Learn to throw a pot using the potter’s wheel; the wheel is just another tool
Mornings 10 am to noon
6 classes – March 19, 21, 26, 28, April 2, April 9 (Mondays and Wednesdays)
$180 – includes clay – firing fees extra
$10 registration fee – waived for returning students

Adult Handbuilding

Create clay pots using coil and slab methods – surface decoration/sculptural elements
Class is very flexible and open to all kinds of projects.
Tuesdays 6-8 pm
7 weeks beginning March 20
$175 – includes clay – firing fees extra
$10 registration fee – waived for returning students

Class size is limited. Call to register. Sara at 340-514-7508 or CMCArts at 340-772-2622.

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Colored Clay Workshop

We will explore techniques using colored clays as decoration. Clay experience is preferred or by permission of the instructor.

4 weeks beginning Wednesday, January 18
$125 – includes clay. Additional fee for firing.
$10 registration fee (waives for returning students)

Adult Handbuilding – Beginners

Basics of handbuilding – coil and slab pots, surface decoration, sculptural elements.
6 weeks beginning Thursday, January 19
Thursday morning 10am to 12noon
$150 – includes clay. Additional fee for firing.
$10 registration fee (waived for returning students)

Space is limited so call to register BEFORE first class!

Call 514-7508 or 772-2622 for more information.

Updated Date and Time

Two/Peace/& Love: an exhibit of the photography of Traveon A. House has arrived and we will have it mounted by Friday of this week at the Museum. The museum is open Thursdays – Sunday from 10-5. There will be a meet and greet with the photographer on Saturday, February 4 from 2:00 – 5:00 at the museum. Light refreshments and a cash bar will be available. Thank you for your understanding about our postponement last week.

Funded in part by the Virgin Islands Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

The public is invited to a Press Conference, Monday Dec. 19th at 10 am at office of SUCCEED, Inc. at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, 10 Strand Street, Frederiksted for an update on the two projects focused on cultural tourism development: “St. Croix Action for Heritage Economics and Development” (St. Croix AHEAD), and “Heritage Tourism in the United States Virgin Islands”. Both projects were funded based on evidence of effective collaboration by local entities.

St. Croix AHEAD is a joint project of St. Croix United for Community, Culture, Environment and Economic Development, Inc.(SUCCEED) and the St. Croix Environmental Association(SEA).  The Delegate to Congress referred to St. Croix AHEAD as “designed to address community economic development by the furtherance of a “smart growth” agenda for St. Croix by improving and expanding U.S. Virgin Islands tourism products for a strong position in the geo-tourism market.”

The St. Croix AHEAD project will take steps to revitalize the St. Croix Heritage Trail project. Based on our initial meeting with St. Croix Landmarks Society, we hope to have their input on updates to the maps. The project will also produce a booklet on migration of St Croix‟s maroons – enslaved Africans who escaped from the plantations to find freedom in Puerto Rico and elsewhere. SUCCEED is excited about the potential for expanded foundational research and publication that reveals a rich and untold story of this quest for freedom by enslaved Africans.

This OIA grant funds will support SUCCEED‟s West, East, and mid-Isle forum on smart-growth that will be followed by community planning sessions on economic development and entrepreneurship linked to heritage and geotourism. These gatherings will build on SUCCEED‟s previous efforts to share information about “smart growth” and to build community-wide consensus on feasible and desirable policies and activities for fueling the engine of geotourism .

In conjunction with SUCCEED‟s efforts, the territory-wide USVI Heritage Tourism Survey will be conducted by PhD Candidate Nate Olive, who is a National Geographic Society Geotourism Ambassador and Executive Director of St. Croix‟s Ridge to Reef at the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute (R2RVISFI). The study will compare actual tourism market segments with the preferences and perceptions of local tourism stakeholders and will address the distinct natural and cultural characteristics of St. Thomas, St John, and St. Croix. The project also aims to distinguish the USVI as a unique destination from other Caribbean island nations. The scientifically valid recommendations in this work will provide a solid basis for development of public policy, business counseling, and public education and will include social and economic benefits. According to Delegate Donna Christian,” The $58,000 project is a “comprehensive study that will present a model of heritage tourism and draw attention to the lucrative possibility of a heritage designation for the USVI.”

