Art

JCE’s Kingston Art Trek Explores Uptown & Downtown Galleries

Starting off at Emancipation Park, New Kingston with Laura Facey-Cooper's Redemption Song
Starting off at Emancipation Park, New Kingston with Laura Facey-Cooper

This past Saturday, I ventured out with a group of art enthusiasts on the inaugural Kingston Art Trek- our mission, to visit a cross-section of Kingston’s galleries. The creation of Jamaica Cultural Enterprises (JCE), a new tour company specializing in cultural tours of Jamaica, the Kingston Art Trek is designed to expose participants to a wide range of local art and artists. It also turned out to be an education on the history and landmarks of Kingston, as well as a great opportunity to meet fellow art aficionados!

JCE’s Karen Hutchinson was an excellent tour guide, highly knowledgeable on local art and on Kingston’s history and highlights. She expertly guided us around the various galleries, while simultaneously trying to keep us on schedule- not an easy task with so much to see!

We visited a total of six galleries, three downtown and three uptown, including Emancipation Park in New Kingston, Revolution Gallery, the National Gallery of Jamaica, Studio 174, Roktowa Gallery, Heather Sutherland Wade’s gallery and Grosvenor Galleries. A comfortable bus kept us from worrying about traffic and parking and allowed us to focus on the sights and sounds around us.

Here are a few shots from the tour, some courtesy of fellow art trekker Daren Moncreiffe.

We began the day at 10 am sharp with coffee at Emancipation Park, where we viewed Laura Facey-Cooper’s Redemption Song, which although we’re all quite used to now caused quite a stir when it was originally unveiled.

Kingston's Emancipation Park - Photo by Daren Moncrieffe
Kingston’s Emancipation Park – Photo by Daren Moncrieffe
ArtTrekDMEmanPark
Adinkra/West African symbols in fence at Emancipation Park – Photo by Daren Moncrieffe

The next stop was Revolution Gallery on Lady Musgrave Road, where an exhibition by Gerard Hanson, winner of the Super Plus Under 40 Artist of the Year, was on display. Another cup of coffee here was a welcome touch for the late risers among our group, yours truly included.

Coffee break at Revolution Gallery
Coffee break at Revolution Gallery
Dollar II by Gerard Hanson - Photo by Daren Moncrieffe
Dollar II by Gerard Hanson – Photo by Daren Moncrieffe
IMG_8779
More work by Gerard Hanson, Revolution Gallery

It was now time to head downtown to the National Gallery, preceded by a stop at the waterfront to view a reproduction of Edna Manley’s sculpture Negro Aroused (the original is housed in the National Gallery). Kingston’s waterfront is beautiful on a Saturday afternoon and a great spot for lounging and picnicking – a food/flea market would work perfectly here (as I suggested to some of the other tour participants, who happened to be from the Urban Development Corporation UDC, which is responsible for this area).

IMG_8800
Downtown Kingston
IMG00783-20101120-1145
Edna Manley’s Negro Aroused

The next stop was Studio 174 on Harbour Street- always interesting as this community gallery features the work of its past and present students (the gallery offers free community art classes on Saturday mornings), as well as work from graduates of the Edna Manley School of Art.

Rosemarie Chung, Curator of Studio 174
Rosemarie Chung, Curator of Studio 174
IMG_8810
Studio 174 artists
IMG_8814
Studio 174 artist Errol Farquharson
IMG_8816
Art work on display at Studio 174
IMG_8817
Portia and Bruce – artwork on display at Studio 174
ArtTrekDMStudio174
More artwork from Studio 174 – Photo by Daren Moncrieffe

The next stop was Roktowa Gallery on West Street. Roktowa is an extremely interesting space located in a converted industrial building, and it is more akin to the loft spaces of SOHO in New York, with high ceilings, columns and an edgy warehouse feel, than to a traditional Jamaican art gallery. Roktowa was displaying works by Khary Darby and Dion “Sand” Palmer, two artists from their Artist in Residence Programme.

Roktowa Gallery
Roktowa Gallery
IMG_8824
Khary Darby, Artist in Residence at Roktowa Gallery
IMG_8830
Roktowa Gallery
IMG_8828
Dion “Sand” Palmer, Artist in Residence, Rocktowa Gallery
IMG00795-20101120-1424
Dion “Sand” Palmer, Artist in Residence, Rocktowa Gallery
ArtTrekDMRoktowa
Art work on display at Roktowa Gallery

With the downtown leg of our tour completed, we stopped off at Grafton Studios for lunch (I had sweet and sour tofu which was delicious). Grafton is the music studio owned and operated by Mikie Bennett, a well known Jamaican musician and record producer.

After lunch we headed uptown to the home gallery of artist Heather Sutherland Wade. The Wades have a beautiful home in the hills of Kingston, replete with a stunning array of work by Sutherland Wade and an equally stunning view of Kingston. We were fortunate enough to be there for tea time as well as for sunset.

IMG_8841
A landscape by Heather Sutherland Wade
ArtTrekDMHSW3
Kingston at twilight – Photo by Daren Moncrieffe
ArtTrekDMHSW2
Kingston at sunset – Photo by Daren Moncrieffe

The final stop on the Art Trek was Grosvenor Galleries in Manor Park, where an opening by Laura- Anne Fung, a talented young Jamaican artist who paints in a bold bright style, was taking place. In addition to the great paintings on display, the event also featured an open bar and a wide selection of delectable finger food and desserts- a fitting end to an amazing day!

ArtTrekDMGroup
The Group
Previous post

BRICOLAGE The Choreographic Works of Kyisha Patterson

Next post

What's Happening in Jamaica in December

8 Comments

  1. December 26, 2014 at 2:17 pm — Reply

    What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of precious know-how on the topic of unexpeected
    emotions.

  2. September 22, 2014 at 11:54 pm — Reply

    Cover Photo

  3. Anonymous
    May 22, 2012 at 7:54 pm — Reply

    http://www.google.com/m?hl=en&gl=us&client=ms-android-huawei-d gvm bvhb hhh jhg bh nk th ji uk kko I oo tgh okmm hj jjn ol umdv nm gbgj ll uk km. yuioi tudiop th ggb ffggt th jkkll

    us&source=android-browser-key&q=bmv

  4. […] See YardEdge review of JCE tours: JCE’S Kingston Art Trek explores uptown and downtown galleries […]

  5. July 12, 2011 at 10:08 pm — Reply

    IT IS GOOD TO SEE THESE BEAUTIFUL PAINTINGS. bUT For a trek tour you shoud consider to see more nature. i have new discovered a mytery place to explore in our area. see the picture here

    http://www.silkroadguide.com/xinjiang-heavenly-gate.htm

  6. […] Read about my art trek at Kingston art trek explores uptown and downdown galleries. […]

  7. February 23, 2011 at 10:33 am — Reply

    What an amazing tour, if I ever find time I will hike down to Kingston and check them out for myself.

  8. […] about some of our JCE Art Trek experiences:  Art Trek explores Uptown and Downtown Galleries and An Art Trek Through Kingston’s Art […]

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *