San Pedro’s Art in the Park: They Need You to Attend!

The House of Culture in Belize City has always been one of the leaders in promoting (you guessed it) Belizean CULTURE in this country and abroad.   Just this year, a branch with its own cultural committee has opened right here on Ambergris Caye.  And though we may not be called the “Culture Capital of Belize” like Dangriga, we have a huge range of artists, musicians, crafts and well, like me of course, highly cultured residents.

(An quick aside about ME:  when I first came to the island, I fell in love with the art work in San Pedro.  Since, at the time, I actually had a little money, I bought some paintings that are still my fave, fave, favorites.  Here are a few…and keep in mind that my photography does NOT do them justice.)

Orlando Garrido.  Love.

Linda Mikulich (who is unfortunately no longer in Belize).  LOVE.

And Curvin Mitchell who painted this picture for me of the small cement dock next to the Belize Yacht Club before it was taken down 4 or 5 years ago.  LOVE.

Okay, back to the topic.  One of the first official events hosted by SPHOC is yesterday and today’s “Art in the Park” showcasing vendors and local arts from around town.

The weather is just gorgeous in San Pedro so if you didn’t make it yesterday, GO TODAY. (The beach at Central Park).

There are some vendors selling the same-old-same-old and some selling beautiful original things.  I’ll let you be the judge of which is which.  I think they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

And my “craft crush” Graniel’s Dreamland had lots of their gorgeous word work available as well as this puzzle to be raffled.  Get down  there and fill out a ticket!

I bought a nice little cutting board.

Word carver Albert, a fixture in town has some of his bigger pieces on display.  Like my favorite, an old fashioned mule and cart.

When Albert was younger, this was the main mode of transportation in Belize.  Vendors used them all over Belize City to sell things like sugar and fruit.  “But now all the kids want pick-up trucks” and there are few, if any, left in the country.

Interestingly (to me), I did see a cart just like this hauling wood on the beach in the small Garifuna village of Triunfo de la Cruz, Honduras.  (Big shout out to Belize’s Tropic Air for flying me down to San Pedro Sula, Honduras)

Here it is:

Albert also sells some pretty impressive Belizean hard wood boats.

These painting by Josie are my favorite.  She is actually the daughter of famous Belizean artist Papo (who has a small shop on the southern end of Middle Street).  These fantastic, colorful little paintings are priced between $75 and 90bzd (up to $45 usd!).  I might be circling back for one of these.  I feel like she has a future.

I just talked myself into it.  I’m going back today.

In the evening, they have singers and drummers and all types of musicians performing…

And try to make it to the art show today.  The crowd was a bit puny yesterday afternoon.  This is a great event and there are so many artists in Belize who need everyone’s support.

I started this post thinking it would be brief but as usual I skip all over the place!  Thanks for bearing with me.