In competition with over 80 countries and thousands of projects, St. Croix is now one of just 20 destinations on the National Geographic Society Geotourism Impact Map. This honor is the result of R2RVISFI‟s collaboration with CHANT and a mosaic of individuals demonstrating, again, the importance and benefits of effective collaboration.

Both projects will have a strong and positive impact on the US Congress‟ deliberation on the designation of St. Croix as a National Heritage Area. For more than seven years (7) Delegate Christian has spearheaded the effort to obtain the NHA designation for St Croix, and she was instrumental in generating a response to the OIA grant fund availability.

Call the museum at (340) 772-2622.

St Croix, USVI — November 25, 2011

If there is any question as to whether the galleries of the Caribbean Museum Center in Frederiksted can effectively display contemporary mural sized paintings, the answer is a resounding “Yes”. With Tony Vanderperk’s current exhibit (through December 10th) the beautifully restored rooms in this colonial Frederiksted waterfront home show his superb work in all it’s strength. These are paintings that rarely grace many walls in this part of the world. Schooled at a time and place when artists turned painting on its head and established New York as the art capital of the world, Vanderperk’s work has not faltered from that mission. Being in the presence of these works intimates a feeling of closeness to artistic innovation at it’s core. Go, just for the experience.

Tony turned to using unconventional industrial materials to make art and has been able to accentuate these materials in such a way that they begin to look like a unit. Upon first look, you don’t notice Vanderperk’s paintings are constructions made out of privacy trellis, elastomeric, foam core, even vinyl screen and polyester fabric. Tension between the optical and tactile senses can be felt. A child at the opening reception exclaimed, “These are more than pictures!”

Lots of details are hidden in Tony’s work from the inside out. His objective is to create paintings out of objects. He does this like a magician, hiding objects inside one another to create three dimensional illusions. Objects, like 2″ x 2″ foam core squares are hidden in between the holes of trellis work, with elastomeric painted over the trellis and foam core, he builds up a floating grid. Most of his paintings are layered with texture, or fabric to create an illusory depth to each piece. Vanderperk’s paintings are rendered with care and craftsmanship, with intelligence and creativity, and best of all with island building materials, making them uniquely Caribbean.

After Vanderperk received his Masters from Yale Graduate School of Art and Architecture he went on to be a lecturer and adjunct assistant professor of art in New York at Hunter College, City University of New York; The New School, Parsons School of Design; and at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Living in NYC during the 1960s and 70s, on Broome Street in SOHO, he was able to assimilate thoughts and innovate ideas alongside working artists. Tony’s time in New York was well spent, full of intellectual pursuit, but one could argue that the Caribbean has allowed him to step away from the world of academia, and the art scene and dedicate himself to the practice of making art. Vanderperk began living on St. John in 1990 and relocated to St. Croix in 1995. The big island has been his home ever since. The eight mural size paintings on exhibit at CMCA through December 10th are the beginnings of a new body of work.

Submitted by Walsh Metal Works Gallery

773-8169

Tony Vanderperk Mural Size Paintings 2001-2011 opens on November 4, 2011, in the main upstairs gallery. The reception will be held on Friday, November 4th from 5:00 – 7:00. Refreshments and a cash bar will be available. The public is invited to attend and admission is free. The exhibit will be displayed through December 10 and is funded in part by the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts.

Mr. Vanderperk’s work is described as semi-abstract constructed paintings. The 7 mural size in the exhibition range from the stunning use of color and space to the quiet and almost minimal. Several of the works have evolved over the years with various stages of creation. The paintings spanning a 10-year time frame are breathtaking and thought-provoking.

Refreshments and a cash bar will be available. Admission is free.

It will be displayed through January 8th and is funded in part by the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts.

Petersen, better known as “Bully,” will display some of his works during an exhibit which opens with a gala reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 2 at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts.

Avis Reprint (PDF)