Cadence-Lypso fever is in full swing. The cadence-lypso corner on the bayfront has been in existence for a while now. After receiving word that it might need some revamping, Prince Wadix of Creole Heartbeat approached the president of the Waitukubuli Artist Association, Lowell “Omtni” Royer to get the job done. A commission of 15 larger-than-life portraits of artists that have contributed greatly to the genre were created and are now on display in the cadence-lypso corner on the bayfront, located between the ferry terminal and the fisheries complex. Sponsors included Prince Wadix, The Sign Man, The Old Mill Cultural Centre, Astaphans Home and Tools, Val Ferry and the Dominica Air and Sea Port Authority. An official launching of the site will be held on June 29th and prints of these works will soon be available on the official WAA website.
The works themselves, which took 5- 6 weeks to be complete, were brought to life by the combined efforts of a number of the association’s artists. These included: Nea Antoine, Jenae Bell, Edward Collins, Anthea Delsol, Hilroy Fingal, Ray Francis, Aaron Hamilton, Sarama Rolle, and Lowell Omtni Royer with each of the artist’s individual styles shining through. According to one of the artists, “WAA is truly a creative family. We all learn from each other and make our collective work better”. Jenae Bell commented on the experience, “Working together with everyone was an experience that I will never forget. It was truly beautiful. While working, we got to know more about these icons and listened to their music. It was truly next level. It helped me connect with them in a way I hadn’t before; we’re all Dominican creatives just being ourselves”.
According to the association’s President, reception of the works has been overwhelmingly positive. Speaking of Wadix, “He was instantly blown away by our passion and attention to detail and was really appreciative of what we did”. He also commented “The icons who passed through and those who got sneak peeks were overjoyed, and that’s our mission when we work: to fill our fellow Dominicans with pride by giving them our hearts.”
Edward Collins, co- P.R.O. had this to say on the future of the association, “Our next step: pushing for art on the island to be an even bigger part of our cultural expression”.
