A place akin
to home
Mission
The Hub Collective (The Hub) is a safe and inclusive nonprofit community arts organization located in Bequia. We have a passion to build creative confidence and intergenerational exchange across Bequia’s communities. Our pillars address the need for holistic community engagement and inclusivity through: Music, the Arts, Culture, Healing and the Environment.
Space
The Hub functions as a place akin to a home, where we bring out hidden and underdeveloped talent in Bequia youth by fostering exchange, the knowing of self and others while building trust on the grounds of mutual respect. It is a place for daydreaming and dreaming more widely, where Bequians can form new bonds with friends, mentors, leaders and elders, while also working on their artistic and personal aspirations.
Philosophy
The Hub exists to provide tools, strategies, and the vision to empower youth and all people of Bequia, reinvigorating the spirit of positive transformation and creativity across our communities.
We understand the critical and often undervalued role that artistic and creative communities play in grounding identity and belonging. We hold the position that every creative act places a positive affirmation into the world, promoting conscious and lively change within the creator and their environment.
Our Values
HONOUR THE LAND AND THE ANCESTORS
We honour and are guided by the spirits of the land and our ancestors who have interconnected wisdom of living in harmony with our environment. This ancestral knowledge will help us move towards regeneration and healing.
ENGAGE ACROSS GENERATIONS
We value our heritage and the passing down of knowledge from our Grandmothers and Grandfathers to future generations.
ROOT IN THE LOCAL
Our grassrootedness makes us nimble, responsive and accountable to our villages and communities.
FOSTER CREATIVITY
We celebrate imagination and creativity in all forms and disciplines.
PROMOTE HEALING
We foster positive growth within our communities and provide sanctuaries for healing.
Our Beliefs
We believe that creativity is the lifeblood of our communities.
We believe that every youth and adult on Bequia should THRIVE.
We believe in the transformative power of informal education.
We believe in resistance to privatisation and gentrification through the preservation and strengthening of our culture.
We believe that working towards solidarity rather than charity in our partnerships and collaborations will bring us towards sustainability.
Our Story
The efforts that we have been engaging in over the last five years works to combat the losses that our communities have been undergoing as it relates to land, traditions, rituals and customs.
The Hub was founded in 2017 by a group of creatives, entrepreneurs and social activists. It arose out of the realization that while there are numerous challenges young people face on Bequia, there is so much talent, resourcefulness and untapped innovative spirit which could be harnessed to create sustainable and healthy communities.
The Hub addresses the gaps within the formal education system; our methodologies are akin to “unschooling” which advocates for learner-chosen activities and more intimate and organic ways of intel building. Youth have the freedom to engage and express themselves in a way that is more connected to their essence and sense of selfhood. This alternative, safe learning environment lends to the development of self in a more holistic, natural manner leading to well-rounded youth capable of embracing what life may throw to them in more nimble ways.
In Bequia, we have a small enough microcosm and a tremendous opportunity to, in effect, pivot our collective consciousness towards manifesting new transformative realities for the future.
“I was blown away by the INCREDIBLE positive vibes that greeted me when I entered The Hub Collective! I find it moving, remembering when it was an abstract concept, and seeing what you all have made happen. WOW!!!! Everyone is lovely, the shop is very cool, the drumming touched my heart.”
—Anna Landry, Fine Artist and Bequia Resident