During a ribbon-cutting ceremony pictured in front row from left to right: Mrs. Blair Anderson, Consul General Paulette Zonicle, an Ambassador Dr. Eugene Newry. Back row from left: Ms. Katrina Cartwright, Mr. Bryan Anderson, and Mr. Michael Edwards.
In recognition of its ongoing commitment to “bolster art education, cultural exchange and economic growth in The Bahamas,” Ms. Paulette Zonicle, Bahamas Consul General to Washington, D.C., hosted a cocktail reception for the Exnihilo Art Center at the Bahamas Embassy Consular Annex, 1025 Vermont Avenue, N.W., on Thursday, April 4, 2016.
Special guests included Mr. Michael Edwards, Art Lecturer at the College of The Bahamas (COB), and Ms. Katrina Cartwright, a Ceramist at COB, who collaborate with Exnihilo’s owners, husband-and-wife Bryan and Blair Anderson, on programs offered by the Art Center.
Prior to a ribbon-cutting ceremony, His Excellency Dr. Eugene Newry, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States, and Ms. Zonicle gave brief remarks, along with Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, Mr. Edwards and Ms. Cartwright.
From left to right: Ms. Katrina Cartwright, Ambassador Dr. Eugene Newry, Consul General Paulette Zonicle, and Mr. Michael Edwards.
Programs established by the Exnihilo Art Center, based in Washington, D.C., include:
1. The Exnihilo Art Award, a scholarship fund dedicated to college-bound art students specifically from the Bahamas Family Islands;
2. Art Education and Residencies, a program that selects talented individuals, both Bahamian and American, and supports them through the creation and completion of a body of work. This is done through partnerships with entities like the College of The Bahamas, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas and SilverWorks in DC. Workshops and classes are also held in Nassau in the historic Bethel House.
3. Exnihilo Art Center in Long Island, Bahamas, a development that will be an international artist residency located on Long Island. Once this project is completed it would be the first of its kind in the Caribbean.
By Oswald Brown
