A near death experience first compelled teacher, artist and fundraiser Nancy Smythe to volunteer at the Adult Education Centre back in the 1980s.

Although she now lives abroad, she is still dedicated to the institution which provides an alternative way to graduate from high school. She has just donated one of her paintings to a silent auction to be held during their upcoming Bermuda Summer Soul-stice fundraising event.

Ms Smythe first came to Bermuda in the late 1980s to work as a fundraiser for the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS). It was then that she met Centre founder Meryl Swan Williams.

She left after a three-year stint, and then experienced a bad scuba accident. Her friend, Ms Williams, encouraged her to return to Bermuda and volunteer, while she recovered emotionally.

“I had a scuba diving accident in Australia,” said Ms Smythe. “I had decompression sickness and was in a hyperbaric chamber for seven days. After I came out I had to learn to walk again. After that I had to decide what was important to me in life. I took a sabbatical from my job and wanted to come back to Bermuda.”

While in Bermuda as a volunteer, she lived with Ms Williams who lived around the corner from the Centre on Dundonald Street in Hamilton.

“I would walk in to the Centre, sit down with one of the students and we would do reading projects or math projects and talk about things,” said Ms Smythe. “I would work one-on-one with the youth. I came to really respect what the mission was at the Centre and came to respect what they were doing. Today, they still have a grand mission and their needs are probably more important. Some systems in our society have gaps and can’t be met by government alone.”

She said Ms Williams not only encouraged people with the basic education, but also helped them to find their distinct individuality.

“She tried to interest them in a career, something that would benefit them and the community in the long run,” said Ms Smythe.

Ms Smythe said she always loved art, but early on, her parents encouraged her to study something else as they did not believe she could make any money in art.

Still, she has pursued it, alongside her other careers as a teacher and professional fundraiser. Her inaugural private exhibition was held at Bacardi International Ltd in 1990. She exhibited in the Bermuda National Gallery’s second Bacardi Biennial and later exhibited in two solo shows in Florida. She is currently represented by The Windjammer 2 Gallery.

“Painting in Bermuda fuels my creativity and energy,” she said. “My photos record visual details that are used as study guides, often with people and creatures at work or play — moments of everyday life. Every painting is a challenge as I capture compositional beauty embracing colourful and changing atmospheric effects; reflections bouncing off objects and shadows dancing on subjects.”

To the silent auction, she will be donating a piece that depicts a little boy’s joyous discovery of a shell on the beach. She chose this one because it was similar to a painting she had given to Ms Williams several years ago.

“It is in honour of Merle and all she has given to me and the community,” said Ms Smythe.

Other artists will include Vaughan Evans, Amanda Temple, Stephen Card, Robert Bassett, among others.

Gerald Simons, Chairman of the Board of the Adult Education Centre said he had first come in contact with the Centre when he was chief executive officer (CEO) at Argus.

“In the 12 or so years that I was CEO of the The Argus Group it seemed that every charity in Bermuda came to us for support,” he said. “Over time I came to realise that the adult education school was one of the most important and efficient charities in Bermuda. Few charities provided a bigger bang for your buck. Consider for a moment the last five or so years around 50 students, mainly boys, have gotten their General Education Diploma (GED) through the adult education school. That means that 50 individuals can get on with their lives and start to realise some of their dreams.”

Donna Daniels, Executive Director of the Centre, said the beauty of the school was that for the last 58 years it had always responded to the needs of the community.

“That is our strength,” she said.

Bermuda Summer Soul-stice will be held on June 21 at Pier Six on Front Street in the City of Hamilton. It will begin with a cocktail reception where participants can look over art donated by over 30 artists. They will have signature Bermuda drinks, steel pans and the Town Crier.

The event will maintain a Bermuda theme throughout and will only be offering traditional Bermudian delicacies such as cassava pie, mussel pie and fish sandwich stations. Gita Blakeney Saltus will sing.

Tickets are $125 per person and can be purchased through www.ptix.bm, Harbour Master, 27th Century Boutique, Orchid Nail Spa.