Creative Native
Ama Dennis, photographer, framer, electrical engineer, and sixth-generation Virgin Islander, opened this gallery and studio in February 2022 in a historic (1841) downtown building, formerly part of the old Grand Hotel. She trains her camera on the history and culture of the Virgin Islands through a fine-arts perspective: a chiarascuro rendering of her greatgrandmother’s demi-johns holding guavaberry wine; the outdoor fermentation of a local drink known as mauby (“Mauby Wukin’ Hard”); and a moody nighttime diptych of Charlotte Amalie’s historic Main Street, newly restored with native blue bitch rock replacing modern concrete. Local symbols abound, including the conch, which represents freedom—slaves blew it during the 19th-century island revolts.
Ama Dennis, photographer, framer, electrical engineer, and sixth-generation Virgin Islander, opened this gallery and studio in February 2022 in a historic (1841) downtown building, formerly part of the old Grand Hotel. She trains her camera on the history and culture of the Virgin Islands through a fine-arts perspective: a chiarascuro rendering of her greatgrandmother’s demi-johns holding guavaberry wine; the outdoor fermentation of a local drink known as mauby (“Mauby Wukin’ Hard”); and a moody nighttime diptych of Charlotte Amalie’s historic Main Street, newly restored with native blue bitch rock replacing modern concrete. Local symbols abound, including the conch, which represents freedom—slaves blew it during the 19th-century island revolts.
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