Brackin returns with First Class Degree

Kemara Brackin, an outstanding student of the A-Level Art and Design Programme at the SVG Community College, has graduated with top marks from Savannah College of Art and Design, majoring in Graphic Art. She is the first graduate of the A-level programme to complete a degree and marks what her former teacher Vonnie Roudette claims is “a fantastic achievement- we, the students, graduates and myself are all very proud of Kamara.”{{more}}

Kemara attended the Girls’ High School and graduated from the SVG Community College in 2003 with a distinction in Art and Design. She taught art at her former secondary school for two years before securing the Governor General’s Art scholarship to study at Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, USA.

Finding that her A-level stood her in good stead, earning her a quarter of a year’s credits in the Foundation course at Savannah College, she declared her major in Digital Graphic Design. With determination and self-discipline, she surmounted many challenges with research and practice.

Kemara recently visited the SVG Community College to share her experiences and present her outstanding portfolio to the art and design students there. Demonstrating her sense of social responsibility, she urged students to “stick with your own ideas, your mind belongs to you – stay strong, remember where you are from. Development starts with us”

She also advised them: “This day and age you have to be versatile in your career, combining art and design with other fields, expanding your skills.”

For Art Lecturer Vonnie Roudette, it was a very significant day since the inception of the art and design programme at the SVG Community College in 2001, which boasts 100 per cent passes and 23 per cent distinctions.

“Kemara was one of our first graduates, the first to achieve a distinction and now the first to graduate with a degree. Her contribution to the country in terms of design expertise and is now there to be harnessed. I hope we are ready to utilise and acknowledge the creativity and expertise of our young creative thinkers. They are critically conscious pioneers that this country desperately needs.”

Whilst the opportunities to travel and study overseas are still limited for many art and design graduates, all are gainfully employed, making important contributions through teaching, entrepreneurship and freelancing.

“Kamara’s graduation from Savannah College has taken our struggle to the next level of ensuring the art work of young cultural creatives can be utilised within our society as key to evolutionary development,” Roudette says. “They are the driving force of the cultural sector and creative consciousness of the nation. I only hope their potential contribution to their country is not smothered, forcing them to take up work overseas where their artistic excellence is already recognised.”

Referring to other art students achieving top grades in Canada, Barbados and Cuba, Roudette said “we can only blame ourselves if they find more promising outlets for their ideas overseas. We must provide fertile pastures for the creativity of our youngsters as a matter of urgency”.

Kemara Brackin’s graphic artwork combines “intelligence in concept and execution, professionalism and aesthetic excellence”. We are sure to be hearing and seeing much more from this determined young artist.