Sheena Rose (b.1985) is a visual artist who works in Barbados. Sheena is a Fulbright Scholar and holds an MFA in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Sheena has a multi-disciplinary practice such as paintings, drawings, performance art, new media, public art, and mixed media, Sheena has exhibited internationally.
Sheena has been a participant in Biennials, Museums, Galleries, Art Fairs, Festivals, Auction, international artist’s residencies, and Art Collections.
Sheena has been featured in many media, newspapers, and magazines, book covers such as The New York Times, Travel & Leisure Magazine, Vogue, Hospitality Design, White Wall, Wetranfer, Black Futures, Fox Television Empire Season 6, The Star Side of Bird Hill written by Naomi Jackson.
In 2019, She created a two-story mural at the Inter- American Development Bank Headquarters in Washington DC. Sheena also created nine feet tall women mural for an exhibition called "The Other Side of Now" in the Perez Art Museum Miami.
Sheena officially started her company called Sheena Rose Inc. and won the DSM Public Art Foundation commission to design 7 bus shelters in 6th Avenue Corridor, Iowa USA, and many other art projects to develop shortly. In 2020, Sheena was one of the recipients of the Greensboro School of Art Distinguished Alumni award.
COVID19’s invasion has forced us all globally to alter our daily routines and life drastically. It has affected the economy, business, political and social infrastructures and has revealed varying levels of leadership. In addition to all this, the discovery of me being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease: Lupus, which causes the body to attack itself means that I have been categorized as high-risk during this Pandemic.
Within the sudden lockdown, I turned to books and podcasts, took swimming lessons, started meditating, and picked up gardening. The Pandemic has given me the time to reflect, reject, and respond to this space. I have learned so much about myself and decided to incorporate my journey through the unpredictable nature of Lupus into my work...imagining Lupus as a space that the Beings are living in and in which they must respond.
My journey through Lupus has shaped and navigated my art in new directions and dimensions, further pushing me to discover more about myself. I am understanding and embracing myself as a humanist, artist, activist, feminist, and lupus warrior. As a Black Caribbean woman from Barbados, I am both questioning and stating my identity, race, gender, and sexuality openly. Pen and ink drawings with watercolor washes on acid-free watercolor paper and acrylic paints on canvas. I am looking for a narrative which is mirroring the bizarre world we are currently living in.
The Pandemic has revealed so much about our human condition. It is a restructuring and acknowledging of the structural positions of race, class, gender, sexuality, and social space. These times have shown me the importance of healing, understanding, and accepting oneself. It has greatly taught me about the appreciation for and delicacy of life, Self Care, and Self Love.
Educational Experience
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Masters of Fine Arts in Studio Arts, May 2016
The Barbados Community College, Bachelor Degree of Fine Arts, November 2008
The Barbados Community College, Associate Degree of Visual Arts, November 2005
Recognitions/Honors
Recipients of the Greensboro School of Art Distinguished Alumni award, October 2020
Funded by the National Cultural Foundation for solo show located in Barbados, September 2020
Fulbright Scholarship, August 2014
Barbados Arts and Sports Funds, May 2012
Funded by the Government to participate in the Havana Biennial located in Cuba.
The Prince Claus Foundation, June 2011
Funded to participate in an artist’s residency at Tembe Art Studio located in Moengo, Suriname.
The Sixth Carmichael Prize Award, December 2011
The Carmichael Prize Award is an annual art exhibition in tribute to Dr. Trevor Carmichael who supports the arts in Barbados.
Lesley’s Legacy Foundation grant, December 2010
First Artist in Barbados, to be funded by the Lesley’s Legacy Foundation. It is an organization
that supports the arts in Barbados.
Triangle Art Trusts travel grant, Triangle Art Trust, May 2010
Given a grant from the Triangle Art Trust to participate in an artist’s residency in Cape Town, SA.
National Cultural Funds travel grant, November 2009,
Funded to participate in an exhibition in Connecticut, U.S.A
United Nation Development Plan travel grant, July 2009
Funded to participate in a motivation speech in Antiqua for the United Nations Development Plan.
