Mango Tango Art Gallery on Raphune Hill (Route 38) will hold an opening reception from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27, as part of the St. Thomas-St. John Art Jamboree. The featured artists are Andrea Anderson, John Baldwin, Amanda Arguello, Adrienne Miller and Brenda Sylvia. Neighboring restaurant Randy’s Bistro will be offering $12 dinner specials throughout the evening. The festivities include a rum punch reception and guitar music by Paul Dirks.
Andrea Anderson, a graduate of celebrated Lyme Academy of Fine Art in Connecticut presents mixed media on hardboard and oil-on-canvas works. She recently traveled to Florence, Italy, with the Studio Art Center International for summer studies in fresco painting, as well as traditional painting and drawing classes. As an assistant photographer for the band Sugarland, when not on the road, she has set up two work studios–in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina and in tranquil St. John. She presents oil paintings on canvas and mixed media on hardboard works. This is her third gallery show.
For over 16 years, John Baldwin has been well known as the owner operator of Frames of Mind in the Lumberyard on St. John. However, few people know about the years he spent as a photographer in college and in the Army, in the commercial industry and then in the world of museums. He designed and built the commercial darkroom for the Arizona State History Museum. There he worked for over a decade as museum exhibit designer and photographer. The multi-talented artist became so interested in the glass work of Dale Chihuly and William Morris, which he photographed for museums, that he spent 10 years working as a full-time glass artist in the United States and Australia. He has spent his years on St. John renewing his interest in photography and its technology. For St. Thomas, he debuts his landscape and nature work. A maestro in both shooting and printing images, Baldwin prefers printing his images on canvas.
Amanda Arguello is a mixed-media artist whose first field of study was photography. With a BFA from the University of Colorado, she made her mark on the St. Thomas art scene as an assistant to Mango Tango Art Gallery co-owner Jane Coombes. One of her major contributions during her year-long work was the addition of photography to Mango Tango. While continuing her graduate studies in Colorado, she has participated in four shows Mango Tango. The current mixed-media group is created through encaustic (a beeswax-and-resin medium), photographic transfer and epoxy on hardboard. The influence of her Jamaican mentor Albert Chong is recognizable.
Adrienne Miller grew up on St. Thomas. She credits three art teachers with encouraging her to continue working as an artist. Gail Felix at Charlotte Amalie High School, and Edie Johnson and Phoebe Schwartz at School of Visual Arts and Careers also helped her choose to study at Savannah School of Art and Design. After successfully completing a year of academic studies, health issues forced her to return to the islands. She continues developing as an artist, enjoying painting figurative fantasy work.
Brenda Sylvia has been painting most of her life, and she has always been happiest outside enjoying nature. Sixteen years ago those two great delights merged when she started painting exclusively on location out in the natural places she loved. Brenda received her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the George Washington University in May 2004 and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from James Madison University in 1983. The vibrant scenery she paints has earned her both praise and commissions from locals and visitors. She notes that the "incredible natural beauty of the Virgin Islands" inspired her to move here in 2008. She joins the gallery for a third time.
Visitors from St. John can enjoy a shuttle to Red Hook ferry at 8:30pm. The show will continue for one month.
For more information, call 777-3060.
