Trash 2 Treasure Senior Winners: (Left to right) Mrs. Sabita Budhu, Teacher, St. Georges High School and Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School; Jaide Williams, 1st place, St. Georges High School; Malik Wright, Edmund Hunt and Miquel Young, 2nd place, Grand Bahama Catholic High School; Mr. Caudel McNab, Teacher, Grand Bahama Catholic High School; Yoshima Rahming, 3rd place, Eight Mile Rock High School; and Mr. Ken Heslop, Teacher, Eight Mile Rock High School.

Freeport, Bahamas - This year’s ‘Trash 2 Treasure’ Art Exhibition was a stunning success, thanks to the talented efforts of high school students on Grand Bahama Island .

Organized by the Keep Grand Bahama Clean (KGBC) committee and the Grand Bahama Artists Association, the island’s students competed in two categories, junior and secondary high school divisions.  Awards for the top three exhibits in each category were presented at an elegant Awards Ceremony hosted at the Rand Nature Center on East Settlers Way .

Trash 2 Treasure Senior Winner: (Left to right) Mrs. Nakira Wilchcombe , Environmental Manager – GBPA Group and KGBC Committee Chairperson; Jaide Williams, 1st place, St. Georges High School ; Mrs. Lorna Munroe, Technical Assistant, KGBC Committee; and Mrs. Tansey Louis, KGBC Committee Member.

Offering remarks was Mr. Arthur Jones, Vice President of Building and Development Services, The Grand Bahama Port Authority Ltd (GBPA). “Hopefully, by participating in or attending this event, your awareness of the need to protect and preserve our environment has been heightened,” said Mr. Jones.

By means of a powerful visual presentation, artist and guest speaker, Mrs. Chantal Bethel, challenged all in attendance to practice the three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle.

Trash 2 Treasure Junior Winners: (Left to right) Mrs. Tansey Louis, KGBC Committee Member; Mr. Rico Cargill , Environmental Officer – GBPA and KGBC Committee Member; Mrs. Nakira Wilchcombe , Environmental Manager – GBPA Group and KGBC Committee Chairperson; Jenna Roxbury, 1st place, Grand Bahama Catholic High School; Richard Levy and Derecka Lynch, 2nd place, Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School; Trevonte Adderley, 3rd place, Jack Hayward High School; Ms. Olethea Gardiner , Environmental Officer – GBPA and KGBC Committee Member; and Mrs. Lorna Munroe, Technical Assistant, KGBC Committee.

According to Mrs. Nakira Wilchcombe, KGBC Chairperson and Environmental Manager – GBPA, the artistic competition was fully supported by the schools with entries from nine institutions.

“We were certainly pleased with the support we received and the overwhelming display of talent and imagination of these youngsters.  Additionally, we wish to thank the various teachers who mentored them,” Mrs. Wilchcombe said.

Trash 2 Treasure Junior Winner: (Left to right) Ms. Olethea Gardiner , Environmental Officer – GBPA and KGBC Committee Member; Mrs. Nakira Wilchcombe , Environmental Manager – GBPA Group and KGBC Committee Chairperson; Mr. Rico Cargill , Environmental Officer – GBPA and KGBC Committee Member; Jenna Roxbury, 1st place, Grand Bahama Catholic High School ; Mrs. Tansey Louis, KGBC Committee Member; Mrs. Cecilia Bodie, KGBC Committee Member; and Mrs. Lorna Munroe, Technical Assistant, KGBC Committee.

In the junior division, top finishers were:  1^st place - Jenna Roxbury, Grand Bahama Catholic High School, ‘Soda Can Bird’; 2^nd place – Richard Levy and Derecka Lynch,  Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School, ‘Fishing’; and 3^rd place – Trevonte Adderley, Jack Hayward High School, ‘Boat Model’.

In the senior division, top finishers were: 1^st place - Jaide Williams, St. George’s High School, ‘Centre Piece’; 2^nd place - Malik Wright, Edmund Hunt, Miquel Young, and Mikarla Swann, Grand Bahama Catholic High School, ‘Wood Student Sculpture’; and 3^rd place - Yoshima Rahming, Eight Mile Rock High School,  ‘Abstract Sculpture’.

Trash 2 Treasure Junior 3rd Place Winner: Trevonte Adderley, Jack Hayward High School , with his “Boat Model” exhibit.

Prizes included - Artistic tutelage with renowned Bahamian artist, Mr. Antonius Roberts, Artist sets, Bahama EcoVentures Airboat Tours, Cash prizes and BTC Phone Cards.

Trash 2 Treasure Junior 2nd Place Winners: Richard Levy and Derecka Lynch, Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School , captured second place in the junior division with their “Fishing” piece.

