Royal Caribbean is taking a bright idea from ship to shore, weaving a full day at the beach around living, local art. The brand has tapped 11 Bahamian creatives to transform promenades, bars and gathering spaces with murals, sculptures and playful landmarks, so your island time doubles as a gallery walk in the sun, rich in colour, rhythm and story.
Opening December 2025 in Nassau, Royal Beach Club Paradise Island will showcase art by 11 local Bahamian artists across 25 sites. The program expands Royal Caribbean’s Artist Discovery initiative with grants for large murals and sculptures, built around three themes, Underwater Adventures, Junkanoo Jubilee and Bahama Bliss, to enrich guest flow, sense of place and photo-worthy moments.
Why the Artist Discovery Program Matters
Art can turn a good beach club into a place you remember by feel, not just by checklist. Here, Royal Caribbean’s shoreside debut of its Artist Discovery Program pairs an all-inclusive day with texture, narrative and a strong Bahamian voice. Travellers get effortless fun, then suddenly, a mural pulls you closer, a sculpture invites a selfie, and the vibe becomes distinctly local.
From Ship to Shore, Program Evolution
For years, Royal Caribbean has introduced guests to new artists on board. Extending that platform onto a purpose-built island destination means more scale, more visibility and more time for audiences to engage. Instead of glimpsing a single piece between dinner and a show, you encounter a series of works in sunlight, salt air and music, the perfect conditions for art that celebrates movement and community.
Grants That Create Real Opportunities
The program includes grants of varying amounts to fund large-scale murals and expressive sculptures. That support pays for materials, fabrication and time, the less glamorous but essential parts of making public art safely and beautifully. In return, artists reach global audiences, families from Houston, couples from Sydney, multi-generational groups from London, all stepping into their work and taking the story home.
Three Themes, One Sense of Place
Designing for a full island, curators grouped the collection into Underwater Adventures, Junkanoo Jubilee and Bahama Bliss. The result is a gentle visual map. Reef creatures and sea hues guide you toward water activities, brass and feather tones signal music and dance, and serene palettes suggest places to exhale. Even if you know none of the artists yet, the colour language helps you navigate the day.
Meet the Creative Cohort
The line-up blends internationally recognised names with rising voices, each rooted in Bahamian light, humour and resilience. The curation ensures you encounter different hands and moods as you move, so every corner feels fresh while still belonging to the same island.
Muralists Who Paint Motion
Minolta Butler brings high-energy colour across three locations, shifting between traditional media and playful twists like coffee and wine. Chaavanté Newton leans into fluid forms and layered composition, wrapping two bars in murals that feel like music. John Paul adds rhythm with oversized brushwork and deep colour theory, tying tropical land and seascapes to a pulsing sense of movement. Together, they create a visual tempo you feel as much as see.
Sculptors and Signature Flamingos
Honouring the national bird, June Collie and Preston Hanna each design a stand-out flamingo sculpture, Collie drawing on Nassau life, family and womanhood, Hanna on bold strokes and a modern, inclusive lens. Deldra Sands adds a flamingo with portraitist sensitivity, while Angelika Wallace-Whitfield pushes scale and saturation. These pieces become wayfinders, meeting points and instant keepsakes in your camera roll.
Welcome Pieces and Entry Statements
Arriving guests are met by a bold mural from Allan Wallace, a self-taught artist known for range, from fine art to live performance. Sands also contributes a vintage postcard-inspired welcome, the kind of throwback that makes you smile, snap a photo and share it before you hit the sand. Lamaro Smith stitches three immersive murals into the path network, using illustration and animation instincts to turn strolls into small adventures.
How the Art Shapes Your Beach Day
A beach club works best when it flows, clear cues for energy, shade, food and play. The art plan doubles as a soft navigation system, guiding you by colour and form from one mood to the next without needing a map in your hand.
Party Cove, Colour Turned Up
In Party Cove, Junkanoo Jubilee drives the palette, bright hues, feathers and brass-band energy rendered in dancing lines and big gestures. Between DJ sets and dips at The Floating Flamingo, you will spot murals that echo rhythm, prompting quick photos and longer looks. The point is simple, art amplifies the party, while still feeling anchored to Nassau’s street-parade tradition.
