Lisa Howie fervently believes that Atlantic art is about to have its day.

“A few years ago African art was on the cusp of expansion and now the same is about to happen to Atlantic and Caribbean art,” the online Black Pony Gallery owner said.

“The big art museums such as the Tate, the Museum of Fine Art Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art are all starting to pay attention to Caribbean artists.”

To catch the wave, she recently teamed up with Miami-based entrepreneur Vanessa Selk to form Atlantic Arthouse.

“This is a hybrid of maintaining the online art-selling feature I created with in-person art exhibitions that are curated and also for sale,“ Ms Howie said.

“We are still developing what our online capacity looks like with the ultimate goal of helping artists get their work promoted and reviewed by collectors.”

Their intention is to have one in-person event a year. Their first, an exhibition called The Open Boat, will be held next month in Miami during Miami Basel art week, an annual event attended by at least 60,000 people.

“Between the fly-ins and the local drop-ins, I think attendance is probably closer to 100,000,” Ms Howie said.

The Open Boat will display the work of seven Bermudian and Caribbean artists at Villa Paula, an historic building in Miami designed by Cuban architect Cayetano Freira. The artists are Aderonke Bademosi Wilson, Meredith Andrews, James Cooper and Charles Zuill from Bermuda; Aimée García, Niels Reyes and Humberto Diaz from Cuba; and Nasaria Chollette from Cayman.

“There will be a curated group show throughout the whole villa, thus enhancing the visitor experience with a meaningful narrative, instead of the traditional compartmentalised approach of an art fair providing one booth per gallery,” Ms Howie said.

Mr Zuill is a veteran local artist and teacher, but Ms Howie thought this was one of his first shows overseas.

Living on an island in the middle of the ocean, it can be difficult for artists to access overseas markets.

“It can be expensive to enter international art exhibitions,” Ms Howie said. “It is really important for us to have equitable access for small galleries and independent artists to participate,” she said.

She said Bermuda and the Caribbean suffered from the paradigm of “tropicalism”.

Tourism entities have established places like Bermuda as a paradise of cocktails and beaches, but contemporary artists often challenge that narrative by reflecting on social injustices.

“They are often less about the view from the window,” she said.

The project is as much about showing the rest of the world that Atlantic artists have something meaningful to say, as it is about gaining high net-worth clients.

Funding is one of her biggest challenges.

“There has to be organisations in our community in banking, commerce and finance who would align with wanting to connect with art collectors,” she said.

This first iteration of Atlantic Arthouse will explore a contemporary interpretation of The Open Boat, a text by philosopher and poet Édouard Glissant from Martinique.

There will also be a live programme presented by Tout-Monde Art Foundation, that will deepen understanding of the region.

Villa Paula is at 5811 N Miami Ave in Miami.

Miami Basel art week will be held from December 7 to 10. Admission to Villa Paula is pay what you can.

Last month, Black Pony Gallery made its international debut at the Fuze Art Expo at the Baha Mar Hotel in Nassau.

The gallery was one of few involved that was not based in the Bahamas.

Black Pony Gallery presented three artists Dede Brown, from the Bahamas; HezronH from Turks & Caicos; and Niels Reyes from Cuba, each addressing the human subject in various painting methods.

• For more information seewww.blackponygallery.com/