“Art makes life, makes importance, and [there is] no other substitute for the force of beauty and its process.”
These are the words by prolific artist Collette Jones-Chin, who holds a Diploma in Painting and Graphic Arts from the Burrowes School of Art, a BA in Art Education and Fine Art from the University of Guyana, and a Certificate in Fine Art from the Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada. She also possesses several other certificates in Management and Strategic Planning.
Jones-Chin has mounted several solo exhibitions in Barbados, St Lucia, Carriacou, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Grenanda, Anguilla, St Kitts, St Maarten, Canada, USA, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, where she resided for 15 years. She has also been an exhibitor with the Caribbean Gift and Craft Show for seven years and served as an Examiner for the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate in Barbados for five years.
While in St Vincent, Jones-Chin worked as a consultant on the development of the Visual and Theatre Arts Curriculum and was the recipient of many awards in the arts. In 2002, she won the award for the Most Outstanding Artist in St Vincent, and in 2012 she won the award for the St Vincent National Olympic Sport Art Competition and represented St Vincent in London. She served as president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Visual Arts Society.
The artist resided in Anguilla for four years and while there was contracted as an Art Consultant/Therapist, Educator and Costume Designer. In 2009 she won the award for Most Outstanding Designer.
In Canada, Jones-Chin served as a volunteer in New Brunswick, working as an Art Therapist with the mentally challenged. She is a member of the Canadian Crossroads International.
Four years ago, upon her return to Guyana, Jones-Chin founded ‘Young @ Art’. This is an annual programme, held in July and August, through which she works with orphans across Guyana.
Jones-Chin currently serves as Director of the Guyana National Drama Festival 2014 and is a lecturer in Design and Production Management at the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama, Guyana. (Artist profile from the 26th Annual Exhibition of the Guyana Women Artists’ Association brochure done by the National Gallery)
