The Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard was first organised in 1984, as an alternative to the then hide-bound Bermuda Society of Arts. In those days, the BSoA was not only conservative, it was reactionary to anything new and different from the pretty Bermuda scenes it generally espoused.

At that time, the Arts Centre exuded youthfulness and energy. The exhibitions hosted were often about new, more adventuresome kinds of art and, perhaps surprisingly, the general public took to it with considerable enthusiasm.

Today, the situation seems to have reversed itself. The Arts Centre has been taken over, largely, by more conservatives artists, while the BSoA comes across as being more open to the new.

Indeed, most exhibitions at the Arts Centre these days seem to be dominated by a small group of landscape painters, who feature in just about all their shows. There is, therefore, a disappointing sameness and staid predictability to most of their exhibitions. That trend does not make for great interest. Indeed, it generates tedium.

This is not to say that the stable of painters who dominate the Arts Centre shows are not skilled artists; many certainly are. Nevertheless, it seems to me that many are playing it safe, by producing variations of the same kind of thing, ad nauseum.

Additionally, there is an art to exhibiting and one thing to avoid is over-exposure, something they often fail to realise. If it were not for the art of such individuals as Lynn Morrell, or Kok Won Lee, whose work is more risk oriented and who occasionally exhibit at BAC, there would be little reason for anyone to visits to the Arts Centre. Thankfully these few still make a trip to Dockyard worthwhile.

What is to be done about this situation? The answer seems quite obvious. What is needed is greater artistic variety. Efforts need to be made to attract other exhibiting artists, plus the creation of more imaginative, curated shows.

One example from the early days of the Arts Centre, comes to mind. Back then there was an annual, juried crafts exhibition. It was a show that emphasised the best in craft, was highly professional and utilised the finest in exhibition design. In other words, it was not your usual hobby lobby, country fair sort of thing. As to why that annual show is no longer a reality, I do not know, but it badly needs to be resurrected.

The current exhibition is yet, another example of sameness. This is the annual exhibition of the Plein Air Painters of Bermuda, which again, is mostly by these very same artists, I have been going on about. So what can I write about the show that may be helpful to those seeing it?

An artist whose name is new to me and whose colourful painting I found appealing, is Rosalind Collins and her "Lighthouse View". Another artist who has been painting the Bermuda scene for many years, but who seems to be ever developing her abilities and improving her technique, is the watercolourist, Marlene Jantzen.

Diana Amos is another artist, who, although well known, is not generally associated with the inner circle at the Arts Centre. I particularly liked her oil painting entitled, "Tide Change, Grape Bay". Not only is it beautifully painted, it is appropriately framed. Other artists in the show are Rhona Emmerson, Christopher Grimes, Christopher Marson, Jonah Jones, Dorothy Billings! , Wynne Colley, Melony Kendell, Heidi Cowen, Jill Amos Raine and others.

The exhibition continues through August 14, 2009.