The ‘Trash 2 Treasure’ Art Exhibition ending Thursday, 5^th November brought KGBC’s month-long anniversary celebrations to a successful conclusion.  KGBC kicked off its third anniversary with a clean-up campaign in the Yeoman Wood subdivision.  Various organizations joined in the Keep Grand Bahama Clean celebrations by holding simultaneous clean-up campaigns at several sites.  A church service at the Universal Household of Faith and special anti-littering school visits accompanied by ‘Chicky’ from Kentucky Fried Chicken rounded off the slate of events.

Chantal Bethel

Chantal Bethel Speech

Presentation to the Keep Grand Bahama Clean Committee.
The “Trash to Treasure Competition”
Glory Banks Gallery, October 29th, 2009.

“Three is a magic number
We’ve got three R’s we’re going to talk about today
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
If you're going to the market to buy some juice
You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R's don't work out
And if you've got to make some trash
Don't throw it out
Recycle, we've got to learn to recycle,
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Because three is a magic number “

These are the words of the song on the 3R’s written recycling advocate and singer Jack Johnson

Distinguished guests, ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls
Good Evening.

First let me congratulate the “ Keep Grand Bahama Clean Committee and the Grand Bahama Port Authority for undertaking such a great and much needed project… and I really mean much needed project.
I toured the gallery earlier today and I am totally amazed at the work displayed: Look at the materials used: 2x4’s, soda cans, nails, plastic forks and knives and the list goes on…this is what I call wonderful imagination.
I also wish to congratulate the winners of this art competition. But you know all of those who participated in this exercise are winners because at the end of the day, the process must have been beneficial to you. The fact that you have entered the competition means that you had to do some research about the subject. And somehow you must have experienced the three R’s if only in thoughts “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.

It should be noted that we have amongst us a true true green artist. My Colleague Del Foxton is very aware of her surroundings and she ought be commended for being the first artist on Grand Bahama Island to create paper from seagrape leaves, seaweeds and many other indigenous plants.

I am truly thankful and honored to have been invited to share my thoughts with you this evening.
According to a recycle advocate most of us are familiar with recycle and reusing, but how often do we think of the third R which stands for REDUCE? Reduce is probably the most important of the three Rs because, if we reduce, it would limit the need to recycle and reuse.” Think about it. By reducing, we cut down on the resources that we use which results in less garbage being produced.
Reduce takes us back to the basic question:
"Is it a need or a want?"
So often, our wants result in impulse buying. It is amazing if you ask yourself the question, is it a need or a want before you actually buy. Many things end up being a want, not truly a need.
Reuse is often confused with recycle, but they are really quite different. Reuse in the broadest sense means any activity that lengthens the life of an item. Recycling, on the other hand, is the reprocessing of an item into a new material.
This Podium is an example of Reduce, reuse and recycle. It is made with the roots of the Banyon tree. It was created by Claudette Dean and myself in 2005 when we did a show on our roots.
As an artist who recycles, I will expand on “recycling for an entirely new purpose”.
This brings me to the theme “Trash to Treasure”
What is Trash?
Trash is described as anything worthless, useless, or discarded.

What is Treasure?
Treasure is described as something of great value and highly prized.

How can something worthless and discarded becomes valuable and highly prized?

This evening allow me to share my personal story with you.

I am a both a painter and a sculptor. At some point in my life I made the decision to learn how to draw and paint. Sculpting happened by accident.

My sculpted forms are carved out of the crown shaft of the Royal Palm tree – a piece of nature -. It is the reason why I call this collection “The Royal Collection”.

My love affair with the Royal Palm tree began some four years ago as I was walking along Spanish Main Drive where I live and encountered what would become my material for sculpting.

I became totally captivated by something that appeared totally ordinary. This ordinary yet magnificent piece of nature is always discarded.

When I pick up a piece of Royal Palm and take it to my studio, I don’t usually have preconceived ideas. I begin by examining the material, I connect with it, I listen to my inner voice………. the process is a spiritual and intuitive one where the spirit of this piece of nature reveals itself. It is about seeing beyond what is there, giving room to my intuition. I then draw upon my vision. At this point, the challenge for me is to give this primitive forms humanist content.

This is a work in progress, I have no one to learn from, no model to follow, there is no information in any book or the internet about the crown shaft of the royal palm. So I am experimenting and documenting my finding. The crown shaft is somehow a cross between wood and a leaf. So I have to find out what works best.
As a sculptor I find, I reuse, I alter and I redirect the purpose of the palm. Personally, I do not usually use the word recycling with my work but it is simply that.
I believe there is beauty in discarded material. Making “something from nothing” is part of my philosophy.

On a final note I was very sad to read that Grand Bahama ranks as the second worst destination in the world according to the National Geographic Society’s study in pristine environments. So again I congratulate the committee for taking this step and it is my hope that this project will mark a new beginning for Grand Bahama as we keep it clean and also as we encourage artists to be creative. Would it not be wonderful if we had outdoor sculptures everywhere and painted mural to tell the visitors our story?? Think about it…

Remember 3 is a magic number and with the 3 R’s :Reduce, Reuse and Recycle we can do wonders for Grand Bahama Island.

Thank you and good evening.