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By Leah Furbert

[email protected]

Bruce Stuart, one of Bermuda’s most prominent artists during the past 25 years, is leaving the island to live in Mexico.

Stuart, who has had dozens of exhibitions in Bermuda, is leaving this May for San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he plans to live permanently. Stuart has been involved in the local art scene for the past quarter century and was president of the Bermuda Society of Arts from 1999 to 2001, as well as one of the trustees for Masterworks. One of his shows at Windjammer Gallery was sold out within five minutes of its opening.

He has no hard feeling towards Bermuda — or its art scene — but says he needs to grow as an artist, and doesn’t feel that he can do that on this island. “I’m doing this because I personally need to go further. The population’s not here — to go further means you have to reach more people,” he said. “It’s not just getting up and going further away. It’s furthering my career as an artist. I’m in the privileged position of being one of the top artists on the island, but where do I go?”

Stuart already has exhibitions lined up at a gallery in San Miguel de Allende. He describes the art scene in San Miguel as “multi-leveled, multi-cultural and multi-international. It’s everybody from everywhere and it’s all the South American cultures mixed in there. You’ve got such a great body of painters. Mexico has been one of the major countries in the world that supports its artists on such a higher level. If you go through Mexico City, there’s humungous sculptures everywhere…there are whole houses that are tiled. There’s art everywhere and there’s music everywhere. You feel the life and the passion. You feel the love. Nowhere is perfect, but you sense it more there.”

A number of factors brought about the move, among them the fact that he has to vacate the apartment that he’s lived in for the past eleven years. Rents are too high for him to stay in Bermuda and make a living as an artist. “Here I find that all I’m doing is trying to pay rent, I’m just trying to cover my expenses,” he said. “It’s come to a point where I can’t really afford it, so it’s time for a change. I’ve been going to Mexico and it’s a whole lot cheaper, but I have a whole lot of friends down there.

“I’ve always thought I had to stay here, because I have to defend my Bermuda, and help my Bermuda, but everybody’s consumed in their own world. There are a lot of people making good money, but they’re not buying the art. You’re looking at 3,000 people on this island that buy art. You can’t make it.”

Stuart started as a full time artist in 1989, and estimates that he’s created more than 3,000 pieces, not including prints. He said: “I’ve always been interested in art. I’ve always done it. Now I’m trying to experiment more and more so that I can see what is in me, what can get out of me. It’s beautiful, I love my patrons, my fans who’ve bought my work and I don’t want to stop.”

“Unfortunately here a lot of the work that we’re producing is just for money. We’re not really putting our heart and soul into it and I think we’re cheating ourselves as artists by not painting our heart’s desire. The sad thing is you go to an art show and everybody asks you, ‘Well how much did you sell?’ It’s not, ‘Well, I like your work this time.’ You’re not a success if you don’t sell anything.”

Stuart says he’ll return to Bermuda while living in Mexico, and doesn’t plan to desert Bermuda’s art scene completely. He’ll also ship work from Mexico to Bermuda, and will still do commissions for anyone who asks. Once Stuart is living in Mexico, he welcomes anyone to contact him at [email protected]

He added: “I’m going from being a local artist to an international artist. I am kind of recreating myself, but not knowing what I’m going to create. It’s a blank canvas — let’s paint! A blank canvas is only scary when you don’t have a vision.”[[In-content Ad]]

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