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Hillside House

It’s not hard to miss when zooming by in cars, but tucked away into the side of the slope at #25 Cumberland Street of downtown Nassau in the midst of abandoned and dilapidated structures is the newly renovated Hillside House.

Once destroyed by fire and abandoned itself, the structure has been given new life by Bahamian artist Antonius Roberts as the Antonius Roberts studio and gallery space.

This space not only adds to the proliferation of art spaces in the area in the last few years but also holds a conversation with the recent downtown Nassau revitalization efforts by the Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) which recognizes the importance of preserving culture and heritage in urban development.

With that in mind, a patron of Antonius Roberts approached the artist with the proposition to purchase and give new life to the Hillside House as an art space. The proposition was of high importance to Roberts whose previous Post House studio and gallery space on Prospect Ridge was somewhat inconvenient. Two years later, the pair, as business partners, have been able to fulfill his dream of operating a space where art – as completed pieces and as works in progress – can be appreciated.

Yet on a road like Cumberland Street – which has historically been a place of lively social interaction as the main artery to The British Colonial (Hilton) – efforts are necessary to preserve the integrity and inherent beauty of its buildings.

“Being of the same mindset, we felt it would be important to restore this building to its original feeling, being mindful of the history that actually exists on Cumberland Street and the fact that Cumberland Street has always been a place where locals and visitors can both come and experience the opulence and lifestyle and architecture of The Bahamas in the 1800s,” explained Roberts.

“In many conversations with Jackson Burnside when he was still with us, he insisted that we needed to do this right – we needed to be respectful of the architecture and we needed to be respectful of the history. Therefore it has taken us two years to get to this particular point.”

Yet Roberts has extensive knowledge about the power of preservation and how it intersects with public art – his sculptures are often crafted out of discarded wood which he repurposed into beautiful figures or useful benches, giving them new life.

By partnering with government institutions and the public sector, he has created sculpture gardens in places like Clifton Heritage Park and at the intersection of Blake Road and JFK Drive which has not only attracted the admiration of visitors but also Bahamians.

Such installations, like the efforts of the DNP, explains Roberts, serve to connect the public to their public spaces, fostering appreciation and respect for their surroundings as well as a sense of community.

Hillside House, he hopes, will function as this public art does – being open six days a week with an emphasis on the daytime hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. will make it quite accessible to both curious tourists passing by and Bahamians who may want to tuck into a bit of art and culture during their lunch break or weekend outings.

“This building is a sculpture. This is the artwork,” said Roberts.

“We wanted people as they pass to be connected to the transformation of this space and in so doing will be drawn to this space, and being drawn to this space they’re connecting to rich art and culture that is unique to The Bahamas.

“I speak about locals more so than tourists,” he added. “I think we have to first create spaces for ourselves, we have to first love our spaces and clean up our front doors and our yards, thereby encouraging people to come into a wonderful space.”

This two-year renovation that preserved much of the integrity of the historic architecture of Hillside House has come to this: a zen-like space just yards from a busy road where, if drivers turn their faces away for a brief moment may catch Roberts working on new sculptural creations under the palms – if he does not happen to be working inside this charming pink building instead.

Nevertheless, two bronze figures cast from his wooden sculpture creations welcome visitors into a quaint gallery space that lies at the intersection of past and present. It showcases, for now, work by Roberts himself, but will soon feature rotating exhibitions by local artists.

Edroy Mackey. Photo by Victoria Sarne

In fact, when the space holds its open house next month, on display will also be a collection of wood carvings of owls by Edroy Mackey.

This reclusive artist who lived in the area has essentially become the first artist-in-residence at Hillside House. Mackey was only one of the individuals who frequented the abandoned Hillside House and its surrounding structures when Roberts first began visiting the site for renovations.

“As opposed to chasing them away we thought it would be wonderful to, in the spirit of community, engage them in this whole process of transformation,” said Roberts.

“We’ve been collecting a lot of Edroy’s pieces to encourage him and to say to him, ‘listen, we’re not here to disturb you, we are here to actually add something to your life’,” he continued.

