Art students unveiled a mural of self-portraits at Belair Beach Hotel during a ceremony on Monday afternoon. In photo: Working on the mural under the watchful eyes of Gustave Nouel Croes (in the white hat)
BELAIR--Two groups of art students unveiled a mural of self-portraits at the Belair Beach Hotel during a ceremony held at the property on Monday afternoon where certificates were awarded.
The students have been taking part in workshops during the last few weeks given by the renowned Dutch Aruba-born artist Gustave Nouel Croes. The workshops jointly sponsored by National Institute of the Arts (NIA) and the Belair Hotel culminated with painting of the mural at the hotel over the weekend under the theme “Caribbean Faces.”
Certificate presentation. From left; workshop teacher Gustave Nouel Croes with Luvincia M. Gumbs, Sylvère Carty, Silvia Carty, Julie Alcid, Angelica Rae-Edilco, Isabel Lugo, and Dhrishti Croes-Alwani. Missing from the photo are Sade Sherriff and Suenique Buchanan. The Moko Jumbies are Shammy Edward (left) and Shadina Bryan (right). (Robert Luckock photos).
Luvincia Gumbs poses with her self-portrait.
The students posed under their own self- portraits.
An interesting aspect of the project is that the students taking part had a diverse range of skills; from complete beginner to keen and talented amateurs, to art teacher on a refresher course, to the oldest participant at 77-years-old.
Two workshops were held, the first at the beginning of July for one week for six hours and the second in August. A total of nine students participated, learning universal basics.
They are: Luvincia Majestine Gumbs, Sylvère Carty, Silvia Carty, Julie Alcid, Angelica Rae-Edilco, Isabel Lugo, Dhrishti Croes-Alwani, and from Charlotte Brookson Academy Sade Sherriff and Suenique Buchanan.
Included in the mural was a portrait of Arnold Harris, owner of the Belair Beach Hotel (but absent from the ceremony) and Beulah Jemmott, the hotel’s longest-serving employee. Jemmott, who has retired but was filling in for staff on vacation, was presented with a gift basket by Manager of the Timeshare Sales Department, Frances Brooks.
The mural was unveiled with the assistance of Moko Jumbie stiltwalkers from Funtopia, Shammy Edward and Shadina Bryan. Gustave Nouel presented the certificates to each of the students individually before they posed for photos underneath their own portraits.
Beginner art student Julie Alcin said she did not have any particular goal in mind when she started the workshops but as a creative person and someone who likes the arts, she wanted to learn something new.
“Getting into it and learning how to draw I started to grow a passion for it”, she explained. “It wasn’t something I just wanted to do for fun, but I actually fell in love with it. I kept practising and practising, showing my work to Gustave, asking him for tips on how to do this and that. I just loved the progress I was making. I loved the experience.”
And how did she find Gustave’s teaching? “He’s a great teacher. He breaks it down so it’s easy to understand and he’s very approachable and helps you to grow with the skills you have.”
Art teacher Silvia Carty joined the workshops because “sometimes it’s good to go back to basics and be a student.”
“Even when you have something in common, every artist has their own way of looking at things. That means you can always learn from other artists,” she said. “This process was very beneficial to me.”
Luvincia Gumbs (77) from French Quarter said the workshops piqued her interest after she heard Gustave talking on the radio during an interview.
“When I heard him talking, I said to myself that’s right up my alley. I like to dabble in arts and crafts. We had three classes of drawing eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Gustave talked me through it and it was the best experience. I’m retired so it’s good to do these things.”
Present for the ceremony was NIA Director Arlene Newhouse-Halley and NIA board members, Head of the Culture Department Clara Reyes, and Isidore York with some of the members of his Ebony Steel Orchestra.
