CMCArts at Mango Melee

As artists on St. Croix, we do what we can to support art in our islands. The Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts (CMCArts)is the only art museum in the USVI and we are so fortunate that it is located right here on the island of St. Croix, in the town of Frederiksted. In April, 4 of us Palletteers took on the challenge of producing the 2013 Island Art & Soul calendar, an annual publication that helps fund the museum's activities. We also decided to put together an Island Art & Soul book, both the calendar and book featuring only USVI artists! In an attempt to reach other artists and generate interest in the museum and its activities, 3 of us planned to have a booth for the museum at the St. George Village Botanical Garden's popular summer event Mango Melee, held on July 1. Laura, Elizabeth, and I found a cache of small, unpainted, ceramics gathering dust in one of the museum's cubbies so we packed them up and planned to sell them. Elizabeth ran off copies of the inof on the Summer Clay classes being offered at the museum and we thought we'd also drum up some participatns for that fun activity. We also thought the venue would be a great way to sell a few of our 2012 calendars at a discount and generate interest in next year's projects. Our booth was extremely successful!

A painting I'd submitted was selected to be printed on the t-shirts! It was also donated to the Botanical Garden as part of the first prize for the Mango Melee raffle.

CMCArts' booth featured small unpainted ceramic pieces at ridiculously low prices, perfect for a summer kids' painting project! The sign urges people to "Find your inner artist!"

We also had our 2012 Island Art & Soul Calendars for sale. Our booth attracted a LOT of visitors! Surprisingly, seeing the little ceramic pieces brought back memories of childhood to a lot of our visitors and many were delighted to hear that they'd have the opportunity to take clay classes at the museum.

This little charmer obviously found HIS inner artist and SO enjoyed doing it that he proudly brought his artwork back to show us. The children behind him were so impressed that they bought some ceramic pieces to take home with them too!

Tropical fruits, dem!