101 Art Gallery- Nina Squires

NINA SQUIRES

Nina Squires was born in Trinidad in 1929.
She attended Burke's Institute and Bishop Anstey High School and worked as a Librarian at the Trinidad Public Library for 3 years before going to reside in England, where she lived for five years and where she started painting seriously.

She has been exhibiting her paintings since 1955.
In 1953, Nina attended art classes at Hammersmith School and also at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London.

In 1992 and 1993, she participated in advanced painting workshops at Montgomery College, Maryland, where she now resides.

In 1960, Nina established and managed the first private Art Gallery in Trinidad and Tobago. Under the auspices of NINA's ART GALLERY, the first Art Auction of the works of local artists was successfully held at the Trinidad Public Library in 1961.

Her work has been documented in numerous newspapers and art publications, including the "International Review of African American Art" (Hampton Museum, 1989 and 1997): "Shared Visions", a publication commemorating the 50th anniversary of the UWI (1998); and the AMOCO Art Collection" publication (1998).

Listed in "Who's who in Trinidad and Tobago" (1966 and 1972-73). Winner of an ALCOA PRIZE in 1955, Nina Squires continued to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the FEDERATION EXHIBITION, Jamaica, 1957, and in 1962 and 1974 at the COMMONWEALTH ART EXHIBITIONS, England and Scotland. Twice at SAO PAULO BIENAL, Brazil, VII (1963) and XII (1973); ART OF THE AMERICAS AND SPAIN EXHIBITION, Madrid, Spain (1963) and at CARIFESTA, Jamaica l976. In 1977 commissioned by Carton de Venezuela for EXHIBITION OF PRINTMAKERS. (Commissioned print "Fish Forms, 1977" now featured on AMICO website, courtesy Fine Art Museums of San Francisco).

In 1993 (with Wilcox Morris and David Boothman) and 1998 (with Vera Baney and Katherine Williams ) showed for Trinidad and Tobago at OAS, Washington, DC.

In 1999, (Feb-July) Nina's work VARIATION ON A THEME, 1995 was included in the Exhibit: "LOCATING THE SPIRIT":Religion and Spirituality in African American Art" at the Smithsonian's Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The work is also documented in the Catalogue of this exhibition.

A member of the Trinidad Art Society since 1955, Nina served many years on its Management Committee, and in 1980 she was appointed to the Fine Arts Committee of the National Cultural Council. Also, for more than twenty years, she served annually as a Judge of the National Carnival. Exhibited in Brazil, Spain, Guyana, England, Scotland, Venezuela and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, Squires' paintings can also be found in numerous private collections in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada and the Caribbean as well as in public and corporate collections in Trinidad and Tobago.

Banana

Bird of Paradise Flower