An artist, teacher and prolific sculptor followed the example of his mentor and made sure to pass the baton to fresh generations of artists.

Arthur Chesley Trott, a protégé of Charles Lloyd Tucker, was also a longstanding teacher, finishing at Warwick Secondary School, later TN Tatem Middle School. He retired from teaching in 1992, after 39 years.

Mr Trott’s contributed notable public works, including an 8ft cedar sculpture that stands in LF Wade International Airport.

He created the tributeWe Arrive in Barr’s Bay Park in Hamilton, commemorating the freeing of enslaved passengers who ended up in Bermuda aboard the American vessel Enterprise in 1835.

Emancipation had come into force in Bermuda the year before, and it became a landmark case in Bermuda’s courts where almost all were freed.

Mr Trott was appointed a Member of the British Empire in 2008 for his contribution to art in Bermuda.

His work embraced African themes, and in 1991 he said of his late mentor, Mr Tucker, who died in 1971: “He got me going as a serious artist.

“He encouraged Black people to express themselves. He was not intimidated by class or race, and treated all people as equals. Charles changed the direction of many people's lives.”

Mr Tucker, an eclectic, inspired Mr Trott with his wide-ranging interests, such as piano, painting, carving and sculpting.

Mr Trott’s themes included family, and he took inspiration from classical music and jazz. He also painted, including studies of his beloved orchids, and abstract pieces in pastel.

Mr Trott’s passion for teaching extended to work in prisons, where he trained artists from 1970 until 1993.

He said of teaching: “I try to bring out of them their own feelings. I try to encourage them to develop their own thoughts.”

His interest in the craft began in childhood, whittling with a penknife.

He studied art and trained as a teacher at Ontario College of Art in Toronto, followed by Ealing College of Art in London on a one-year scholarship provided by Sir James Pearman at the recommendation of artist and author Joy Bluck Waters.

In 1976, he represented Bermuda in the Caribbean Festival of the Arts.

Mr Trott first tried his hand at bronze casting in the early 1980s while studying watercolours at the Instituto Allende in Mexico.

Once retired from teaching, Mr Trott sculpted daily as the artist in residence at his workshop at the Bermuda Arts Centre in Dockyard, where he also gave private lessons.

Many associated him with wood sculpture, but he took to working with bronze in earnest by the mid-1990s.

He quickly embraced working with both materials, returning frequently to Mexico to burnish his skills.

Mr Trott preferred working with wood to metal, saying: “It's warmer. It's alive. It's a living medium. And while wood sculpting is more vertical, it's not limiting.”

Bronze enabled him to experiment with form, enjoying “freedom to express myself and do things I can't do in wood”.

One such work of art stands at Wesley Park in Hamilton: When Voices Rise, which was commissioned by the City of Hamilton to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Theatre Boycott against segregation.

The 8ft homage honoured the Progressive Group and its supporters who peacefully picketed segregated cinemas — and won.

Another bronze work, We Arrive, was originally commissioned to honour the arrival of the first enslaved people in Bermuda, but ended up as a tribute to the last.

Charles Gosling, the Mayor of Hamilton, said at its unveiling in 2010 that it would “for ever commemorate a time and people where history was made and where a new life, destiny, opportunity and home were offered to 72 newly-freed brothers, sisters, sons and daughters”.

Yesterday the Corporation said: “Mr Trott, a revered figure in Bermuda's cultural landscape, leaves behind a profound legacy through his impactful sculptures and dedication to his craft.”

Flowers were placed at both his public sculptures, which “stand not only as artistic marvels but also as poignant and essential reminders of Bermuda's history and the resilience of its people”.

Mr Trott’s first exhibition of work was held in 1967 at the Bermuda Society of Arts, alongside that of Mr Tucker.

He was recognised in 1997 with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bermuda Arts Council.

The Bermuda National Gallery hosted the first solo showing of Mr Trott’s work in 1999, which included his first piece, a sculpture in pine of three birds, carved in 1956.

“I feel honoured,” he told The Royal Gazette. “Many of these sculptures were sold many years ago, so it is nice to see them again. To see them all together is heart-warming.

“They also bring back certain memories and emotions.

“When you do something and you sell it, you forget about the feelings that went into that piece. Some of these pieces I haven't seen in 30 years.”

He added: “Seeing all of these, it does bring home the fact that I have done a lot over the years.”

The Masterworks Foundation featured Mr Trott in a one-man show the following year.

An example of his method could be seen in a piece known as Martha, which emerged from a massive cedar log that had lain rotting in tall grass near the Masterworks gallery in the Botanical Gardens in Paget.

Mr Trott recalled setting to work on it and uncovering a reclining female nude.

“The actual physical aspect of carving it, imagining it, took a while, because one needs to look a long time and in this case one needs to touch,” he said. “But once you know the actual direction in which you are going, the carving doesn’t take that long.”

Mr Trott’s late wife, Jean, was a fellow artist with a flair for embroidery. He was father to Chet, Arthur, Maria and Velda.

• Arthur Chesley Trott, a lifelong teacher and artist, was born on June 4, 1930. He died on May 2, 2024, aged 93