Inside the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas

The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas opened on July 7, 2003, inside a two-story 19th-century mansion called Villa Doyle in the historic center of Nassau. It was the first institution of its kind in the country, and its inaugural exhibition assembled 270 works by Bahamian artists created since independence in 1973. Curator Erica James, speaking at the opening, said the gallery aimed to show that the Bahamas “are more than what the brochure says: ‘sun, sea and sand'”. That tension—between a tourism economy built on tropical fantasy and an artistic community insisting on complexity—defines the gallery’s mission and the broader cultural landscape it inhabits.

A Mansion with a Mission: The Gallery’s Origins

Villa Doyle was built in the 1840s, a colonial-era mansion in one of Nassau’s oldest neighborhoods. By the 1990s the building had fallen into disrepair, but a parliamentary decree in 1996 designated it as the future home of the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. Renovations took several years, and the gallery finally opened its doors in 2003 with three simultaneous exhibitions, including the large inaugural survey of post-independence work. The choice of a 19th-century mansion was deliberate: it placed the gallery in a physical structure that embodied the colonial past while the institution’s mission looked toward a self-determined future. Visitors today enter through heavy wooden doors into rooms with high ceilings and original wooden floors, where contemporary art hangs against walls that once displayed the tastes of British colonial administrators.

Curating the Nation: The Collection and National Exhibitions

The permanent collection spans paintings, works on paper, sculptures, textiles, photographs, and mixed-media pieces, all by Bahamian artists. But the gallery’s most ambitious programming is the National Exhibition series, a recurring survey of contemporary Bahamian art. The ninth iteration, titled “The Fruit and the Seed” (NE9), ran through April 2025 and was curated by Holly Bynoe, chief curator originally from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Bynoe’s catalog essay described the gallery as “a safe space and haven and site for the contesting of rooted and burdened histories/ideologies and speculations about our futures.” NE9 included Bahamian citizens, residents, and members of the diaspora, reflecting a definition of “Bahamian” that extends beyond geography.

A standout work was Saskia D’Aguilar’s “Invasive Species Amulet” (2018), a mixed-media installation of curtains hung from driftwood with poinciana pods, seeds, painted wooden beads, sea glass, and copper mined in Africa. D’Aguilar, originally Dutch, emigrated to the Bahamas through a lengthy legal process to join her Bahamian husband. Since 2008 she has directed the D’Aguilar Art Foundation, which supports Bahamian artists with travel grants and promotes Bahamian art internationally. Letitia Marie Pratt, a writer born and raised in the Bahamas, contributed “A Garden” (2018), a series of mixed-media portraits of legendary women—Eve, Mary, Delilah, Bathsheba—each poem framed with dried flowers, leaves, bones, and seeds. Pratt’s work explicitly reclaims female power and sexuality from biblical narratives that have long been used to control women’s bodies.

Revisiting Paradise: The Gallery’s Role in Rewriting Visual History

In 2018 the gallery mounted “Revisiting An Eye For The Tropics,” an exhibition co-curated by Natalie Willis and Richardo Barrett. It drew on Krista A. Thompson’s book “An Eye for the Tropics,” which traces how British colonial administrators and American business interests marketed the Bahamas and Jamaica as tropical paradises starting in the 1880s. Photographers and artists were hired to produce images that sanitized the region—removing signs of poverty, labor, and Black agency—and circulated them via postcards, illustrated guides, and “magic lantern” lectures. The exhibition juxtaposed those colonial-era images with works by Bahamian artists who offer alternative visions.

Among the historical pieces was Hartwell Leon Woodcock’s “Native Hut” (1915), a watercolor showing a thatched house framed by poinciana and palm trees—a scene designed to look “quaint” and “old world.” William Sweeting’s “Two Natives at Gate” (1971) depicted a lone Black man in a donkey-pulled carriage passing a fancy garden gate, reinforcing a narrative of docile, pre-modern life. The exhibition also included contemporary works that directly challenge these tropes. Dionne Benjamin-Smith’s digital prints of recognizable Bahamian scenes—seascapes, quaint houses—were overlaid with ironic texts: “this is real Bahamian art,” “requires no explanation,” “no abstract art here.” The works function as a tongue-in-cheek critique of what has historically been accepted as “Bahamian” in visual culture.

