Saint Croix Walls Project was established in 2016 by Glenda Smith. After visiting St, Croix for many years, Glenda moved on island

full-time in 2015. The concept for a “walls project” had been percolating for years after her first viewing of the old Hovensa oil

refinery in the 1980s. She knew back then that the idea of an unexpected combination of an industrial complex and an “outdoor art

gallery” could work. Although the current Limetree Bay facility is out of reach, the VI Waste Management Authority recognized the

transformative potential of the concept and authorized Smith to place art at its facility at Cotton Valley and the Williams Delight pump

station. The transformation was amazing. In addition, an old rusty water tower on the East End became St. Croix’s first “urban

skyscape” and a defunct industrial blockhouse on the South Shore turned into a colorful “island lighthouse”. Smith has plans for

many more exciting installations across the island.

 

The Saint Croix Walls Project mission was expanded after the devastating 2017 hurricane season. At this crucial turning point on St.

Croix, PAIR offers an outlet for artists to express their representation of the effects of the storms and gives them a way to contribute to

recovery of the island through art. Locals and visitors will see how our community is bouncing back, beyond new power lines and

waste removal, by presenting art as a beautiful expression of our spirit.

PAIR is a post hurricane endeavor to bring color, positivity, beauty and heART to St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. St.

Croix Walls Project received a Care Fund Grant from the St. Croix Foundation to support PAIR as part of the recovery effort after

Irma and Maria. St. Croix Walls Project has secured sites to serve as diverse “canvasses” across the island. In the first weeks of the

project, blank walls at Sunshine Mall are being transformed by local art students and professional artists.

 

 

About the PAIR Artists

 

Tamara Michael

 

Tamara Michael was born and raised in a small town in Ontario Canada. She says that during her childhood she was blessed with

living in a “rich artistic atmosphere in Canada”. After graduating from Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Barrie,

Ontario with an fine art, degree she moved to Florida where she met and married her husband Jay. After 30+ years in Central Florida

they pulled up stakes and moved to St. Croix to find adventure. Tamara enjoys painting murals, portraits and landscapes, as well as

assembling sculptures from “lost and found” objects.

 

Vitaly Lopez

 

Vitale Lopez was born in 1997 in the Dominican Republic. When she was 17, the family moved to St. Croix where she finished high

school at the Complex. While on St. Croix she was a part of the Association of Art of St. Croix. Vitaly is now studying fine art with an

additional concentration on production of TV and radio at the Pontifical University Catholic of Puerto Rico (PUCPR). Her work has

been exhibited at the law library at PUCPR and she has exhibited her work at various museums and theaters in Puerto Rico. Currently

she is exhibiting at the municipal library in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She is a returning artist to St. Croix Walls Project. Vitaly’s first

outdoor mural was painted in Cotton Valley, St. Croix US Virgin Island. Vitale also created a 12’ x 20’ out door mural in

Frederiksted, VI.

 

Annie Bao

 

Annie Bao is a Manhattan-based Contemporary Surrealist painter who specializes in oil portraits of people and animals. Her work

depicts a fascination with the complexity of the human condition and is a careful negotiation between real life and the fantastic. She

aims to redefine chronicling contemporary life through pictorial satire and evocative whimsy. 

 

Annie learned the fundamentals of painting as a child from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing where she earned a

place to study Piano Performance at the Central Conservatory of Music. She continued to draw and paint after her family moved to

California when she was 12. Annie went on to study Political Science and graduated from Columbia University with a Masters degree

in International Affairs. She began pursuing painting seriously after graduate school and has since studied under Cornelia Foss and

Robert Cenedella at the Art Students League of New York.

 

In 2012, Annie left her job as a political analyst to pursue her painting business, Annie Bao Art, full-time. The business has since

flourished, selling both commissioned portraits and non-commissioned paintings to private collectors and clients. 

 

Student artists

 

Jhylie Roebuck 

Marcy Christian 

Armani Doward 

Surria Augustin 

These young high school students are also LIT members (Leaders in training) at the Caribbean centers for Boys & Girls Club, VI.

They all are living in the F’sted area and are great students. Emmanuella Perez-Cassius the F’sted Unit Director for Boys and Girls

Club, goes by “ Ms. Bella”. Through her supervision and guidance she exudes everything a director of our youth should possess.