Description

We Are Sailing opens to the public June 20, along with complementary single-artist exhibitions by Reg Grundy AC OBE, and Artist in Residence Sean Sims.

This summer, the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art (MMBA) presents We Are Sailing, a special exhibition examining Bermuda's bond with the sea and the wide-ranging effects of the island's unique seascape, topography, and light on the many artists who have experienced them. Organized on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Bermuda, We Are Sailing comprises approximately forty-five paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures, and other objects, ranging in date from 1793 to the present. All works are drawn from MMBA's singular collection of Bermuda-inspired art. The engaging survey, which remains on view through December 31, 2009, features renowned artists, including Albert Gleizes, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, Malcolm Morley, and Frank Stella.

"Following its opening in 2008, the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art is positioned to bring Bermuda's important artistic legacy to a broad public," notes Museum Director Tom C. Butterfield. "The Museum is fortunate to house collections that are diverse enough to form the basis for a wide variety of exhibitions, including We Are Sailing, which brings together works that tell the remarkable story of Bermuda's maritime history."

Among the highlights of We Are Sailing are Homer's S. S. Trinidad (1901); Hartley's Movement, Bermuda (1917); and one of the newest additions to the collection, Frank Stella's Bermuda Petrel (1980). Less well-known but equally illuminating work includes some very early watercolors by Edward James from the 1860's, a charming scene of Flatts Village, a local "snug harbour" (this is a sailing term for a safe harbour) by George Tobin (1797), and a selection of photographic prints from vintage glass plates by Karl Strauss and Harry Butterfield from the early twentieth century, as well as works by André Biéler, Reynolds and Gifford Beal, and Frederic James. In the Museum's mezzanine gallery, dramatic silkscreen posters, video, and memorabilia tell the story of the Queen of Bermuda, a luxury cruise-ship that once sailed between Manhattan and Hamilton, Bermuda's capital. Together, these varied artworks and objects reveal both the island's unique nautical culture and the artistic responses that it has evoked.

Museum Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10AM - 4PM. Admission $5, Members and Children under 12 free.

Public Programs
We Are Sailing is accompanied by a series of public programs, including rigging demonstrations, story-telling, and film screenings, as well as displays of various objects and ephemera showcasing examining Bermudian maritime culture, industry, and history. The launch of the exhibition coincides with the mid-June arrival of the fleet of tall ships participating in the Atlantic Challenge 2009, a race, last held in 2000, that circumnavigates the Atlantic Ocean.

We Are Sailing is a featured event of Bermuda's 400th Anniversary: Bermuda 2009, and part of the yearlong celebration sponsored by the Bermuda 400th Committee.