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Story and photo by Suzanne Nielsen and reprinted with permission of the
Daily Herald.
April 14, 2007
Stacey Simmons, who has just completed a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts, continues to show her talents on Saba and is completing a large wall mural in Windwardside.
When Stacey returned from finishing her degree at the University of South Florida, Wolfgang Tooten, owner/operator of Scout's Place, commissioned her to create a mural on a new 5.5 x 40 foot concrete wall which had just replaced an old wooden fence at the back of the hotel swimming pool. The wall is on very public display in a major traffic area immediately adjacent to the Windwardside Post Office.
"We did not want the wall to be commercial," Tooten said. He proposed a cultural/historical approach to the subject matter, and Stacey was very enthusiastic about this idea. She first sketched her ideas and discussed them with patron Tooten. The paint is simple house latex paint, but the artistry comes in with expert mixing because Stacey only uses red, yellow, and blue...she even mixes her black color.
She integrated several cultural items against a scenic background showing Saba's historic cottages and volcanic peaks. Center to the piece is the Saba Coat of Arms. To the left, is an example of Saba's famous lace work. She wanted to portray Gertrude Hassell, who brought the delicate handicraft to Saba from South America in the late 1800s. Stacey said that is was difficult to find a good likeness of Hassell, so she decided to use the image of the 1996 Netherlands Antilles postage stamp that honored this Saba heroine.
To the right, another image was taken from Hartog's "History of Saba." It is a 50-year old photograph of Saba fishermen pulling a rowboat from shore. Although all the men have their backs to the camera, one of them is John Gomez, who was brought up to the mural and confirmed that it was he in the white singlet near the boat's bow.
Stacey has also shown Saba's links to the present, with a Twin Otter heading towards the island. "This was an opportunity to send a message to the public not to forget where we came from and how we got here," she explained.
Stacey still has a few small touches and a protective coat of shellac, but Tooten said that tourists have already commented on the mural in a very positive way.
Photo: Artist Stacey Simmons with patron Wolfgang Tooten and the new cultural wall mural.
Click here for a larger version of the photo.
 Back to community news page.
Story and photograph © Suzanne Nielsen, 2007.
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