The question of who gets to define Bahamian art remains unresolved. Natalie Willis, co-curator of “Revisiting An Eye For The Tropics,” has openly asked: “What constitutes Bahamian art?” The gallery’s collection includes works donated by financial institutions whose interests were served by perpetuating certain representations. Some pieces were painted by American and British travelers, not Bahamians. The gallery’s leadership has acknowledged these tensions and is working to “dismantle inherited hierarchies and histories crafted by people who looked at Bahamians through racist, colonial, patriarchal lens,” in Willis’s words.

Art and the Tourism Economy: NAGB vs. The Current

The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas operates on a modest budget funded by the government and admission fees. In contrast, The Current—the gallery and studio space within Baha Mar, the $3.5 billion resort complex—has a collection of 2,500 pieces, over 600 of them original works, and a creative director (John Cox) who was formerly the gallery’s chief curator. The Current is technically part of Baha Mar’s marketing department, tasked with commissioning new Bahamian art for hotel rooms and common spaces. Cox has said he aims to shift the view of Bahamian art away from cliché imagery such as seagull silhouettes.

Critics of the hotel-art model worry that such a large presence conditions art production in a small country. The Current’s residency program provides studio space and culminates in a show, but the ultimate client is the resort. Yet the arrangement also pays artists—something that doesn’t always happen in other Caribbean contexts, where artwork is often lent in hope of a sale. John Cox’s next project, the RE Center, aims to repurpose waste material and train local youth to fabricate paper, glass, and plastic into products, blending art with sustainability and job training. It’s a reminder that the line between commerce and culture in the Bahamas is not a clean one.

Questions Readers Ask

What are the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas’s hours and admission?

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $3 for adults, $2 for students and seniors, and $1 for children under 14. Contact the gallery at [email protected] or (242) 328-5800 for current exhibition schedules.

How does the National Art Gallery compare to The Current at Baha Mar?

The NAGB is a government-funded public institution with an independent curatorial mission, while The Current is a resort-based gallery that commissions art for hotel spaces. Both showcase Bahamian artists, but their funding, audience, and programming differ significantly. The Current holds a much larger collection (2,500 pieces) but operates under the marketing department of Baha Mar.

Is there a permanent collection, and what does it include?

Yes, the permanent collection includes paintings, works on paper, sculptures, textiles, photographs, and mixed media by Bahamian artists. Highlights include works by Brent Malone, Kendall Hanna, Antonius Roberts, and Amos Ferguson. The gallery also maintains an online artist directory and publishes research on its blog.

What was the “Revisiting An Eye For The Tropics” exhibition about?

That 2018 exhibition explored how colonial-era tourism imagery—postcards, watercolors, illustrated guides—shaped the visual representation of the Bahamas as a tropical paradise. It juxtaposed those historical images with contemporary Bahamian art that challenges or subverts those stereotypes. The exhibition was co-curated by Natalie Willis and Richardo Barrett.

Can I buy art at the gallery?

The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas is a museum, not a commercial gallery, so it does not sell works. However, the gallery’s website lists artists and their contact information. For purchasing contemporary Bahamian art, consider visiting The Current at Baha Mar or the Tern Gallery at the Island House boutique hotel.

Beyond the Brochure

The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas is not a passive repository of pretty pictures. It is a site of active contestation—over who gets to define “Bahamian,” over what stories get told, and over how a small island nation navigates the economic pull of tourism and the cultural pull of self-determination. The gallery’s exhibitions invite visitors to look past the brochure and see a country grappling with its colonial past, its diasporic present, and its uncertain future. That same impulse to redefine identity through creative expression runs through other parts of Bahamian culture, from the rhythms of rake-and-scrape music to the bold patterns of Androsia batik. For a deeper dive into how sound shapes national identity, read our guide on traditional music that shapes Bahamian identity.

Sources and further reading

Travel Weekly. “Culture time: National Art Gallery of Bahamas opens.” 2003. 🔗

Hyperallergic. “An Exhibition in the Bahamas Crosses Boundaries and Borders.” 2025. 🔗

Reyes Franco, Marina. “Visions of the Bahamas: The Hotel-Industrial Complex and the NAGB.” Curators International, 2018. 🔗

Barron’s. “Can Nassau Become a New Destination for Art?” 2022. 🔗

Related reading on IslandHopperGuides

Inside the Androsia Batik Factory: Where Bahamian Fabric Is Born — Bahamian visual culture extends beyond painting into textiles; this post explores the island’s signature fabric.