Private Art & Culture Tour: Intimate Experience with Local Artists in Tortola, Virgin Islands
5.0
16 Ratings
Road Town
Immerse yourself in the vibrant art and culture of Tortola, Virgin Islands. Join a private tour guided by local artists, with the option to participate in bread baking and clay play. Discover unique local artwork and support the talented artisans of the Virgin Islands.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
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Jenesis Studios - Local Artist Reuben Vanterpool takes you on a cultural journey guiding you through his garden, museum/gallery & traditional oven bakery. Here you can get a taste of Virgin Island life before the 1960’s. The facility also includes a mini gift shop & snacket.
Mr. Vanterpool is one of the most prominent Artist in the Virgin Is. practicing for over 45 years and mainly works in oil/acrylic on canvas. Many of his beautiful paintings illustrates the early life and culture of the Virgin Is.
Jenesis Studios is truly a gem of culture and is well worth the visit.
Added Option - Bread Baking
Observe baking in a traditional oven and sample the goods when complete, along with other goodies! +$20
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The Pottery Garden - Local Ceramic Artist Karl Burnett shows you around his pottery grounds “The Pottery Garden” where you’ll be immersed in an “earthmade experience”.
Karl explains his journey as a mainly self taught potter, talks about his making processes and explains his impressive wood fired kiln which is covered in local stone.
Take a guided walk through his workshop where the excitement kicks up a notch with live demonstrations on the potter’s wheel and other pottery production techniques!
After seeing how the pots are made browse around the quaint studio gallery featuring Karl’s handmade pieces for sale where you can purchase a keepsake to remember your visit.
Karl Burnett is the best known and only local potter in practice on Tortola.
The Pottery Garden is a pottery studio placed in a tropical garden just a few minutes away from beautiful Josiah’s Bay beach and is an experience you won’t regret!
Added Option - Clay play
Get a try at the wheel during the demo section of the tour + $5 - Tortola - Sightseeing & stops at points of interest
Take in beautiful views and learn Virgin Islands history and culture on a relaxing drive between studios.
See a historical ruin and visit the salt pond at Josiah’s bay where you can see flamingos and other bird life(binoculars included).
What's Included
- Customizable seating arrangement
- Onboard air conditioning
- Complimentary bottled water
- Binoculars provided for bird watching
What's Not Included
- Added Option at Jenesis Studio - Bread Baking for $20(must book 2 days in advance for this option)
- Added Option - Clay play for $12 at Pottery Garden
Additional Information
This is the sole art-focused excursion available in Tortola, spotlighting accomplished, active artists and their creations. The small, private groups ensure a deeply personal and interactive experience, encouraging a rapport with the artist-guides. Additional choices of bread baking (Booking required 2 days prior for bread baking) and clay activities offer delightful enjoyment, unforgettable moments, and excellent photo ops! This journey provides an authentic Virgin Island experience, thanks to the local guide-artists who are fervent about their artistry and homeland. The opportunity to view and acquire original, genuine local art, crafted by natives, is unfortunately becoming scarce in The Virgin Islands; however, this tour grants you that unique opportunity!
Location
164 Waterfront Dr
Waterfront Drive
At the parking lot of the Road Town Jetty/Ferry dock
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(16 Ratings)
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Y53ucalisonb
Feb 5, 2024
Enjoy authentic Tortola ! - Karl Burnett picked us up on time at
our resort in a recent model air conditioned van. He is courteous and a careful driver so we immediately felt in good hands. Started off by visiting the Pottery Garden Studio and Gallery and was amazed at the many beautiful pots and sculptures that he and his students have created! The time flew by learning about clay and ceramics and trying our hand. He has 4 pottery wheels, one huge wood fire kiln, a small gas kiln and an electric kiln. We purchased some of his mugs. The grounds are a lovely shaded area to bring a picnic lunch and only a few minutes away from a terrific swimming beach with surfing instruction. We wanted to explore the island and drove the ridge road with many beautiful vistas to the Rum Distillery at Cane Garden Bay for a fun and inexpensive visit with rum tasting! Next was a tiny local sea shell museum all the while Karl tells us about the island history and a few his experiences growing up in a large extended family. We stopped frequently for photographs and to check out local Caribbean food take aways. We felt connected and learned lots from this young professional local tour guide. Highly recommend Karl for your tour of Tortola!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Linda_g
Dec 7, 2023
What a wonderful day! - The entire existence was Excellent! From the history shared while driving, to meeting the Vanderpools and seeing their incredible dioramas of life on Tortola, to the beautiful artwork, to their garden that is truly a labor of love... and then having Karl share with us his passion of pottery and getting the opportunity to get our own hands messy in the pottery wheel... a truly special and blessed day!
