The Arts Community of Grand Bahama Island
Fine Art
The Grand Bahama Artists Association is a non profit organization whose mission is to facilitate the development of art and culture on the island. Established in 1996 as the Paradise Artists Association, its role is to assist Grand Bahama’s Development as an artistic community. This organization is set in place to assist in the development of artist’s careers on the island by creating venues such as art exhibits and the various workshops. The Association mirrors the work being done by the National Art Museum of the Bahamas in Nassau, by informing and educating artists and the community at large of the scope of Art on Grand Bahama Island and in the Bahamas. Grand Bahama’s Fine Artists are known by their exhibited works, particularly through the showcases by the members of the Grand Bahama Artists Association. Many art exhibits are presented in the gallery at the Rand Nature Centre of Freeport.
The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas is the premier Arts Institution of the Bahamas. Located in Nassau, The NAGB is “committed to engaging the history of Bahamian Art and Visual culture and supporting contemporary movements and experimental contemporary art practice through exhibitions, an extensive public program schedule, community and regional projects and partnerships, arts education, providing fellowships and grants, the establishment and support of an art library and the building of the National Collection.” (http://www.nagb.org.bs/) Some of the Artists on Grand Bahama Island have been accredited by the administration through the National Institution Assessment.
Film
The Bahamas is an ideal destination for filming. The film-friendly government established the Bahamas Film Commission specifically to develop and facilitate film production in the Bahamas. “The 700 islands of The Bahamas have always been attractive to film makers. In addition to an extremely film-friendly population and trained crews, who make filming "Better In The Bahamas", the country promotes itself as a progressive film location designed to assist the most challenging productions. The Bahamas Film and Television Commission, a division within the Ministry of Tourism is responsible for the promotion and marketing of The Islands of The Bahamas as film location destinations and serves as a one-stop facilitator, providing support services to filmmakers to shoot their projects in The Bahamas. The Commission maintains sales offices in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and London.” (www.bahamas.com)
The official website for the Bahamas Film Commission is www.bahamasfilm.com “The past decade was very successful for the Bahamas Film and Television Commission as we assisted with the production of some twenty-four feature films; ranging from low budget to large-scaled Hollywood productions, in addition to a host of product commercials shoots. We look to the future with great anticipation for increased exposure and production business for our country as a film location destination.” (Craig A. Woods, Film Commissioner, January 2010)
Grand Bahama Island has had a significant boost as with the entire Bahamas, with the establishment of its Film Commission. The most noteworthy film yet, Pirates of the Caribbean, gives this aspect of the Arts community something to boast about.
Music
The Grand Bahama Entertainers and Musicians Association
There is a massive variety of perspectives by which to perceive the music industry in relation to the Performing Arts on Grand Bahama Island. Musicians can offer almost any genre to community, and their roles range significantly. These areas include the music producer, disc jockey, band members, group artists, choir members, solo artists, instrumentalists, vocalists, classical musicians, contemporary artists, recording artists, and live performers. The musical artists in the Bahamas have limitless possibilities for the means of self expression. The various genres may include Classical, Jazz, Calypso, Hip Hop, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, Rock and Roll, Pop, Christian, Rake and Scrape, Soca, and Reggae.
Media
The Media Arts are a wide-ranging spectrum including photography and videography, the graphic arts, digital arts, literature and journalism, and various other methods of mass communications. This sector of the entertainment arts industry is responsible for documenting the files, and creating records in the system by which principal inferences can be recalled as references.
Media artists can be freelanced, self employed, entrepreneurial, or work within media facilities such as newsrooms. Such establishments located on Grand Bahama Island are ZNS, The Freeport News, Cable 12, Cool 96, The Tribune, Mackey Media, Barefoot Marketing, Bahamas Weekly, and BIS.
Mackey Media is a resources for Grand Bahama Arts and Entertainment News.
Theatre
The Grand Bahama Performing Arts Society, whose profile can be found on Facebook.com, has a mission to foster the growth and appreciation of the performing arts in Grand Bahama through access to the diversity of professional artists and performers from around the world.
