Previous
Central Bank's interest in the arts
WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2006
Central Bank's interest in the arts
Annual competition supports Bahamian artists
Thanks to the vision of William Allen, a former Governor of The Central Bank of The Bahamas, many talented young Bahamians have been given a leg-up in the art world.
As part of the bank's 10th anniversary celebrations in 1984, Allen was instrumental in launching the Annual Art Competition & Exhibition. It was then, and still is, "a way to support the development of Bahamian art, particularly from young artists," says present Governor Wendy Craigg.
It's not unusual for a central bank to promote the arts, by the way. Several Latin American countries do the same and The Federal Reserve Board, which is the US central bank, maintains an arts programme with a collection of paintings dating back to the 1830s. Canada's central bank operates a museum with an extensive collection of paper money, coins and other currencies.
According to Craigg, Allen saw the competition as a way to encourage aspiring Bahamian artists but also as a step toward building up a showcase for the nation's best art work.
Year after year, the competition has grown more popular. "We always have at least 50 young artists and artisans who take advantage of this opportunity each year. There was one year we couldn't display all of the works because we had over 200 pieces," says Antonius Roberts, curator of the bank's permanent collection.
Roberts, who coordinates the annual competition, says attendance at the opening ceremony typically tops 150, mainly the artists themselves, their families and the media.
Although it's held at the Central Bank Art Gallery in downtown Nassau, Roberts takes special care to promote younger artists from the Family Islands. Roberts, an artist himself, "gets the message out to the art teachers and encourages them to participate," says Craigg. The strategy works. Karissa Evans of Eleuthera was one of the winners in 2005. A year earlier, Wendy Rolle of Exuma won in the high school category.
Winning brings more than glory. Each year the bank awards scholarships to the winners, amounting to a total of more than $250,000 since 1984. Some of the artists return from their studies abroad - at prestigious schools such as the Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia - to visit the exhibition and remember their artistic roots. Some continue to enter works in the open category from their academic bases abroad.
While the competition's popularity continues to grow, the bank, like the young artists it supports, strives for continuous improvement. "We've reached a stage now where we have more or less plateaued with this event and we want to grow it and add new dimensions that will attract even more interest," says Craigg.
One idea is to set up a grant system, whereby an artist would be selected to create a body of work that would be exhibited in the National Art Gallery and become part of the Central Bank's permanent collection. Another possibility is to reintroduce a category for primary school students.
The competition "represents one of the many ways the bank has sought to make a valuable contribution to the social development of our nation," said Governor Craigg at the 2005 opening ceremony.
Twenty-two years after the launch of the Annual Art Competition & Exhibition, The Central Bank of The Bahamas has learned that an investment in culture and the nation's youth will always pay dividends.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-Mail: Click here
Internet: https://
Disclaimer:
Information in editorial and listings is subject to change at any time.