“He’s our first artist in residence. We met him here, we want him to stay here, and we want to encourage him to continue producing art in this space.”

Such a spirit of community, explained Roberts, is what has driven the renovations and he hopes the space functions as just one of many in an urban area that is conscious of its important and rich cultural heritage.

Read the Artist's Statement

“We’re hoping to connect to other artists who like Edroy find some inspiration in this space and kind of want to congregate in this space,” Roberts said.

“This all organic.

“Like Jackson Burnside said, let’s be true to our history, let us be respectful of our environment, and let us just breathe life into a space so we can begin to tell our own stories. Then we can be engaged in the whole transformation of The Bahamas and we can be engaged in actually influencing the landscape. That’s what this is all about.”

The Antonius Roberts Studio and Gallery at Hillside House is located at #25 Cumberland Street. It will hold its first open house on February 11 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and will aim to be open to the public during these daytime hours for six days a week.

Sonia Farmer
The Nassau Guardian
Arts & Culture
Published: Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Antonius Roberts Studio and Gallery at Hillside House
#25 Cumberland Street
will host it’s first Open House
on Saturday, February 11, 2012 between 10am and 4pm

Antonius Roberts has signed on with Baha Mar to hire, train and mentor 12 aspiring craftsmen with the goal of creating benches out of wood discarded from the Baha Mar site.

“I have agreed to set up a mentorship program and will be taking on 12 Bahamians who will be selected through the government’s Job Readiness Program,” he told Guardian Business in October when the project was still in its planning stages.

The initial project, according to Roberts, is to produce 20 park benches for the new West Bay Street and hiking trial.

Kristin Wells, the Director of the Baha Mar Academy, which seeks to prepare, equip and train a generation of workers for the resort, said this particular project came about through their cooperation with government to find jobs for the new placement program.

“We decided to give [Roberts] our fallen trees and he agreed to take on some people and teach them basic skills. We are hoping he will teach them the skills and hopefully get them to a point where it becomes self-sustaining.”

Read more…

Sarah Deppe and Antonius Roberts scoured the beach at Schooner Bay, helping Abaco students pick up plastic, rope and other materials. They used the materials found to create dream catchers with the students. Sarah and Antonius also helped them make ornaments with popsicle sticks and the plastic found on the beach.

Sarah led children at the Lyford Cay School in art projects. They collected natural material, like palm leaves, rocks and branches. Then they returned to the classroom where Sarah helped the students make a sculpture or a mosaic with them. Outside the students gather around their artwork.

The creations are inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art. The LCIS students created a fish and two suns. They are temporary installations on the LCIS grounds.

“I like my artwork to have a strong environmental content, and I do this through using reclaimed materials and also for the overall theme of it to relate to the environment,” says Deppe, whose large form sculptures incorporate indigenous wood.

“I was interested in Antonius’ work and his use of reusing reclaimed materials and his connection to the environment because I do a lot of that in my work, and I wanted to come down here and see what he was doing,” she continues.

“I want to learn from Antonius and everyone here, how he makes his artwork and the materials he uses. I want to also have more experience with materials that are related to nature.”

Source: Sonia farmer, The Nassau Guardian
Read the full article…

"The Update" from the University of Northern Iowa - on Antonius Roberts' residency - 900KB PDF

Bahamian Artist Profile: Antonius Roberts
Multimedia Artist

Antonius Roberts is one of The Bahamas’ most outstanding artists and its pre-eminent Sculptor and Open Space Designer. He is passionate about preserving and documenting Bahamian/African heritage and has an impeccable record as a conservationist incorporating this philosophy into his work and his life. The benefit of using, preserving and re-cycling organic materials was understood and incorporated into his art long before “green” fully infiltrated the general consciousness.

