The University of the Virgin Islands RTPark hosted another installment of its “Art Thursday” series on Thursday, bringing together artists, educators, filmmakers and creatives for a wide-ranging discussion on how technology continues to shape artistic expression in the Virgin Islands.
Held at the AVICS Co-Working Space in downtown Christiansted, the event drew the largest crowd of the season, according to Sydney Paul, hostess and director of marketing for the RTPark.
“We’ve been doing a series for the entire season of our Art Thursdays from November to May, the third Thursday of every month,” Paul said. “The RTPark has been opening up our coworking space to the community to showcase the space itself, but also to provide a safe space for artists to have conversations with us around the intersection of art, technology and innovation.”
Paul also highlighted the organization’s broader mission as an economic development organization focused on business attraction and building a technology-centered ecosystem throughout the territory.
“Right now, through our program in the territory, there are over 70 knowledge-based companies operating in the territory today through the RTPark program,” she said.
According to Paul, the organization’s initiatives extend beyond attracting technology companies. She noted that RTPark supports STEM education, entrepreneurship programs and professional development opportunities for students at the University of the Virgin Islands.
Among the programs highlighted was the organization’s after-school STEM enrichment initiative, which this year expanded to serve every public school in the territory.
The evening’s panel featured photographer and archivist David Berg, visual artist and educator Eliana Schuster Brown, director, educator and filmmaker George Cannon III, and historian and photographer Stephanie Chalana Brown.
Throughout the discussion, panelists explored how modern technology has transformed the way they create, research and share their work.
Berg, owner of Blackwood Imaging, spoke about using digitized Danish West Indies archives and online databases to rediscover historical photographs connected to the Virgin Islands.
“A lot of my research and work has actually been done through digitized archives,” Berg said, explaining that advances in searchable databases have allowed him to uncover previously unknown images of the territory.
Brown discussed how digital access to colonial records has helped deepen her understanding of Virgin Islands history and identity.
“Technology has allowed me to access their records better,” Brown said. “You can just type in a keyword sometimes and find something. You have to go through logs of a whole year and thousands and thousands of pages, but through those pages you hit a lot of great information and stories.”
She also reflected on how online learning resources helped her develop photography skills while living on an island without large creative conferences or institutions.
“For all my photography people in here, I learned photography from the University of YouTube,” Brown said.
Schuster Brown shared how technology recently became part of her annual “Prolific” exhibition, which promotes local artists and creates opportunities for them to connect with the community.
“This year was the first year we were able to fully integrate technology, and we did augmented reality,” she said. “It’s the first exhibition in the Virgin Islands to ever do augmented reality.”
Cannon spoke about the role technology plays throughout the filmmaking process at Blue Tarp Productions and the Film over Gun Violence program, from preproduction planning to editing and postproduction.
“We use technology in our preproduction, in our production and our post,” Cannon said. “When are we not using technology?”
The panel also tackled concerns about artificial intelligence and whether emerging digital tools threaten traditional artistic practices.
Paul noted that debates surrounding technology and art are not new, comparing current conversations about artificial intelligence to the way photography once disrupted portrait painting.
“At one point, the camera and taking a photograph was a threat to portrait painters,” she said.
Panelists acknowledged both the opportunities and challenges that AI presents for artists and educators.
Brown, who works closely with young artists, expressed concern about students relying heavily on AI-generated artwork instead of developing foundational artistic skills.
During a recent student art challenge, she said many of the submissions appeared to have been created using AI.
“Everybody’s work looked the same because they just put it through AI,” she said. “AI has this distinctive look, and you can tell.”
Still, several panelists emphasized that technology itself is not inherently negative and can instead become another tool for creativity and storytelling.
Berg said accessibility to professional-quality tools has also changed perceptions around photography and creative work.
“I actually love the idea that now somebody can take an iPhone and create professional work,” Berg said. “People don’t always believe what is possible within themselves until technology gives them access to try.”
Cannon acknowledged how quickly technology — including AI — is changing creative industries.
The Art Thursday series continues through May as RTPark seeks to foster collaboration between artists, entrepreneurs and the broader community while introducing residents to the Co-Working Space and other RTPark initiatives.
For more information about RTPark programming and coworking spaces, visit the organization’s official social media platforms or website. To see the full discussion, click here.