Grand Bahama currently houses two staging performance houses knows as the Freeport Players Guild and the Grand Bahama Players Association. The Freeport Players Guild is run by a committee of board members, the foundation is directly linked to the establishment of the Regency Theatre. Members are welcomed to participate in the shows produced by this establishment, with the paying of annual fees in tact. The Grand Bahama Players are known for their very Bahamian styled culturally themed productions, in contrast to the more Broadway styled presentations of the Freeport Players Guild.
Dance
On Grand Bahama Island there are three primary dance schools that are particularly very dynamic through original contrasts that each contributor offers to the continuity and growth of the community of dancers. The Lois Seiler Academy of Dance is a school focused on the range of classical dance, particularly ballet, jazz, and tap dancing, with structural inferences that gear toward preparation for performance in theatrical and Broadway styled productions. Lois Seiler is a renowned lead choreographer for such productions with the Freeport Players Guild, and the school hosts bi-annual recitals. The Bahamas Dance Theatre is a very modern enterprise with classical foundational classes, focusing on contemporary dance. It’s growing number of students represent the demand for this style of ethnic and exotic regime. The choreographer, Jullion Collie, leads a well-known performing group of dancers known as the New Wave Dancers. The School hosts recital productions of its own each year. Georgia’s School of Dance is the newest facility for dance training on Grand Bahama Island. This school, training its students in the classical dance, finds its strength in gymnastics, and the spiritual dances, including lyrical dance.
The Casino and Our Lucaya is making a steady comeback to the nightlife that was one contained within the walls of the Bahamas Princess Hotel Casino. To those who remember the stunning performances that were on par with any Broadway spectacular, and choreographed by Lois Seiler, it was a very popular showcase of exceptional proportions. Today, the Casino hosts Latino dance instruction and dances, a Vegas Style Casino Spectacular, and a Saturday night Disco Dance. The presentations hope to create a new wave of lively energy to build excitement around the rejuvenation of Casino nightlife on Grand Bahama Island.
Junkanoo
Grand Bahama, through the Ministry of Tourism, hosts the Junkanoo Spring/Summer Festival that celebrates Junkanoo as a comprehensive and diverse cultural experience of the Bahamas.
Junkanoo Bands have members that are established as Group leaders, lead dancers, free dancers, line dancers, over the shoulder dancers, lead drum, base drum, cowbells, horns, and whistles. These groups take many months to prepare for their grand showcases each year. Behind the scene there are costume designers, choreographers, and organizers. People spend countless hours at shack houses preparing, by cutting and pasting individual costumes, to create the vision that all look forward to under a specific theme.
Under the Junkanoo Category, we recognize to include the works of native straw vendors in the creation of authentically Bahamian crafts and handiworks of art.
Beauty
An important part of any entertainment arts industry is the aesthetics of the cosmetic/beauty arts. These individuals are concerned with natural beauty, and the maximum enhancement of such beauty and the visual affect of the effective total image makeover, in creation of an appeal that embodies the relative perspective of the ideal. These artists are estheticians, cosmetologists, hair designers and makeup artists. On the other hand, these artists are the living mannequin’s, the models and muses that inspire the creations of beauty. On Grand Bahama Island, the primary hosts that fuse the Beauty Arts are venues such as Beauty Pageants, and Fashion Shows. They remain relevant in grooming young women and men to uphold the particular international standards of beauty etiquette. The Miss Grand Bahama Beauty Pageant, in conjunction with Miss Bahamas and Miss Universe is held annually.
Fashion
With a growing number of fashion houses, including fine boutique ownership and original designer houses, the fashion industry on Grand Bahama Island is rapidly expanding. Recent establishment of local fashion designer lines has boosted the industry with several showcase productions. This industry has grown not only by the hands of the fashion designers, but also in lieu of the work that the various fashion show producers, fashion stylists, and coordinators contribute to as a prelude to the artists showcase. Those who work backstage and behind the scenes play the significant role of preparing for the details of the showcase. This is such in any aspect of the arts, and, as fashion relates to the performance arts and entertainment, the infrastructure provided by the entrepreneurial fashion designers will create a mass range of access to costume design for the various future relativities
Photography
Photography
