Collie, June

June Collie (b. 1986) is a Nassau-based Bahamian artist and gallery owner. Working with mediums of paint, film and photography, Collie’s work explores themes of family and Black womanhood, informed by a Caribbean upbringing.

As an early painter, her venture into film and photography was shaped by the desire to express herself away from the canvas. During this time of exploration, Collie produced four short art films in the span of six months. This experimentation yielded her first solo art film exhibition titled, "Situations", which follows four children on their daily journeys, as they seek to find their own meanings in one intimate portrait.

Upon graduating from The College of The Bahamas (now The University of The Bahamas), Collie returned to her first love - painting, and began experimenting with a new style that can be dubbed June Collie-ism - a montage of animated subjects, bold lines, colors, and decorative patterns. June Collie-ism embodies the ultimate expression of the Black Bahamian. Notably working with women subjects, Collie’s style is unique in exploring empowerment through joy, pleasure, and rest, often engaging the question, “What could it look like for black people to exist in pure joy?”

With a fresh, bold eye and playful spirit, Collie has created work flavorful in subject, and traditional in technique. All of this has influenced her to open her own local art hub, Sixty2Sixty Art Gallery, located in the heart of Bay Street in Nassau. The gallery’s name derives from the birth years of both her parents (1960 and 1962), since they have always been supportive of her work, as creative spirits themselves.

Being one of the few Black-women owned galleries in Nassau, Sixty2Sixty holds space for emerging Bahamian and Caribbean artists to showcase their works, expand their practice and reach, and establish themselves in the creative arts community. Committed to centering community, Collie cleverly pairs the work of visual artists alongside a display of artisan, Bahamian-crafted jewelry and handbags. This is done to further revere and celebrate Bahamian arts and culture.