Review provided by Viator
Johnhl9732ng
Oct 21, 2023
Fun with pottery - The visit to the artist's studio and garden was pretty cool, but being able to create our own pottery items in the pottery studio was a GREAT experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Horton_r
Jul 12, 2023
Great experience - We had the best time! Thoroughly enjoyed meeting the artist of the beautiful murals along the roadside. He and his wife were lovely. My daughter really enjoyed growing the clay and making a vase.
Review provided by Viator
Aclewismd
Apr 23, 2023
Because of this tour, my teenage son has signed up for pottery classes at school! - Karl was an amazing host, and a very kind person. He has a great love for Tortola, and took great pride in sharing the story of the island. His artist studio and campus is serene, and his focus on teaching in a calm and patient manner kept my children interested in the session and in helping each other during their time at the pottery wheel. The visit to other artists, the stop at the beach, and the chance to see some native wildlife was a really special trip for our family.
Review provided by Viator
Nmwife
Apr 16, 2023
The best kind of tour, highly recommend - This tour with Karl was fantastic! I would HIGHLY recommend. It started off with a driving tour around parts of Road Town and surrounding areas. Karl knows a lot about the history and we enjoyed his commentary. Then we stopped at Mr. Vanterpool's studio. We LOVED learning from him and touring his studio and garden. Mrs. Vanterpool is also great. She made us gooseberry juice and let us try fresh sugarcane, which were both new for us. Yum! Then we drove along Ridge Road and got to see the famous murals. Next we were off to Karl's pottery studio. It was so fun to watch him throw pottery on his wheel. He also showed us around his garden and gallery. Next we got to see flamingos at Josiah's Bay Pond. So cool! Then a quick stop at Josiah's Bay to watch the turquoise waves breaking. Karl got us back to the port right on time. The tour lasted for 4 hours, but we loved it so much we wished we could've stayed longer. But, alas, our cruise ship was heading out. Would love to come back to Tortola!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Wayne_b
Apr 12, 2023
Karl was an AWESOME... - Karl was an AWESOME ambassador for his island ! Great tour / thanks for the experience my friend !!!
Review provided by Viator
Christin_h
Apr 12, 2023
Must do!! - Book this tour! Karl is a wonderful guide and so generous in sharing his knowledge. We learned so much and enjoyed every minute of our time!
Review provided by Viator
Joety4129no
Feb 25, 2023
Great first time pottery experience. - The pottery experience was great. Karl was patient with us. We always wanted to try making pottery and there is no better place to try than the BVI. Karl was informative and heightened our interest in continuing after we return home. He is preparing our pieces and sending them to us. We can’t wait to see them. Highly recommend. Karl is also very knowledgeable about Tortola - learned a lot as we drove around.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stacy
Jul 10, 2022
Fantastic local art experience! - This was a fantastic and personalized tour. The owner of the Pottery Garden was very communicative even when I hadn’t returned his message until after 10 PM the night before. He was on time, informative, friendly, and helpful as we navigated around the island. I met his wife at the studio and they were both very warm and inviting, teaching the ins and outs of pottery making as well as showing me around their garden and many fruit trees. I had such a good lesson I was able to successfully create my first clay pot on a wheel and for a small charge they offered to fire it and ship it back to the States for me directly!! I also purchased a handmade clay water whistle from their gallery which sounds magical like birds chirping!
We then went to see Mr. Vanderpool at his museum and gallery for a deep dive into the Tortola before tourism. I got intimate, first hand accounts of his life growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, saw his amazing paintings, and toured his extensive garden of local and interesting plants and trees. He was able to paint a literal and figurative picture of what life was like here just 60 years ago. Mr. Vanderpool lived up to his reputation as a local legend and left me with a mango from his tree and gooseberry juice!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
