Michelle Drummond Becomes First Black Woman Awarded Solo Art Commission

Award of solo art commission that will be permanently placed in the City of West Palm Beach. This award has been given to artist Michelle Drummond who belongs to Jamaica and became the first black women to get this award.

An artwork entitled “The Metamorphosis” that has been created by Drummond have given approval during the recent commissioner’s meeting on June 15. The artwork would be placed at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach.

Sybille Welter, Administrator of Public Art and Culture for the City of West Palm Beach, while congratulating to Drummond, said that they have been thrilled to have an artist whose work reflects the cultural diversity of the city. Drummond pushed the field of textile arts by creating works on a canvas with a three-dimensional viewpoint brightly coloured. She produced objects of contemplation.

Multi-coloured, multi-weighted fibre, glue and acrylic paint are some elements that have been used during the practice by Michelle Drummond.

Drummond has been living in the United States for 26 years and has been creating art for 23 of those years. Her work has been featured in 20 exhibitions across South Florida in the last three years, including at the Cornell Art Museum, Art Palm Beach and Art Basel in Miami.

Michelle Drummond said that her hopes of finding the audience that would have truly appreciated the uniqueness and beauty of her artwork had come to fruition. It has been an honour, especially been the first Black female artist and also of Jamaican heritage, to have been awarded this permanent solo public art commission by the City of West Palm Beach ArtLife WPB program.

Michelle Drummond said that the opportunity would not only provide her with the platform to expose her work to a broader audience but would allow her to had a positive emotional and mental effect on the residents and patrons in the West Palm Beach community through her artwork.

Drummond says the project has a six to a nine-month timeline.