Bolles senior Adriel Pratt ’25 organized a special event February 20 showcasing her AP Portfolio alongside visiting artist Dustin Harewood. The event, hosted during Black History Month, highlighted artistic expression and honored Black joy and love while focusing on the artists’ perspectives growing up on different islands in the Caribbean.

Pratt came to the United States three years ago from The Bahamas, while Harewood originally hails from Barbados. Pratt presented her colorful, mixed media works that she said often reflect her negotiation of expressing Bahamian culture with U.S. culture. In her artistry, she finds herself revisiting elements of island life, including a blue gradient representing the sea, turtle shell stencils, flowers symbolizing peace and wings denoting freedom.

Harewood, a painting professor at Florida State College at Jacksonville, asked Pratt about her creative process and interacted with the students, faculty and staff in attendance before presenting various works, many of which also connect to his similar but distinctively different perspective of growing up on the island of Barbados. The pair discussed the deep connection of Black islanders to nature, given their reliance on limited natural resources and isolation from major landmasses.

At the end of the presentation, Pratt invited everyone in attendance to engage in hands-on artmaking, spreading out multiple base pieces and providing markers for people to write meaningful affirmations or expressions of Black love, acts of self care for Black joy and words of encouragement. She also asked the group to draw and paint freely with swirls, stencils or any other markings they felt inspired by.

Bolles upper school fine arts teacher Lily Kuonen said she's proud of Pratt for devising the event, planning the program and preparing the workshop.

"She had a vision, and she brought it to life to share with our campus community," Kuonen said. "I am thankful for Adriel's excitement and energy in her artmaking and portfolio development."

View pictures from Pratt’s event in our online photo gallery. #BollesArts