Title: A Duke Street Storyline – Before and Beyond

Location: 18 Duke Street, Downtown Kingston

Date: December 2020 – March 2021

Lead Artist: Nicholas Rose

Artists: Shanique Smith, Garrett Campbell, Tyrone Rowe, Davian Watson, Nicholas Gabbidon, Patrick Bryan

Duke Street in Downtown Kingston is in the middle of the City’s oldest district. This street, running north-south in the traditional grid layout, enjoys a vista of the Kingston Harbour at its southern end. The area has traditionally been a financial and legal district and up to this day, Jamaica’s finest attorneys have their offices on Duke Street.

In a drive to maintain the historic buildings and the stories told in these streets, the Duke Street Refurbishing Project (DSRP) under the support from the Kingston Restoration Company, is in the process of refurbishing the streetscape with signage and storyboards, tree planting efforts, sidewalk renewal and Public Art such as sculpture and wall murals.

Located at the Port Authority of Jamaica’s parking lot, the site of the mural is of particular significance as it once was the site of the Sailors’ Rest. An apt location to host a mural which tells the story of Due Street, nestled in the financial and legal district.

About the Artists
The mural was conceptualised and led by visual artist Nicholas Rose, a graduate of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. He states that his open-mindedness has acted as a driver often steering my mind through a kaleidoscope of thoughts for the achievement of impressionable pieces. His oeuvre is consistent mainly with drawings and paintings, which are representational of his culture, identity and aspects of social commentary. The works he creates allow for a unique exploration into disciplines and concepts that can influence effective psychological reaction and dynamic change in society.

Nicholas He was supported on this mural by fellow colleagues Shanique Smith, Garrett Campbell , Tyrone Rowe, Davian Watson and painters Nicholas Gabbidon and Patrick Bryan from Denham Town.

Artist Statement
“An aspiring artist that sees life itself as an endless wealth of knowledge that can shape, reinvent and give birth to untapped greatness, wisdom and potential. I yearn for a part of that knowledge, a yearning that fuels the required focus to achieve.”
– Nicholas Rose, Lead Artist