PALM BEACH GARDENS — Lake Worth Painter Tracy Guiteau will be the first black artist to design the ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival poster, an annual celebration of community and artistic expression held in northern Palm Beach County.
Guiteau’s poster for the “Garden Party”-themed festival is a striking portrait of a woman with celestial lilies over her eyes and surrounded by flora and fauna native to Florida, including lantana flowers. and blue salvia.
“I’m thrilled because we need more representation, especially of Haitian culture,” she told the Palm Beach Post this week.
“I want to let other black artists know that it’s possible: to do what I love and make a living from it. It’s my freedom here.”
Theme 2022:What will young artists in Palm Beach County think of this year’s ArtiGras theme? How to know.
Do not miss:Best Festivals, Outdoor Events of the 2021-2022 Season in Palm Beach County
Following:Why Naomi Osaka chose this local artist for a collaboration with Coachella
Art took Guiteau from New York to London to Miami
Guiteau, 36, was born in New York to Haitian parents who desperately wanted her to be a nurse. Always an artistic child, she deviated from these expectations and attended the Rhode Island School of Design.
After attending the University of Westminster in London, Guiteau came to South Florida to study at the New World School of the Arts in Miami.
After graduating in 2003, Guiteau moved north to West Palm Beach to escape Miami’s congestion. His immediate family moved to Florida shortly thereafter.
Since then, his work has caught the attention of artists and celebrities.
In 2019, Guiteau collaborated with tennis pro Naomi Osaka to produce “Osaka Wave”, a neon art installation where she hand painted a mannequin figure and dressed her in a skirt of over 500 pleated replica sheets of newspaper. He was surrounded by 1,000 phosphorescent Yonex tennis balls.
Guiteau also contributed to a mural at 518 Clematis St. in downtown West Palm Beach that features the history of the civil rights movement.
Guiteau’s work stands out as one of the rare ArtiGras posters to feature a person in recent years. Typically adorned with nautical or beach-related landscapes, these posters evoke the feeling of living in tropical Florida.
Her 2022 poster took a different approach and instead instills a sense of serenity through the flowery landscape that surrounds the woman. Much of Guiteau’s work centers on black women.
“I was thinking about the fact that at the start of the year everyone has a New Year’s resolution,” Guiteau said of his poster design inspiration. “I want people to give each other more love. Talk to each other more easily. With that, you’ll see a lot more things blossom around you.”
She said the woman in the poster is not based on herself or anyone she knows, but rather a collage of references, surrounded by native Florida flowers she saw in the yard of his family.
The 2022 poster will be available for purchase during the 2022 festival, which is scheduled for February 19-20 at Gardens North County District Park.
Guiteau, who has never participated in ArtiGras as a civilian or as an artist, will have a booth at the festival with his work.
ArtiGras remains at Palm Beach Gardens for 2022
ArtiGras has brightened the streets of North County since its 1985 debut at the North Palm Beach Country Club.
The festival took place behind The Gardens Mall before moving to Abacoa in Jupiter for 20 years. It moves return to Gardens in 2021 due to construction on Central Boulevard.
This year’s festival will be held at Gardens North County District Park on North 117th Yard near Timber Trace and Watson B. Duncan Middle Elementary Schools.
ArtiGras is produced by the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce and presented by the Hanley Foundation.
Tickets range from $11 to $15 and can be purchased online or on the day of the event.
Doors are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on February 19 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on February 20.
@katikokal
Comments are closed.