by Asher Mains
The Waving Art Gallery, a non-commercial gallery space made possible through a partnership between Grenada Arts Council and Grenada Airport Authority, was again buzzing with activity on Saturday, 14 July as 5 young artists showcased their new work.
These 5 artists had been a part of the Art School Greenz Young Artists Rising Summer Intensive where they learned from artist and educator, Asher Mains, professional practices for a working artist as well as created a small body of work. The summer intensive was 6 weeks in length and the young artists had weekly critiques, developed their written artist material, learned about some of the workings of the art world, all while developing their own concept for their body of work. The artists were accepted after an application process based on their current work and willingness to take the next step in their art career. The Young Artists in alphabetical order are Nadica Alexis, Tamika Gilbert, John Henry, Roxanne Marquez-Augustine, and Nadika Moses.
The opening was attended by family and friends of the artists as well as other artists and supporters of the visual arts in Grenada. The exhibit will be up until the beginning of September and the public are welcome to visit during airport working hours between 6 am and 10 pm. Visitors are encouraged to help us promote these artists and the space by taking pictures and posting them giving credit to the artists. Aside from #<artistname>, we encourage visitors to also use the hashtags #artschoolgreenz, and #wavingartgallery. You can also ‘like’ Waving Art Gallery and Art School Greenz as well as Grenada Arts Council on facebook!
Asher Mains, commenting on the exhibit and the Young Artists’ performance, “These 5 artists worked hard over the past 6 weeks and came through with a great exhibit! It is the first exhibit for some of them and with the things they learned, should have a strong foundation to build their career in art on!” Founder of Art School Greenz, Mains oversees short, affordable art classes targeted towards working adults looking to learn new skills and be a part of an artistic community. “All of these young artists bring something unique to the exhibit – whether it is the pen drawings of Alexis or the emotive portraits of dogs from Marquez-Augustine, the untraditional figures of Gilbert, vibrant colours of Moses or the idyllic paintings from Henry, there is something that should resonate with everyone. It’s good to note that there’s no ‘one way’ to do art!”
