Bridgewater, Wellington

Wellington Bridgewater (born 1948, Nassau, The Bahamas) is a self-taught naive artist. A farmer, fisherman, construction worker and lifeguard, Bridgewater only began painting in 1991, when he was 43. He is a deeply religious man and attributes many of his paintings and sculptures to the prophetic visions he receives, often in his dreams.

 One of Bridgewater's first commissions was a sculpture of St. Joseph in 1994 for the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.  His life-size concrete sculptures, Angel Blowing His Trumpet, The Serpent Lady, and Crawfish Lady, were acquired by The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas in 2004 for permanent exhibition in their grounds.  During the same year his acrylic painting The Rapture was exhibited at the Inaugural National Exhibition.  

Bridgewater is the first Bahamian to have his work on display at the American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, with his painting titled Saddam Hussein as the Nine Headed Serpent in Revelations.   Bridgewater, together with art dealer Jay Koment, travelled to New York together to attend the unveiling of the painting at the American Folk Museum.  

In 2014, the Baha Mar Hotel and Resort, recognizing Bridgewater's unique contribution to the Bahamian art community, created a meeting room in their convention center in his name.  A number of prominent works created by the artist from private collections throughout the Bahamas will be featured in the facility.