PHILIPSBURG:--- Be The Change (BTC) Foundation has received funding from Mondriaan Fonds to add two large murals to Philipsburg as a part of their @ColorMeSXM project. Artist Sander van Beusekom, BLEND, based in Curacao, will be executing one of the murals on a three-story high building near the Methodist Church.
To extend and continue @ColorMeSXM’s success, the BTC Foundation applied for several grants and contacted local businesses, including Mondriaan Fonds, a visual art and cultural heritage public fund. “In addition, several companies, such as Seaview Beach Hotel St. Maarten, Holland House Beach Hotel, and Winair, are also contributing generously to ensure the project's execution. We are very grateful for this support,” shares Melanie Choisy, President of BTC Foundation.
“Artist Sander van Beusekom has extensive experience with large-scale pieces and is well-known for his vibrant art in Curacao. For this great space and visible location, we would like to highlight one or more persons who are iconic to Philipsburg. Persons you would like to see honored through this mural. We ask the public to share their suggestions via our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bethechangesxm. Ideally, when making a suggestion, people can give a short background of the person along with their name. You can also email your suggestions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..” shares Project Coordinator for @ColorMeSXM, Laura Bijnsdorp.
The suggestions of the public will be collected for a week (February 10 - February 17). If the suggestions clearly favor one or two characters - these will be chosen. If there are several popular suggestions, the Foundation will post a 24-hour poll on Facebook & Instagram to allow the public to vote. Once selected, the artist will start working on a design. The painting of the mural will get started in June and will take up to three weeks.
The Foundation also recently announced an ‘alleyway transformation’ in collaboration with Plastic Free SXM. Laura: “In short, we are adding a lot of M2 of art and color to Philipsburg in the coming months!”
