Stacey Byer, a now Illustrator and Creative Consultant hails from undoubtedly the tastiest island in the Caribbean, The Spice Island, Grenada.
As a young girl, Byer developed a keen interest for the arts, namely painting and drawing which would later see her through to becoming a socially and environmentally conscious Artist with a dazzling career. A graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design in the United States with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, Byer adopted the view that Illustration was a means of story – telling; “a great way to communicate the colours and textures of our unique Caribbean Culture, and a visual aid for tackling complex topics.” She went on to illustrate the book “Fun Fun One Crab on the Run”, which was considered ‘a useful tool for children’ and via Grenada’s Ministry of Education had 160 copies distributed to primary schools in Carriacou, Petite Martinique and Grenada.
The art enthusiast also illustrated a mural representing a reef eco-system for EcoDive Grenada and the Pew Charitable Trusts in support of Shark and Marine conservation and a climate change toolkit for primary schools, sponsored by the German Development Agency (GIZ) and Ministry of Agriculture. Additionally, for the MAREP fair, she illustrated posters on environmental topics such as climate change and pollution.
The Grenadian, who discovered and noted art to be ‘a great tool for enhancing educational and environmental awareness objectives in small developing islands like Grenada’, also facilitated two summer camps with children in foster care through the organization Reach Within.
Below is a brief interview conducted with the Artist:
OY: Do you remember where your artistic journey began?
SB: It definitely started at a young age. I remember always painting and drawing as a child. I would stare at cartoons for hours not really paying attention to the actual cartoon but looking at the characters and how the backgrounds were drawn.
OY: What drove you throughout the years to keep putting paint brush to paper and pursuing other forms of artistic expression?
SB: I create art because I love it I felt that it was a way that I could contribute to this world as I saw how much art had such a positive therapeutic effect on people, The older I got the more I saw how art was this powerful multi-functional tool, that we could use to highlight and teach important things about ourselves and the world.
OY: What are your feelings toward the journey of the artist in the Caribbean?
SB: The journey for any Caribbean artist can be challenging because of the limited resources and opportunities BUT when you grow up in the Caribbean, you have a wealth of references in your historyand culture that set you apart from other artists working today. Many Caribbean islands weren’t independent 50 years ago. We are new and young – who are we? What does it mean to be Caribbean? How does developing national identity affect personal identity? Where does being an artist fit in?
OY: From your perspective what would you like to see happen for Creativity and Art in the Caribbean now and in the future? / What would you like to see it become?
SB: I would like to see more art- based curricula and programmes in our schools that will stimulate creativity. This has already been recognized in developed countries as a means to encourage creative thinking and problem solving. We should want our children to be well-rounded because this makes them well equipped to become strong future innovators and leaders.
OY: Anything coming up in the future for you that you would like to share?
SB: I facilitated a training workshop for illustrators to create culturally relevant children’s books for Grenadians schools (a pilot initiative of Room to Read and Grenada Schools Inc.)
To learn more about Stacey Byer and her works visit her website http://staceybyer.blogspot.tw/ and facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StaceyByerArt.
