Freeport’s Island Diva Creative Design Is Bringing Magic Back to the City
Freeport’s Island Diva Creative Design
Uses nature’s overlooked gifts in its own efforts to revitalize the city. This Sip and Sponge experience takes our Thea Saunders on a fun-filled adventure.
I arrive at Island Diva Creative Design in Grand Bahama’s Port Lucaya Marketplace on a sunny Thursday morning. After the previous days of rain, the brightly colored building that houses the gallery is a good omen. The sign promises an authentic Bahamian experience. The two glossy, pink conch shells lying on the doorstep seem to validate the promise.
The proprietor and artist-in-residence, Shanelle Taylor, greets me with a contagious smile. Part hostess, part curator, Taylor welcomes me into the multi-purpose space with the warmth of someone welcoming an old friend into her home.
“I’m bringing the outside of what we call our culture on the inside,” she says as she leads me towards the “open book” – a cut-out in the shape of an actual book – of the gallery’s entrance. It is the first of the many metaphors come to life that populate the space. “What I’ve done is I’ve curated my story,” she says.
A multi-sensory experience, Taylor begins the gallery tour by explaining the many symbols, puns and metaphors that blend to create what I see before me. The floor, splashed in aquamarine, teal and green, is a mural of our islands in the sun. The walls are adorned with her sponge-painted creations. Yes, Taylor’s paintbrush of choice is the famed native sponge. Her three-dimensional creations feature the use of more homegrown, natural materials. She liberally uses seashells to create pieces that tell tales of the culture. The choice seems fitting for the artist who “started my journey on the beach”.
The gallery is one year old, but twenty years in the making. A bookkeeper by profession, Taylor has always nurtured her creativity. She started off making art
pieces, then expanded to event planning. She now considers Island Diva to be an event within itself. As she steers me toward a wooden table in the shape of Grand Bahama, she tells me the story of the kaleidoscope of colorful signatures it features.
Since opening the gallery, Taylor has hosted would-be artists and adventurous visitors from around the world. She sets out the natural materials that she offers those wanting to make their own art – a bird feather, a sponge, some seashells. These are the tools of Taylor’s “Sip and Sponge” art experience. Visitors to the gallery are invited to sip the local Goombay Punch soda and paint with the artifacts of the islands. Her social media is filled with videos of their glowing testimonials. The videos include one with Bahamian WNBA champion Jonquel Jones, whose signed portrait, painted by Taylor, hangs on a wall of the gallery.
As the tour continues, she points to objects that you wouldn’t expect to see inside or hanging on a wall, and she explains the stories they tell. The four-paned window propped up behind a vibrant, patterned sofa allows us to peer into Taylor’s mind.
“I began looking through windows and was intrigued by colors,” she says. The wall hanging, featuring Taylor’s hand-crafted flip flops, whispers of the soles and souls left on the sandy shores after a beach walk. “We don’t know who took these steps, we don’t know their stories, but we know that when we go to the beach, we leave our soles there,” she adds.
While business is less than brisk at the moment, Taylor’s hopes for the cultural studio gallery remain high. The artist describes herself as having a “wait and see attitude” in light of major developments in the works for Grand Bahama, slated to increase visitor arrivals.
As the tour comes to an end, two women walk into the gallery and look expectantly over at Taylor. She says her goodbye to me and breezes over to them with her earlier charm. The women are in for a treat. A carnival of culture awaits them.
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