Marie E. Saint-Cyr (Flatbush) is a visual artist whose work explores how we interact within imagined space by juxtaposing interior and exterior spaces. As a young Haitian-American artist, the colors in Saint-Cyr’s paintings evoke the charm and vibrancy of Caribbean pastorals alongside the urgency and layered energy of urban landscapes. Marie migrated to the United States from Haiti at the age of eight and creates her art in Wyandanch, New York. She studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology and at Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, Italy and has traveled and studied art throughout Europe.

Marie’s project, Business Savvy Artists: Haitian Creativity as a Community Asset, will focus on investing in the industry knowledge and professional development of Haitian artists based in Flatbush. Saint-Cyr’s project aims to equip artists with knowledge of available resources and tools that increase the capacity of Flatbush artists to manage their art practice as a business and create economic and artistic opportunities for themselves, such as putting together a portfolio, developing exhibitions, creating their own residencies, and understanding the unique value they have to offer from their art practice.

She hopes to shift perception of the Haitian community’s view that the creative field is an unstable career choice. Targeting a mixed group of artist stakeholders for series of workshops fusing art-making and trainings education, this project will engage: high school students, offering more aware of the various careers available in the arts; assist college art students in strategizing how to get experience in the degree they are pursuing; and will provide visual artists tools and resources to aid them in sustaining a successful art practice.

If you are interested in participating in Business Savvy Artists, please contact Marie Saint-Cyr at saintcyrartstudio [at] gmail.com