Solo Exhibitions
2021
"Pause and Breathe, We Got This" Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina
2020
"Lampoon, Quick Sand, Dance With Me" Caribbean Market Centre, Barbados
2018
"Gravity Waves" Connect Gallery, Chicago, USA
2017
"Island Monster Performance" Barbados Tourism Marketing, MoCADA, New York, USA
"Island and Monster Performance" ICF, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2016
“#BabyPink” EBCCI, University of the West Indies, Barbados
“This Strange Land…” Sumter County Gallery of Art, South Carolina, USA
“Black Obeah” Third Horizon Film Festival, Miami, USA
2015
“A bit of Gossip, A bit of Privacy,” Barbados
2012
“Town to Town,” CMAC, Martinique
2011
'Town to Town,” Barbados Community College, Barbados
Group Exhibitions
2020
Prizm Art Fair
"Drawing the Ghost" Koplin Del Rio, USA
2019
"The Other Side of Now" Perez Art Museum Miami, USA
2018
Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany
Sculpture Park, Art Omi, New York, USA
2017
"5th Edition of Prizm Art Fair" Prizm Art Fair, Miami
" Expanded Caribbean" Pearlstein Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
"My Home is not your backyard" Corridor Gallery, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, New York, USA
"Quick Sand Performance" Cafa Art Fair and Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, Barbados
2016
Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation Auction - Art for Life, Miami, USA
Prizm Art Fair, Miami, USA
“Their Way” Millitzer, Saint Louis, USA
“Bird Story” Alice Yard 10th anniversary, Alice Yard, Trinidad
“Model Migration” Residency Art Gallery, LA, USA
“From the Fringe” A.I.R Gallery, New York, USA
“Curating the International Diaspora” The Asia Culture Center Gwangju, Gwangju Biennial, South Korea
“Quaternary: Four Barbadian Female Artists” NuEdge Gallery Fine Arts Ltd, Barbados
“MoCADA Second Annual Masquerade Ball” MoCADA, New York, USA
“UNCG MFA Thesis Exhibition” Weatherspoon Museum, NC, USA
“Digital” National Gallery of Jamaica, Jamaica
“Mother Goddess” Meta, Opa- Locka, Miami
2015
“Afropolis in the Gardens” Art Basel, Miami
“ Venice Agenda: The Right to Fail” Turner Contemporary Gallery, Waugh Office, UK
“ I Luv Africa” Film Festival, Ghana
“ Bienviendios al Centro Historico de Asuncion,” Paraguay
“Moengo Festival” Moengo, Suriname
“Target First Saturday” Brooklyn Museum, New York
“RWUL Film Academy,” Ispace, Ghana
“This Strange Land…” UNCG, North Carolina
“Divinity Revealed” African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, Miami
“Vision Quest” MoCADA, Brooklyn, New York
2014
“Jamaica Biennial” National Art Gallery of Jamaica, Jamaica
“Confluence: Shifting perspective of the Caribbean” public spaces such as Mall and Train Stations, Canada
“Flow, Economies of the look and creativity in contemporary art from the Caribbean” Washington, DC
2013
“Free!” CBK Gallery, CBK Amsterdam, Holland,
A collaborative drawing exhibition, with Raquel Van Haver at the CBK Gallery
"Panama Biennial Del Sur”, Panama,
Exhibited in Panama’s first biennial located in the south of Panama
2012
11th Havana Biennial” Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba,
Exhibited, in one of the largest art exhibitions in the Caribbean, which happens every two years.
“Caribbean Crossroads,” Queens Museum, New York,
Exhibited in one of the largest Caribbean Art shows in the USA between three museums; Queens Museum, Studio Museum of Harlem, and El Museo del Barrio
Into the Mix” Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
A Contemporary Caribbean Art Exhibition in the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, curated by Christopher Cozier
Who’s More Sci-fi than us?” Uitnodiging, Holland,
Exhibited in a Contemporary Caribbean Art exhibition located in Utinodiging curated by Nancy Hoffman
“Muesra de Videoarte Caribeno” Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto, San Juan, Puerto Rico
“Yosoyelotro Caribe” ACIA, Madrid, Spain,
A contemporary Caribbean exhibition organized by the ACIA
2011
“Wrestling with the Image” Art Museum of the Americas, Washington D.C,
curated by Christopher Cozier
“Billboards” Moengo, Tembe Art Studio, Suriname,
2010
4X4, Alice Yard fourth Anniversary” Alice Yard, Trinidad
MAD Art moments” IArt Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa,
2009
“Rockstone and Bootheel”, Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
curated by Yona Backer and Kristina Newman-Scott
“Black Diaspora Visual Art”, Public art project, Bridgetown, Barbados,
Artist’s Residencies
2018
The Hermitage Artist's Retreat, USA
The Betsy, Diaspora Vibe and Fountain Head, Miami, USA
2017
The Hermitage Artist’s Retreat, Florida, USA
2013
Art Omi, Ghent, New York, US
IS 183 Art School of Berkshires, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA
OAZO-AIR, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2012
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Kentucky, USA
2011
Tembe Art Studio, Moengo, Suriname,
2010
Greatmore Art Studio, Cape Town, South Africa,
2009
Alice Yard, Trinidad,
Performances
2018
"Island and Monster" Black Ogun, The Fundraising Show, Barbados
"The Astronaut" The Astrologer Who Fell Into A Well, Waugh Office, Manpuku-ji Temple, Osaka, Japan
Open House, Fountain Head, Miami, USA
"Island and Monster" New Waves, Port of Spain, Trinidad
"The Black Lagoon" Art Omi Sculpture Park, Ghent, NY, USA
2017
"Island Monster Performance" Barbados Tourism Marketing, MoCADA, New York, USA
"Island and Monster Performance" ICF, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2016
"Duppy Love" ICF and Waugh Office, Gwangju Biennial, South Korea
2015
"FinallyILoveMyself" Instagram, Social Media
“ Venice Agenda: The Right to Fail” Turner Contemporary Gallery, Waugh Office, UK
“A bit of Gossip, A bit of Privacy,” Barbados, July
2012
Sweet Gossip, Collaboration with Adrian Richards and Natalie McGuire, Bridgetown, Barbados
Auctions
2017
" Art for Life" Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation Gala, New York, USA
"My Collection" MoCADA, New York, USA
2016
MoCADA Second Annual Masquerade Ball” MoCADA, New York, USA
"Art for Life", Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation Auction, Miami, USA