Chill Beach, a Softer Spectrum
At Chill Beach, Bahama Bliss sets the tone, pastels, sea-glass greens and coral pinks, with forms that breathe. Pieces here invite you to sit, read and watch the light move across paint, then do nothing at all. The work is still lively, just tuned to a more contemplative register, a reminder that rest is part of the culture too.
Family Beach, Play for All Ages
Family Beach leans into bold icons and friendly characters. Flamingos double as landmarks, helping kids find their way back to home base after a splash-pad session. Murals drop hidden details at child height, so young travellers become the spotters while adults take in the big picture. It is art as a family game, low effort, high reward.
Designing Your Time on Paradise Island
Even the best beach day benefits from a loose plan. With three zones, food and drink nearby and art threaded throughout, you can shape a rhythm that matches your energy, without cramming the schedule.
Morning to Midday, Ease into It
Start with a slow walk past the entry murals, then pick a base on Chill Beach while the sun is gentle. Take an art loop to Party Cove for a mid-morning photo swing, then pause for a cool drink under shade. Keeping the first half unhurried means the second half can be as lively as you like.
Food, Drink and Shade Strategy
Texas-sized bars are a cruise-line specialty, but Paradise Island adds regional influences to the drinks list and casual bites to match beach pacing. Use the bar murals as meeting points, order once, share plates, then migrate back to the water. Shade is built in, yet the art itself often sits near canopies and pergolas, making it easy to rest your eyes and your shoulders.
Wayfinding, Access and Flow
Sculptures, flamingos and high-contrast murals act like breadcrumbs, making it intuitive to move between zones or back to your lounger. Families with prams and travellers with mobility considerations will appreciate wide routes and the visual anchors, because when everything is bright and new, friendly cues reduce the mental load.
Why This Shoreside Art Story Matters
Destinations thrive when visitors experience more than sun and sand. This project is a practical way to push value into the community and pull more meaning out of a day, which is good for travellers, artists and the island’s future.
Cultural Confidence and Economic Ripples
Commissioning local work keeps creative spend at home and tells guests, this place is proud of itself. Artists build portfolios that open doors, while visitors discover names to follow long after the ship sails. The island gets a destination that reads as distinctly Bahamian, not generic, which supports repeat visitation and word-of-mouth.
Storytelling Beyond Stereotypes
Murals and sculptures let Bahamians define Bahamian beauty. You will see flamingos and turquoise water, of course, but also family, humour, memory and movement. That fuller picture lingers, shifting how a holiday is remembered, from a sunny blur to a set of scenes and faces.
A Model That Can Travel
If this approach resonates, it becomes a template for other ports, where global brands collaborate with local creatives to frame experiences. Guests win with richer days, communities win with paid work and pride, cruise partners win with destinations that feel fresh and specific.
Before you choose dates, it helps to compare how Royal Beach Club Paradise Island pairs with your larger Bahamas or Caribbean plan, a short hop from Nassau or a longer cruise with a private-island day in the middle. Our Cruise Finder makes it simple to scan sailings that include Paradise Island, then filter by length, ship and stateroom style.
If you are travelling from Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe or North America, the same view helps you plot flights into Nassau, align embarkation times and decide whether to add a night ashore. Save two or three options and we will sense-check the flow, beach-day timing and the art-rich corners you most want to see.
Plan Your Paradise Island Day with Us Today
A beach club that looks good is nice, a beach club that feels like The Bahamas is better. With 11 local artists shaping 25 spots across the island, you will spend the day wrapped in colour, story and sound, then sail away with more than a tan.
Whether you want Party Cove’s pulse, Chill Beach’s hush or Family Beach’s playful loop, we will help you line up dates, pick staterooms on the right ship and plan a day that moves easily from sun to shade to sea. When you are ready, start your plan with our team and we will handle the details while you look forward to toes-in-the-sand time.
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