Art Walk helps to breathe life in to St George's

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16: The streets, shops and restaurants of St George’s were bustling on Saturday night as islanders flocked to the Old Towne to take part in the Art Walk.

Organized independently by a group of local artists, there was live music, vendors’ stalls, gallery openings and art galore. St George’s has blossomed into a cultural hub thanks to the opening of new galleries and stores in recent months. Chris Dawson’s art gallery and studio, Gary MacPherson’s Endemic Arts Collective, Kali Swainson’s art shop are among the most recent to have enriched the town’s cultural landscape.

Kali Swainson’s new art shop at 32 Water Street houses work collected by E. Michael Jones, former Mayor of St George’s. She was on hand on Saturday night to welcome guests and show work by the likes of Alfred Birdsey, Charles Lloyd Tucker and Chelsey Trott. One customer told Swainson that her gallery was “bringing life to St George’s”.

This summed up the sentiment of the evening and everyone was talking about a desire for similar events in the future. Mayor Kenny Bascome attended the event and told the Bermuda Sun: “I hope it inspires the Corporation to do something similar in the future. Congratulations to the folks who took the initiative to do this.”

A little further up Water Street, the Endemic Arts Collective enjoyed a steady flow of people coming to see local artwork and hosted a little live music by Heroine Chic. Chris Flook, former collector of specimens at the Aquarium, was on hand, complete with tanks of fish, to answer questions about the Bermuda Alliance for Sargasso Sea. There was an environmentally friendly element elsewhere in the Art Walk including Vanesse Flood Gordon’s selection of fair trade jewellery outside of CV café on Water Street.

Chris Dawson used the Art Walk and run up to Christmas to officially open his fine art studio at 4 Penno’s Drive. He told us: “It’s been full, non-stop since 5:30pm. This event has been a great turn out for St George’s, its artists, its restaurants and shop owners.” On the night Dawson sold a number of small paintings, prints and picked up a couple of commissions.

The Art Walk was the brainchild of artist Ami Zanders who shared the idea with local artists via the Facebook page St George’s, Bermuda, Revitalize! which is affiliated with the Olde Towne Market.