Art Thursday Rings in 2026 *Featured Galleries - Christa's & Eden South

M.A. Dworkin

St. Croix - January brings hope and reflection. Two of the essential ingredients that make up great art. The New Year also brings about a renewed sense of energy, a devout desire to keep on pushing forward, along with a preponderance of thoughts that gathers up the best and worst of the past and hopefully mixes it all up into a potent new brew that propels us towards the future. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," goes F. Scott Fitzgerald's last line from The Great Gatsby.

But the fierce and innovative gallery owners and artists who present a dazzling array of original art and jewelry designs at this week's Art Thursday event in downtown Christiansted, have no desire to do anything but keep on pushing the envelope forward, incorporating the past and diving head-first into the future. They are the creatives of this world. that group of hard-core individuals whose sole desire seems to revolve around creating something out of nothing, starting with a mere thought, a flash of an image, a blackness in the universe, and turning their blank canvass, their chunk of gold and silver, into a great work of art or a timeless piece of jewelry.

There is no doubt when you arrive at Art Thursday you will immediately feel the magic of creativity that explodes all across the gallery scene. Each step you take up and down Gallery Row drives your imagination to places you've never been before. Behold Caribbean skies so wonderfully drawn, so remarkably shaded in pastels, you may find yourself floating along to never-never land. Experience ocean waters so real, so blue, you can almost reach out and run your fingers and toes through them. Hold in your hands, jewelry so finely crafted that your heart feels joy the moment you slip it on.

Christa-Ann Davis Molloy ,owner of Christa's Art Gallery on Company Street, provides an avenue to "Celebrate Art and Culture" through her paintings, art products, great gifts, souvenirs, and sip/paint events. Her art gallery presents an awesome depiction of culture within the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean. She creates her artwork in order to inspire and amplify the rich cultural heritage tat is the Diaspora of the USVI and the wider Caribbean. She is the author of a Cultural Coloring Book that showcases the USVI cultural experience along with historical information. Christa is also the recipient of the 2023 Agriculture and Food Fair poster.

For this week's Art Thursday, Christa's Art Gallery, has some great sales and specials going on. Umbrellas, mugs, coasters, trivets, toys, books, lamps, steelpan, souvenirs and some new products will all be offered at great prices just for the Art Thursday patrons. Christa's will also be running an Art Collector's Special with all original art and prints at 10-20% off. The night will be highlighted by Christa doing Live Painting and Live Music by Jazzmin. Don't miss Saturday January 17, 2026 there will be a Sip N' Paint N' Jazz from 4:30 - 7:30 with live music by Jazzmin.

Upon entering each gallery, you are immediately struck by the totally unique atmosphere and ambiance that each space presents. You are instantly transported into a world that is about as far away from the worries and troubles of everyday life as one could imagine. Fabulous paintings of St. Croix, the Caribbean Sea, the Crucian people, life on the islands, hang proudly off the walls. Wonderful handcrafted bracelets, earrings and necklaces, made of natural stone, precious metals, gold and silver, are crafted into unique designs indigenous to St. Croix and the Caribbean, sparkle and shine from the showcases. Beautiful glass pieces, plates and bowls appear as if they were brought down from another world.

Eden South, the adorable shop of traditional Crucian products at #3 Company Street was designed with a great deal of thought by owner Mariel de Chabert-Percy. The idea for the store, that began in 1998, came out of her dedication to preserving all that is locally authentic through the visual arts

"I saw that the rainforest trees and plants were being forgotten as sources of food, medicine, and a means of commerce. I came up with a T-shirt line to broadcast those attributes for young people to become knowledgeable and even entrepreneurial using these available natural resources," Mariel told the St. Croix Times. "Then in branching out, we began to use those same natural resources ourselves, to recreate recipes from the past and create new ones using small batch techniques and keeping in mind seasonality."

Eden South carries many hard to find and original Crucian food products for the modern kitchen. Some of the products stocked in the store ar Gooseberry Preserves, Green Gage Jam, Spiced Carambola Syrup, Marmalades and Jack's Bay Pepper Sauces.

"Along with the food products, we went further to research and develop a Recipe T-Shirt to make sure our beloved Crucian recipes and cultural ways can be passed on every time somebody wears one. We are currently researching more recipes for new designs to expand the line," said mariel. "Without knowledge, appreciation, and application in daily use, everything faces extinction, including the richness of the Crucian culture."

Eden South is also a family. At the moment, there are 39 artists, photographers, woodworkers, crafts persons, and authors who share the store's space with their equally strong dedication to creating and spreading the news about all things Virgin Islands.

So try taking a walk down Gallery Row this Art Thursday, see if it doesn't drive your imagination into places you've never been before. Let yourself go, become someone else, live inside the body of people you have never met before, dream someone else's dream, feel the artist's and artisan's heart beat from those first moments of creativity.

Have a glass of wine, a slice of cheese. Take a leisurely stroll. Start the New Yearby buying a gift for yourself, your loved ones,. Art. It's a timeless treasure!