St. Lucia
Greetings from St. Lucia at Sugar Beach. Last year, the owners of Viceroy Sugar Beach Resort reached out to create another postcard mural together and we were so pleased to hear they wanted one in St. Lucia! We previously worked with them for another resort they own in Bermuda and couldn’t pass on the opportunity to create a new piece in the Caribbean. The owners are avid art collectors and display many of their pieces at their resort properties including large sculptures by Daniel Arsham, Kaws and Tom Sachs.
As you can imagine, mural supplies are not easy to obtain on a small island. Therefore, we had to prepare months in advance by shipping our Montana spray paint and specialized tools by freight. However, St. Lucia did have a Sherwin Williams who really hooked it up for us for the background colors. A big shout out to the manager, Atarah, who was in full support of our project.
Before leaving, we were cautiously watching hurricane Ian and relieved when it didn’t pass through Atlanta where our layover was like anticipated. Once there, we learned that St. Lucia is located just south of the hurricane belt where the storms typically gain strength so they are often unscathed.
Traveling 20+ hours with a 6 month old and mural supplies was no joke! We have never checked so many suitcases for a one-week long trip. The resort was extremely accommodating by providing a car seat and crib, but it was still a lot to manage as it was our first flight with an infant.
As soon as we touched down in St. Lucia, we were taken care of. We were greeted by Cletus, the resort’s head of security who helped us bypass the long customs line since Lisa had a migraine and Felix was hungry. We got our passports stamped and they gave us access to a small immigration office where Lisa nursed Felix after waiting in the rain for our gate checked stroller on the runway. It was quite the scenario at the time but we can laugh about the experience now. Afterwards, we were driven 45 minutes through the country to the resort. It seemed that the carseat rules were much more relaxed in this country so it was a peak into our future for the next week.
Our driver slowly wound through the country beginning on the Atlantic turning down and around to the Caribbean side through the light rain. He told us the crime rate in St. Lucia is very low and about 90%+ of the population were practicing Christians attending church regularly. The main industries on the island were farming and tourism.
We turned left down the road to Sugar Beach and entered the tropical rainforest with steep switchback roads. It was still at least a 10 minute drive through the thick forest. He dropped us off directly to our room and we realized right away it was going to be an interesting time getting the stroller around due to the wet steep hills and stairs. However, we were thankfully greeted with some cheerful help! Big thank you to Khandi and all the others in the 900’s.
Each room comes with a butler that arranges everything for the guests. You are given a phone to contact them with any needs including room service or a shuttle down to the beach.
We invited our assistant David Wang who recently helped on the Charleston and Cooperstown murals. His flight was delayed a day but it still worked out since we needed some extra time to get situated and have the scaffolding set up. A shout out to Ché, one of the local contractors who wanted to help Victor out with the pouncing since David didn’t arrive yet. He was fascinated by the process and became a resourceful local contact while we were on the island.
As soon as David arrived, we got to work the next day and knocked out the background. However, just like our experience in Hawaii, we really had to battle the constant rain. We were extremely grateful that the wall had a protruding roof that kept the wall fairly dry. However, the bottom of the wall previously had landscaping so it was quite the muddy obstacle course. Although, a prior experience in the world of graffiti prepares you to tackle any situation in your given environment without complaint! Someone once said to us, mural painting is just preparing the best you can and then constantly problem solving as you go.
This particular mural wins for being in the most scenic location to date. We were steps from the ocean surrounded by towering pitons. During painting breaks, David was able to jump in the water to refresh from the humidity. In addition, we had two inclusive restaurants to choose from right next to us. It was quite the ideal location to be painting a mural and not sure if we can ever beat this one. We tried our best to complete the mural early to have some time to relax but the rain made it tough for this project. In the end, it was more important to do a really good job on the artwork which would get to enjoy the sunshine long after we were gone! We look forward to all the memories that the mural will create for future guests. Even if you aren’t staying at the resort, you can eat at the restaurants, visit the beach and check out the Greetings from St. Lucia mural.
It’s been a learning experience traveling with a baby and having to work on top of that. Most people only see the highlight moments shared on social media but there’s a lot of not so glamorous times behind the scenes. This trip was also a bit bittersweet for us because typically we like to get out and explore the countries we visit. Due to weather and time constraints, we weren’t able to get out to the resort and fully experience the rest of St. Lucia. Fortunately, the hotel had everything we needed and served local foods that we were able to enjoy every day. We got to celebrate Victor’s birthday at their Creole night! At the end of the trip, we were able to check out the Rainforest Spa with the Amerindian steam dome! Lisa went in the dark, earthen dome to try to relax before the flight home. We also took advantage of the two sunny days and did a quick snorkel session a few steps away from everything else going on.
We were also there for the country’s Thanksgiving which falls on the first Monday of October. Their Thanksgiving is a religious community affair, giving thanks for the bounty of the land.
HISTORY OF SUGAR BEACH
Sugar beach is a slice of paradise located between two iconic lava domes (pitons) on the west coast of St. Lucia that was formed almost 300,000 years ago.
The island’s earliest inhabitants were the Arawak Amerindians who came from South America around 200AD. They were peaceful and highly skilled, bringing pot making and basket weaving to the island while cultivating cassava and maize. They believed spirits and gods lived in natural elements, especially in water and volcanoes, making this area the most sacred Amerindian site in the Caribbean.
The Arawak Amerindians were overcome by the warrior group, Carib, around 800AD and by 1605, the French, British and Dutch began colonizing St. Lucia, but had strong pushback from the Caribs. By 1680, the Caribs were forced to yield.
Built by African slaves, the land where Sugar Beach lies was divided into two estates. The half near Petit Piton was owned by Le Pelletier who grew coffee and cocoa. The other half was owned by De la Janverie who grew sugar. By 1778, St. Lucia had on record 58 sugar estates.
In 150 years, Saint Lucia changed hands over a dozen times, but plantations remained in French control. Slaves eventually sued for peace meaning they surrendered their land to be free. The British finally abolished slavery in 1834, raising production costs of sugar. By 1884, the production was no longer economically feasible. With the fall of the sugar, the estate reinvigorated its cocoa, copra (dried coconut meat) and coffee. At this time, goods were still being transported by mules to Jalousie Bay.
In 1980 road construction began. By 1993, the first 112-room Jalousie Plantation Resort was open to royalty and celebrities. Roger Myers invested $100 million USD into the resort, completing the transformation and renamed the property Sugar Beach, A Viceroy resort on November 30, 2012. The Green Family purchased the resort in May 2019 and the Viceroy Hotel Group has managed the property since 2008.
In 2004, the Pitons of St. Lucia were listened as an UNESCO World Heritage site.
Fun fact: A rescued elephant named Bupa used to live on Sugar Beach! Check out a video of Bupa walking around the beach before the resort development.
RUM PUNCH
Saint Lucia Rum Punch was brought to England from India by sailors of the British / East India company. By 1955 the “modern” rum punch was born when rum from West Indies became the alcohol of choice for much of the Western world.
RECIPE
1 part sour - lime
2 parts sweet - sugar syrup
3 parts strong - St Lucian rum
4 parts weak - local juice
Letter Guide:
ST — Beach Scene
LU — Diamond Waterfall
CIA — The Pitons (Gros Piton & Petit Piton)
Year: 2022
Mural Size: 12'H x 32'W
Location: Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort in St. Lucia *Mural is located at the back of the Bayside Restaurant