New environments, new eyes: Michaela Antoinette, founder of Art Drop Bermuda, a platform for artistic entrepreneurs, which will launch on July 19 at the Hamilton Princes Hotel & Beach Club (Photograph supplied)
Michaela Antoinette considered the talent on the island and came up with Art Drop Bermuda, a platform for artistic entrepreneurs.
Its official launch is next Friday at Hamilton Princess & Beach Club. On show will be more than 40 works by 12 invited artists.
As a business, it’s an interesting concept: a one-off display of curated pieces that allows people who sell their work to walk away with 75 per cent of the profit.
Sculptors, painters, photographers, graphic artists and creatives of every genre and of all ages are welcome to submit pieces for consideration.
Ms Antoinette, a retired lawyer, also helps draft “intellectual property rights protection” packages – written agreements to help people sell and protect their art.
Also an artist, she is hoping next Friday’s exhibit is the start of something regular. Although the art galleries here are “awesome at what they do” Ms Antoinette believes there is no such thing as too much opportunity.
“Art Drop Bermuda is an additional option for professional emerging and established Bermuda-based artists to showcase their work at our bespoke events,” she said.
“It’s providing artists with another opportunity, for possibly new eyes to see their work and to widen their audience. It’s all about visibility.”
Dana Zhyon Selassies’s work will go on show as part of Art Drop Bermuda next Friday (Photograph supplied)
The Hamilton Princess exhibit includes works by:
• Nashon Hollis, the 2024 Charman Prize winner who is known for his “surreal and lifelike paintings”
• Liz Andrade Arnold, a mixed-media artist who creates bold pop art styles meant to highlight strong women archetypes
• Larussy, who uses acrylics and resin and is inspired by “the beauty and power of nature and her connection with God”
• Charles Harrop-Griffiths, a multidisciplinary artist who merges “painting, drawing, 3D design and immersive experiences”
• Piia Mills, an oil painter whose works “celebrate harmony, nature and balance”
• Shanna Hollis, a graphic designer known for her “bright colour choices and bold patterns”
• Toni Tonae, a “visionary mixed-media artist known for her esoteric, spiritual and ethereal creations”
• Ms Antoinette, a “multidisciplinary artist who pairs her fine art paintings and sculptures with augmented reality/AI technology”
Nashon Hollis’s work will go on show as part of Art Drop Bermuda next Friday (Photograph supplied)
• Carlos Santana, “an illustrative artist who envisions things in black and white”
• Meredith Andrews, “a contemporary portrait, travel and lifestyle photographer”
• Dana Zhyon Selassie, “a culture curator, photographer and filmmaker”.
Piia Mills’s work will go on show as part of Art Drop Bermuda next Friday (Photograph supplied)
Some of the artists responded to an open call Ms Antoinette put out; others she reached out to, familiar with their work.
“So I had an idea of who I would invite,” she said. “There were artists that couldn’t participate this time because they were travelling and there were some that didn’t have anything particularly that they wanted to sell at this time, but the ones that are not participating, they’re definitely looking forward to future events.”
Part of the reason for doing it is because she has a strong belief that art adds value to life.
“I think it’s important. I have a history with the arts. It started with my parents. They were both musicians. My late mother, [Marcelle Clamens], was an opera singer and my father [Michael Clamens] a percussionist,” Ms Antoinette said.
“When my mother was alive she had a charity and used to help to send local singers and talents away to school through raising sponsorships for them etc, so it’s in my blood.
“I was part of the board of that charity, so I’m following in her footsteps but just putting my own twist on it for my artistic expression.”
New environments, new eyes: Michaela Antoinette, founder of Art Drop Bermuda, a platform for artistic entrepreneurs, which will launch on July 19 at the Hamilton Princes Hotel & Beach Club (Photograph supplied)
A digital catalogue on the Art Drop Bermuda website will allow people to use their smart devices to scan a QR code which will lead to the pricing and descriptions of each work.
Ms Antoinette’s hope is that it exposes local artists to “new environments [and] new eyes”.
“I’d like to widen audiences that may not be familiar with the local and Bermuda-based artists or the art that’s available here. It’s a high standard and I think they deserve to be showcased and celebrated. Bermuda may be small, but it has produced and inspired world-class talent across the board within all industries, and particularly within the arts.”
Although having work shown over a couple of weeks in a gallery is “awesome”, Art Drop offers something special, Ms Antoinette believes.
“It gives the artists an opportunity to explore the full gamut of entrepreneurship when it comes to presenting and showcasing and selling their art in person,” she said.
“The events are curated, so not all applications will be successful. The work has to fit in with each other. It has to be cohesive. This showcase we’re going to have over 40 pieces of work – different genres, different techniques, different styles – but they all work together.”
Future events also offer opportunity for collaboration with “private chefs, high end dessert creators, freelance Tips-certified bartenders, decorators, etc”, she added.
“And sponsorships are always welcome. I think we have to rethink the way in which we view art and consume it. It’s not just something pretty or pleasant, or even disturbing or unpleasant to the eye. It’s a deeper conversation and exploration of the human condition. Art helps heal us in ways that are being rediscovered. So to live our lives surrounded by art is a life well lived in my opinion.”
• Art Drop Bermuda takes place on July 26 from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on The Regency Terrace at Hamilton Princess & Beach Club. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.artdropbda.com; @artdropbda on Instagram or artdropbda@gmail.com
