Today on “Blank Canvas,” host Amanda Coulson is joined by returning guests Michael Edwards, UB Art Faculty and co-host of “Blueprint for Change” and Dr. Ian Bethell-Bennett, Associate Professor at the University of The Bahamas, who expound on Expo 2020 Dubai and the opportunities afforded young Bahamians through this initiative.
It’s an all-female cast in the “Blank Canvas” studio this week. Joining your regular host, NAGB Director Amanda Coulson, are Lauren Holowesko, Director of The Island House boutique hotel on the West End of New Providence (left), and Natascha Vasquez (right), the Creative Arts Programming Manager at The Current, studio and gallery at Bahamar. Natascha is also a painter who is having her first solo show at home in The Bahamas at The Island House this Friday, December 1st.
On this week’s “Blank Canvas,” we have the opportunity to learn more about the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and their activities in The Bahamas and the region through Gevon Moss, their local Civil Society Liaison and Resource Planner. Aside from their general activities, he’ll speak to their recent annual meeting in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, from November 8-9, examining sustainable development in the region.
On tonight’s “Blank Canvas,” joining host Amanda Coulson are Allan Jones, an emerging creative and photographer whose exhibition, A Gull’s Eye View, is on view until November 19th at the University of The Bahamas (UB); Suhayla Hepburn, a UB English Major, who will be participating in a Poetry Night as part of the End of Year Show collaboration; Keisha Oliver, UB Assistant Professor, who has been coordinating and promoting the Pro Gallery; and Matthew Rahming, a UB Art Major who has been assisting with installations at the Pro Gallery.
Joining us on this week’s “Blank Canvas” is curator Marina Reyes Franco from Puerto Rico, who is currently traveling around different nations in the region as this year’s recipient of the 2017 Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) Travel Award for Central America and the Caribbean, a joint effort between the CPPC Travel Award and Independent Curators International (ICI).
On tonight’s “Blank Canvas,” we re-visit with young Bahamian photographer, Melissa Alcena. Alcena has already made a strong impression on the local art scene, with her involvement in the recent exhibition at the D’Aguilar Art Foundation in the group show “Diversions,” which is on view until November 7th. She now embarks on, “Some (re)assembly required,” her first solo exhibition in The Bahamas at the NAGB’s Project Space, where visitors can get a deeper understanding of her photography practise.
Joining Amanda in the “Blank Canvas” studio this week is a new media artist, David Gumbs, who was born in Saint Martin and, since 2009, has been teaching multimedia, trans-media and motion design at the Visual Arts School in Fort-de-France, Martinique.
Returning to “Blank Canvas” are two young Bahamian artists who, until now, have been known as ceramicists. Averia Wright, completed her BFA in Ceramics at the University of Tampa, returned home to work at the NAGB for 4 years as an Assistant Curator, and is now completing her masters (MFA) in “Expanded Practice” at Ohio University. Spurgeonique Morley received a BA in Art Education from UB and was one of the first year of graduates under the newly-formed university. As a practicing artist she has presented at the NAGB, in Transforming Spaces and at Hillside House, among other locations.
Tonight’s “Blank Canvas” sees Bahamian artist, Dede Brown (left), in conversation with Dominican-American artist, Joiri Minaya (right), her collaborator on the next NAGB exhibition, “Double Dutch: Re : Encounter.” The NAGB’s Double Dutch series was conceived as a way to bridge our regional divides, by bringing artists from the region and diaspora together to produce provocative bodies of work through collaboration and exchange.
“Blank Canvas” hosts Bahamian filmmaker Kareem Mortimer, who is premiering his new full-length feature “Cargo” in The Bahamas, at a red carpet event at Atlantis on October 19th.