Natalie Willis Whylly

Natalie Willis Whylly (she/they) is a queer curator and cultural worker from Grand Bahama. After earning their BA (Hons) and MA in Fine Art at York St John University in the UK, Willis returned to The Bahamas. With six years of experience at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, they now work independently as a curator, art consultant, and writer. Willis’ career focus centers on sensitive representation of marginalized communities (including their own), decolonizing the art archive, and contributing to public understanding of Bahamian and Caribbean visual culture.

During their time at the museum, Willis worked on an archive of public scholarship to reshape perceptions of Caribbean visual culture locally and regionally. Achievements include: organizing the museum’s first exhibition with bilingual wall texts (in English and Haitian Kreyol); the first group show celebrating Black Women artists of The Bahamas; and co-creating the museum’s inter-island traveling exhibition program to better serve the archipelago in its entirety.