Born in 1958 in Nassau, he received his BFA in painting from the Philadelphia College of Art (now The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA). His art has a strong signature with a special understanding of and flair for defining large spaces. As a Curator, he has played a significant role in the public and private domain. In 1999, he was engaged by The Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board and the Airport Authority to curate and purchase the two dimensional art for the existing International Arrival and Departure Lounges. He previously played a leading role in the restoration of the Villa Doyle and its conversion into The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. He was the Founding Curator of The Central Bank Art Gallery and former Coordinator of FINCO’s Summer Art Workshops all of which were highly successful.

In 2009, he created a design for seven acres of grounds at Centreville House and receiving Government approval, directed and managed the project that included many special features – Landscaping, a Pond, Fountain, Labyrinth, Amphitheatre Seating, Benches and Art Installations – making it the first downtown park in Nassau and an integral part of the revitalisation programme.

The projects and accomplishments are continually ongoing in Roberts’ life. In 2008, Roberts was featured in the documentary film “Artists of The Bahamas” that explores the lives and works of 11 Bahamian visual artists whose talents have contributed to the initial art movement in The Bahamas. As part of this film’s progression, there have been a number of exhibitions of the artists’ work with the most recent being held currently at the prestigious Waterloo Center for the Arts (WCA) in Waterloo, Iowa.

Concurrently, Roberts has been named Artist-in-Residence at Schooner Bay in Abaco. Schooner Bay is arguably the first new town developed in The Bahamas in over one hundred years. It is an exemplar of an essential commitment to artistic cultivation.
Roberts considers it an honour to be appointed Schooner Bay’s “Town Artist.” In this capacity, he will act as a consultant on design matters and establish a presence for art in the community, engaging as many artists as possible in the production of murals, sculptures, signage, public art pieces and art symposiums.

His ethos connecting man’s spiritual and emotional nature and nature itself and his desire to record and honour Bahamian heritage is inherent in all of his paintings and sculpture including the first “Sacred Space” project at the historical Clifton Heritage site. This was followed by the larger installation at the Blake Road Welcome Centre sponsored by The Ministry of Tourism, New Providence Community Centre and Kerzner International. The “Sacred Women” as they came to be known also travelled to Wiesbaden, Germany and then exhibited at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. A similar installation now forms part of The Grand Bahama Heritage Foundation and the Love My Bahamas Downtown Art Experience.

By invitation in 2006, he exhibited in Changchun, China, his 12’ bronze sculpture ‘Rebirth’ now permanently installed there; and his pieces in wood, bronze and stone are in international collections in Italy, South Africa, Canada, Germany and the U.S.A. as are his paintings. His current work includes paintings with a social commentary, large and small scale sculptures in different mediums for indoor and outdoor installation as well as a signature line of tables, consoles, benches and chairs of indigenous woods eagerly claimed by clients.

Over the years, he has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and is generous with his time and experience as a Consultant to fellow artists and clients.

Source: Smith & Benjamin’s Bahamian Arts & Culture
No. 60 : 11.10.11

In an exhibition, “Homage”, opening next week, Damaso Gray and Antonius Roberts pay their respects to a generation now fading away through portraiture—allowing their paintings to highlight those who deserve to be remembered and who oftentimes are unfortunately overlooked.

For Exuma native Damaso Gray—who has exhibited his work in various resorts in Exuma, at The College of The Bahamas where he received his Bachelors Degree in Art Education and in Grand Bahama under the Grand Bahama Artists Association—this is the second time this year he will be exhibiting at New Providence Art and Antiques (NPAA) after displaying his work there during Transforming Spaces 2011.

During that tour—which also saw an exhibition of Roberts’ earlier work in painted portraiture at The D’Aguilar Art foundation—many viewers found Gray’s work similar to Roberts’ earlier work, which led NPAA director Jay Koment to curate a show with both artists.

For Gray, it is exciting to share a gallery space with the renowned Roberts.

“This show feels like an accomplishment to me to exhibit with the world renowned Antonius Roberts,” he says. “Mr. Roberts is in tune with the general population of the Bahamian people, he is a conservationist of our culture, landscape and surroundings.”

Indeed Gray’s portraiture of elderly Bahamians taps into that desire to conserve the Bahamian culture that this generation built. Having grown up in Williams Town, Exuma, Gray recalls fondly his childhood memories learning from the “old ways” of his elders and wished to dedicate the exhibition to the community who raised him and his generation.

