Grenada Arts Council Energising Local Creatives

On Friday November 2nd, at the Waving Art Gallery at Maurice Bishop International Airport, Grenada Arts Council with the kind support of Grenada Airport Authority opened the 9th art exhibit in the past year. “Natural Forms” on exhibit now has work by 5 artists depicting faces and figures along with natural and botanical elements. The artists are Rhennel Joseph, LaVanda Mireles, Ingrid Newman, Julia Gubenkova and Farihah Khan. A diverse group of artists, some exhibiting for the first time, these artists living and creating art in Grenada are part of our local creative scene and bring the Waving Art Gallery’s artist count to 40 shown in the past year. Aside from showcasing artists, the Waving Art Gallery has become a regular meeting place for artists and art lovers in the past year as the exhibits revolve every 6 weeks or so and open receptions are held to launch each new exhibit. New artists have been brought into the art community and seasoned artists have been able to meet in the space, see new work and exchange ideas.

For larger exhibitions, Grenada Arts Council has partnered with Spiceland Mall for Pop-up art exhibits. Pop-ups are short term, usually one day, exhibits where artists bring their work and spend the day talking with art lovers as well as other artists. Grenada Arts Council provides the panels and temporary walls for the exhibit as well as support in terms of advice and guidance in addition to promotion of the artists work on social media. The upcoming pop-up exhibit on December 1st is open to all to exhibit and for this exhibit, Grenada Arts Council is lowering the commission on the sale of artwork to 10% along with a $20 registration fee. These contributions allow the volunteers that work as Arts Council to continue with the work of developing, education, and promoting art in Grenada. The Pop-up exhibit in August had 26 artists and the Arts Council is looking forward to an even bigger showing in December especially as people will have holiday shopping in mind. There is no theme for this exhibit so artists are expected to bring what they have been working on – more information can be found at www.grenadaartscouncil.com.

Grenada Arts Council has been advising and supporting the Ministry of Culture with the recently relaunched Festival of the Arts. Many members of Grenada Arts Council participated in the Festival of the Arts in the past and it is exciting to be able to be a part of it in this manner. 9 schools registered artists from which the top 5 pieces will be selected to go straight to the finals which will be held during the Concert of Winners concert on December 6th. This is the first time that Visual Arts has been offered as a category at the Festival of the Arts and the Grenada Arts Council is excited to identify young talent and encourage further development in art education.

One of the ways that the Arts Council is helping to promote artists in Grenada is through the Artist Profiles page on the Grenada Arts Council website. Not only does this provide internet searches with content about art in Grenada but it also serves as a database for local practices and helps in planning for exhibits. One of the artists currently on display at the Waving Art Gallery was invited to exhibit based on her Artist Profile, whereas she would not have been included otherwise. If you are an artist or have a friend or family who is an artist, encourage them to submit their bio and examples of their work to the Arts Council email: gac.asp@gmail.com. Artists can view existing profiles on the Grenada Arts Council website at www.grenadaartscouncil.com. Grenada Arts Council is also on Facebook and Instagram and all are encouraged to follow along to keep close to what is happening in art in Grenada!

Festival of the Arts: Visual Arts

Grenada Arts Council has been happy to provide advice and support to the Ministry of Culture in facilitating a Visual Arts component to the Festival of the Arts. For the newly relaunched Festival of the Arts, Visual Arts will be an area for competition amongst secondary schools and T.A.M.C.C. only. We are looking forward to expanding the category to primary schools and community in the future!

Please find attached the syllabus for the Visual Arts component. Registration is from September 24th to October 5th on the 3rd floor of the Botanical Gardens Ministerial Complex.

FOA Visual Arts 2018FOA Visual Arts 20181FOA Visual Arts 20182FOA Visual Arts 20183FOA Visual  Arts 20184.jpgFOA Visual Arts 20185FOA Visual  Arts 20186.jpg

FOA Visual Arts 20187

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Annual Pop-up Exhibit 2018 Photos

Jarel Gilbert
Akym Pierre
Kristianne Buxo and Fred Grissom
Sabrina Compton
Julia Gubenkova
Tamara Prosper
Denis “Yankee” Lyons
Brian Wolbert
John Henry
Josie Maitland
Meghan Tyrrell
Aidan Quashie
Tamika Gilbert
Jesma Noel
Jesma Noel
Jonah Mark
Hendy George
Patricia Walcott
Patricia Walcott
Jonah Mark
Rick Feld
Chelsea Ashton
Tikisha Williams
Roxanne Marquez-Augustine
Roxanne Marquez-Augustine
Roxanne Marquez-Augustine
Cindy Mackenzie
David Ambrose
Vanel Cuffie
Vanel Cuffie
Ingrid Newman
Prensnelo
Prensnelo
Akym Pierre

What are Open Calls for artists?

This is one of the great opportunities in the art world and one of the primary ways to get your artwork shown outside of Grenada! An open call is put out by a gallery, museum, curator, arts organisation etc. and they are asking YOU to show them your work!

Here are a few websites that regularly post calls for work:

Here are a few important points to consider when applying for shows/exhibits:
– Not every call is for you. Decide what your work is about and the medium you are interested in showing – you don’t have to feel pressure to apply to everything.
– Be aware of costs. Many calls have free registration to be considered. Some charge a registration fee. Some exhibits will have a fee once you are accepted. Some exhibits may be more costly to get your work to than others (if you have to travel vs. if you can just send it). There are many variables and it is important to work out what your priorities are.
– Be prepared that not every show will accept your work. Rejection is a big part of any avenue in life and the art world is not different. Be inspired by the many successful businesspeople, authors, and artists who were persistent and always took rejection as a tool for growth!
– Follow galleries, museums, art organisations, curators on social media so you always get updates on the types of exhibits you would like to be a part of!
For more information on how to make your application stand out, here is a link: https://mag.orangenius.com/open-call-exhibition/
If you need help with your artist materials or suggestions on how to improve your practice feel free to contact the Grenada Arts Council.

Artist Profiles

We believe that promoting our local artists through our website and social media is good for all artists in Grenada. We would love for as many artists as possible to come up when someone searches “art in Grenada”.  We will post this information on our website as well as Facebook and Instagram! To help us get the word out about you, please contact us with the following format.

Name and year of birth

Short Bio (under 200 words) Here is a good link for suggestions on writing a good artist bio: https://www.artsy.net/article/elena-soboleva-what-we-learned-from-writing-7-000-artist-bios

Selected Exhibitions
(Please limit to 5. These can be the most recent or most important exhibits)

Example:

2018, Name of Exhibit, Venue for exhibit, place of the venue.

Examples of Work
(Limit to 5 images at most)

 

We look forward to featuring you and your work! Please let us know if you have any questions. Also, if you are able to provide the information for someone who does not have access to a computer or internet please let us know how we can help!