission is “the creation of interpretive exhibitions, critical writing, events and archives related to the arts and cultural patrimony of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Caribbean region.”
The series is underwritten by Bill Pandos and his wife Margy Kaye who have a home on St. John. Pandos studied art first as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His career morphed from media and academic computing to arts administration, and he still serves on the boards of several arts organizations in the Midwest.
This past year Pandos became involved with the St. John School of the Arts and sponsored two arts classes – an advanced art course for youngsters and an art class for adults, according to Jeune´ Provost, executive director of SJSA.
As he learned more about the art produced in the Virgin Islands, Pandos began discussions with Priscilla Knight and her husband David Knight Jr., cofounders of The Gri-Gri Project and owners of Bajo El Sol Gallery and Art Bar. They worked together on the design of the course, which brings in presenters from St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John.
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, Priscilla Knight will discuss how the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean were documented by artists in the beginning of the modern period. Caribbean-born individuals who contributed to, countered and influenced the development of modern art movements and styles will be highlighted, she said. Her talk will include the significant presence of Camille Pissarro as a St. Thomas-born progenitor of Impressionism.
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, UVI arts instructor Shira Sofer will explore the legacy of enslaved Africans and their influence on Caribbean and Virgin Islands art forms, including paintings, sculptures, and spirituality, among other art forms. Sofer will highlight African cultural traditions and iconography in the creative expression of Virgin Islands artists.
LaVaughn Belle will be the featured presenter Wednesday, Feb 12. Belle became well-known in the Virgin Islands and throughout the world as a co-creator of “I Am Queen Mary,” “the groundbreaking monument that confronted the Danish colonial amnesia while commemorating the legacies of resistance of the African people who were brought to the former Danish West Indies,” according to Priscilla Knight.
Belle’s recent installation at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City — The House that Freedom Built — also stirred attention.
David Knight Jr. will lead the workshop held Feb. 19. His writing and photography have appeared in numerous publications, including ARC Magazine, The Caribbean Review of Books, Caribbean Beat, Caribbean Writer and Forgotten Lands. He is also the cofounding editor of Moko, a regional arts and literature journal based in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands.
The last workshop of the series, held Wednesday, Feb. 26., will be led by Monica Marin, a curator, artist, and educator from (and based in) St. Croix. She is currently the chief territorial curator for the Virgin Islands Libraries and Museums Department.
The workshops will be held at the St. John School of the Arts, a five-minute walk from the ferry dock at Cruz Bay. Workshop participants who live on St. Thomas can easily catch the 6 p.m. ferry from Red Hook to attend the series.
