Nassau, Bahamas -The Transforming Spaces Committee is pleased to announce plans once again for this year’s Art Tour which celebrates six successful years on the Bahamian art scene. The popular Bus Tour will take place on Saturday and Sunday, March 13 and 14 and will be visiting 9 Art Spaces including: Doongalik Studios Art Gallery at Village Road, Ladder Gallery at NPCC, New Providence Art & Antiques, Pink 'Un, Popop Studios, Post House Gallery, PRO Gallery at COB, StingraeStudio and The Hub.

Each space will be specifically transformed for the occasion and patrons will experience a panoply of art forms and expression during the 5 hour Tour. Transportation will once again be provided by the professional team from Bahamas Experience Tours who will drive patrons in air conditioned bus all around the island. Each bus will have its own knowledgeable Tour Guide and in addition to having the opportunity to view and purchase art, patrons will also get to meet the artists and indulge in a variety of food and drink at each stop. All buses will leave daily from the NAGB promptly at 10 am. Tickets for $30.00 will be on sale shortly at the following locations:

The following is a message from the Acting Director of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, David A Bailey:

"I am very pleased that my first words to paper as Acting Director are for an event, which not only embraces the national spirit of the Island but also serves as a manifestation of diverse artistic practices.  One of the major remits of The National Art Gallery is to support contemporary and experimental art forms, and we feel that there is no better way to do this than through the innovative annual Transforming Spaces event which is in its sixth year.   

Transforming Spaces is an Art Tour via bus which allows patrons (either local Bahamians or, increasingly, persons from abroad) to spend the day being driven with the assistance of a knowledgeable Art Tour Guide to visit and interact with artists at visual art spaces throughout the island that ‘transform’ their space specifically for the event. This year nine spaces are taking part including, for the first time, the PRO Gallery at The College of The Bahamas.

It is important to note that the Transforming Spaces event is created by a curatorial collective made up of many of the self-run visual art spaces, who came together to ensure that over a weekend Bahamians and visitors are given an intense visual art experience.  Forgive my use of formal terminology but I really want to emphasize by using these terms that the works on display have not been arbitrarily put together as a mis-matched survey of Bahamian art but that there has been a focused discussion and planning process involved in order to ensure that the audience will be exposed to the rich quality of the art and the amazingly diverse talent of the artists.  

Transforming Spaces serves as a recurring yearly reminder of the necessity to see visual art within the context of place and each space will offer a distinctive perspective on Bahamian art. Every member of the audience will be taken on a visual art experience that at its heart has a narrative which raises questions about the nature of art both within the context of the gallery space as well as within the context of the role and nature of contemporary art in the wider Bahamas.  

We are now in the 2^nd decade of the 21^st century and are witnessing the legacy of the economic crash as well as recent ecological disasters in our neighborhood country of Haiti.  It is in times like these that we need to look towards the visual arts for inspiration, encouragement and the ability to progress forward, and it is for this that I welcome you to join us on our Transforming Spaces journey. "

David A Bailey MBE

Acting Director