With local art, you can bring the beauty of the USVI back home.

Masked stilt-walkers parade through pastel towns, and donkeys meander along the roadsides. Crumbling ruins crown hilltops, and aqua waters sparkle around every bend. No wonder creative people are drawn to the United States Virgin Islands.

In towns, at resorts and out in the countryside on all three islands, you’ll find galleries offering irresistible paintings, pottery, photographs, fabrics and sculptures depicting these uniquely U.S. Virgin Islands scenes. Watch for evening exhibit openings that feature USVI artists’ works, especially during winter months.

If you’re tempted to fill up your suitcase with island originals, go right ahead: Works of art purchased here are exempt from taxes and won’t affect the duty-free $1,600 per person customs allowance for an American citizen returning home. There’s no sales tax in the U.S. Virgin Islands either. On a budget? Stores all over the islands carry inexpensive prints, note cards and crafts.

So many artists have found inspiration here that the USVI now has a Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, located in an 18th-century Danish building on St. Croix’s Strand Street near the Frederiksted Waterfront. The nonprofit center boasts a permanent collection of paintings by Virgin Islands artists.

Resorts on all three islands have watercolor classes led by well-known island painters. In addition, several St. Thomas galleries offer guidance and materials for pottery making. Classes in photography, basket weaving and glass blowing are often held at the national park on St. John.
Find an artist whose work you love — or become one yourself.