“The show is about the way of life of these elders, being self sufficient and morally strong,” he says. “I am essentially trying to preserve the memory of the villages that have raised me, in particular Williams Town, Exuma, in honor of their hard work and dedication through the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.”

Though this feeling shines through in Gray’s collection as a whole, a different emotional undertone reveals itself in individual pieces that depict these elderly treasures in compromising and heartbreaking positions.

In one, “The Signs of the Times”, an elderly woman and a potcake share a sleeping space on the sidewalk, surrounded by pigeons. Gray shares that coming from Exuma where his elders played such a strong and revered role in society, it shocked and saddened him to see such scenes as this in Nassau and believes something is inherently wrong with a society that does not take care of those who have gifted the country to them.

“Grandparents used to be the cornerstone of society whose wisdom and guidance were sought with reverence, but now they are considered a burden to society and problematic,” points out Gray.

“We are neglecting the elders who built this country, and it seems as if we want to forget and put them away. Of course we are making way for the younger generation, we have new ideas and new visions, but we have to also give credit to those who deserve it.”

Despite this, Gray is aware that the generation gap has also caused quite a few of society’s problems, and points out that the younger generation is not taking the opportunity to work with the older generations in making the country a better place.

In the diptych, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide”, two elderly figures sit in front of two political signs—one for the PLP and one for the FNM. Gray points out that he wanted to show that these people are very set in their ways, but that the younger generation could “capitalize on their mistakes” to move the country forward.

If you think that Gray’s work is political, you may be far off the mark—his only use of politics in this show is to drive his point home about respecting the contributions elders made to Bahamian society.

“Our nation is more than 41 people in Parliament. It is not about politics but its about people, the people who put the politicians in power—people who have contributed without reward or recognition, who have worked tirelessly for and in their communities,” he says.

Indeed, in every painting, the painstakingly detailed faces of those who stare hauntingly back at the viewer, who look wistfully into the distance or whose eyes are closed to shut out the sight of the turbulent world today convey utter respect and reverence by the artist for his subjects.

“I get my inspiration from driving or walking through impoverished communities,” says Gray. “I seek to show the beauty when and where there is considered no beauty in these areas. I do not seek to go to Paradise Island to paint a pretty picture to represent the Bahamas to the world. The true beauty is in the landscape of the natives.”

It’s something that Antonius Roberts knows well, as he worked from a similar desire many years ago as a young painter. Now alongside Gray, he presents three new pieces that pay tribute to both his painterly and artistic roots.

On three gorgeous panels of madeira wood, he painted portraits of those great giants we have lost in the art world who, like Gray’s subjects, deserve to be highlighted as cornerstones in the art world and in the society at large for their contributions to culture.

As a more experienced artist, Roberts also hopes that by taking part in this exhibition, he is carrying on that spirit of camaraderie displayed to him through his artistic mentors.

“I’m just in support of this artist. He’s very talented,” says Roberts. “I saw his work and struggle and I remember being a young artist, I know what he’s going through and I know he will resolve that.”

“I think it is important for us to be there for each other and to continue for us to work within the community, collaborate and support, and for me this is my way of supporting somebody who I think is very talented.”

As for Gray, whose work here will be a prelude to his imminent show “Black Roses” which will take the themes he’s explored even further, he hopes the audience will be touched by his work and motivated to live more consciously.

“I want the audience to just be aware of the plight of our elders,” he says. “We think we have it hard. I just want them to think about those who are no longer physically able, those who wish they had the youth and strength to contribute to society in a positive way. I want the viewer to see that the elders are deserving of respect for trying to instill in us morals and discipline.”

“Homage” opens at New Providence Art and Antiques this Thursday, November 10 at 6 p.m. and is on display until November 30. For more information, call 328-7916 or e-mail bahamasart@gmail.com.

Sonia Farmer
The Nassau Guardian
Arts & Culture
Published: November 5, 2011