They are people with their roots deep in the Virgin Islands, who have found success around the world thanks to a local program.
Sharee Miller is a designer for OshKosh clothing in New York; Selene Van Beverhoudt owns iDesign Studios, a web design and development company in Florida; Roshini Nibbs is the art director for Anheuser-Busch; Nilsa Wheatley is teaching art in Tortola and Melissa Edwards is teaching art in Virginia; Micha Marcellin is the art director at an advertising agency in New York; Steve Burke is also working in advertising in New York; Denise Humphrey is co-director at the Reichhold Center for the Arts on St. Thomas.
All of them – and many, many more – are alumni of the School of Visual Arts and Careers, an enrichment program that grew into a non-profit organization, nurturing artistic talent and grooming V.I. youth for art-related careers.
In its 30-year life, SVAC has seen the vast majority of its students go on to college and universities, where they studied for art degrees or in art-related fields. The school has moved through a few incarnations and several locations, but it has not strayed from the general goal.
“We’re looking for students who want a career in the arts,” said executive director Barbara Callwood.
Interested students are required to submit an application and to compile a collection of their work in order to be considered for the program. There is an annual registration fee of $50 but otherwise the program and materials are free, Callwood said.
Classes run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for two hours a day, at the end of the regular school day. There are instruction sessions, visiting speakers and demonstrations, and a lot of hands-on learning.
“Our students are very busy” with academics, jobs and other activities, Callwood said. But “we ask them to make a commitment to our program.”
A former high school administrator, Callwood is completing her first year as executive director of SVAC. She replaced longtime director Phebe Schwartz when she retired. Callwood said she was familiar with the program not only because it coordinates with schools but also because her daughter was once an enthusiastic participant.
Edie Johnson, now the primary instructor, has been teaching with SVAC since 1994 and clearly enjoys it.
“They come because they really like art, and it shows,” Johnson said. “They’re very creative and they inspire me … as far as shining stars go, I guess we have a lot of them.”
The organization traces its roots to a pilot program conducted in the summer of 1983.
“That was when the prison actually moved out” of Fort Christian in downtown Charlotte Amalie, as former museum curator Dolores Jowers recalled. So there was space there for the program alongside the Fort Museum, and Jowers was instrumental in getting it started.
It was open to students from public and private schools, and Jowers said the program cut through the traditional rivalry among the schools. It also emphasized the practical side of art, showing young people, “You don’t have to be a starving artist. You could make money in the arts.”
A number of art teachers lent their expertise and their enthusiasm to the enterprise and it quickly developed into a year-round program. Among the early catalysts were Karen Bertrand and Princess Cureton, as well as Swartz, who started as a teacher at the school and later became executive director.
The school has also enjoyed significant community support, with some leading figures in the local arts and business world serving on its board over the years. Current members are David Bornn, chair, Louis Ible, Penny Woods, Eric Pedersen, Tony Romano, Denise Humphrey and Rosa Thomas.
Fort Christian remained SVAC’s home base until shortly before the Fort closed in 2005 for a major restoration that is still incomplete. The school has had several locations since then and now is settled in the I. Levin Building near Market Square; Callwood and Johnson both expressed gratitude to Katina Coulianos, who allows the school to use space in her family’s building free of charge.
For many years SVAC was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts as well as by the V.I. Council on the Arts and private donations. More recently, it has not had the NEA support but does partner with Charlotte Amalie High School through the U.S. Department of Education’s 21st Century program, Callwood said.
It’s seen some other changes as well.
This year there were just 15 students, in contrast with some years when 25 or more students attended. There is no summer program planned this year either. Classes ended last week and will resume in the fall.
The difference reflects changes in the schools, as Callwood sees it.
“Our art teachers are aging out and retiring,” she said. CAHS is down from five to one art teacher. At Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, there were two art teachers, but one left in October and the other is retiring at the end of the school year.
The public schools don’t seem to be able to offer the kind of salaries that will attract replacements, Callwood said, and students are suffering from it.
“We find that we’re providing them with the basic skills that they used to come with,” she said. “Right now we’re filling the gap.”
The numbers may be down currently, but the quality remains high, judging by the photos of artwork provided for this article by Johnson. All the works were produced by students in the 2013-’14 program.
In August, SVAC will visit St. Thomas high schools, inviting students to apply for the 2014-’15 program.
