Arts

Members of the 25-year-old St. John Singers hope to honor Mozart’s
250th birthday with a concert on island at the end of October or early
November, the St. John Source reported.  Once that is done, the Singers
will plan for their annual Christmas concert.  The concert programs
"lean toward classical," said Nancy Morse, vice president of the group,
although she the group’s repertoire includes reggae, original songs by
members, and West Indian Christmas tunes. 

Concert admission
fees as well as funding from the V.I. Council on the Arts help finance
the Singers’ efforts.  The Source reported, "Anyone who can carry a
tune is welcome to join."  Rehearsals at Monday evenings at Nazareth
Lutheran Church.

St. John has another place to see art.  This one is at Boulon Center, inside Ronnie Klingsberg’s pizza restaurant.  The initial exhibition included photographs by Bob Lefferts and watercolors from Jennifer Robinson, according to the St. John Sun-Times. 

Lefferts said "two perfect white walls" will highlight his work.  "I know some artists may wonder if this is an appropriate venture top show their work," he said, "but I loved the idea of breaking out of the traditional approaches to presenting art."

One of the island’s best known artists is moving his studio and gallery from Mongoose Junction to a second-floor space near O’Connor’s Texaco. 

Donald Schnell opened his business at Mongoose 26 years ago. "There was nothing but bush from the post office all the way down to Mongoose," he remembers.  During several decades, Schnell has designed lamps, sconces, dish ware and art pieces for resorts and homeowners from Cruz Bay to Seattle to Tortola.

His own interests have extended beyond the island’s shores, as he travels to Italy twice a year to find stone tile, terra cotta pots, ceramic fountains, bowls and counter tops for import.  "The island is now ready for these kinds of building materials," Schnell said in a news release.  The new larger space on the second floor of the Amore Center will also let Schnell create larger and sculptured works.  he expects to open for business at the new spot during the first week of April.

The Maho Bay Art Center is online at www.maho.org/store.  The Center creates art from recycled products such as beer bottles, bed linens, and lint from clothes dryers. Highly skilled artists create at studios located at Maho Bay Camps.  Glass sculptures, bird feeders and batik fabric belts are among the items available.

Steven Branfman, founder and director of the Potter’s Shop and School in Needham, Mass. will be on island May 2-8 at Maho Bay.  He will be teaching the making of Raku, a clay art form grown out of Japanese tea ceremony preparations. Potters take red hot pots and plunge them into newspapers and other materials to produce glaze effects. This workshop within a workshop offers a week-long "hands on" session, as well as a weekend only session from May 7-8. More information’s available at mahobayclayworks.com.