The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

THE FAST paced life of Nassau and the tranquillity of the Family Islands co-exists in one place: A foot step into the doors of Casuarinas Resort and Different of Nassau owned by Netica Symonette, and guests are transported into a world of culture and heritage, just like old time Bahamas.

Nettie is a Bahamian historian, artist and cultural activist, who designed the resort to reflect and preserve the culture and heritage of the islands. The walls of the resort are plastered with abstract paintings from Nettie’s own portfolio, which has expanded over time to encompass canvas and bottle art.

Nettie’s intention was to create an Out Island experience right in Nassau that would provide a sweet escape for artists. After many years of a thriving existence, Different of Nassau and Casuarinas will now become one the newest art retreats in Nassau.

“This is something that we are just getting into. We have an art gallery here, and we are hoping that we can get some sort of relationship with other artists. We have the ballroom for example and maybe we can have a combined theme and host shows and exhibits. The idea for the guest rooms, we have (artists and other creative) people abroad who want a getaway and to chill out, so that is the kind of stuff that we are looking at.

We have been transitioning in the last five years, because it takes a long time to develop something. I am excited about it and I am very happy about what is happening with it,” she said.

Nettie is no stranger to the hotel world. She established Different of Abaco, which was described as “a little piece of heaven” and the best kept secret by Caribbean Travel and Life magazine. She left Abaco around 2006 for a two day visit with family but did not return to continue her reign at Different of Abaco. Since then she has been on a mission to transform the business that Bahamians have known over the years.

“When I came  from Abaco, several years ago I knew that I did not want to be in a hotel business anymore. What I did in Abaco was so special because it attracted a different kind of clientele, people who appreciated nature and aspects of culture. I know that was what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I had the farming down there, the fishing, the nature, just a whole thing and I wanted to keep my life in that pattern. The hotel business could kill you, and I knew that if I could not give it my all, I knew I did not want to do it. But this is what I want to do. I want to attract the kind of person who has an appreciation for life, the type of person who has done everything,” she told Tribune Arts.

It took Nettie several years to grow her backyard farm in Nassau, but it now stands as one that Bahamians will be familiar with if they grew up in the older days or on the Family Islands.  

“The rich business man would not spend this money that I have done here because they look at the bottom line - they spend X amount and they want X amount. I did not look at it like that. I thought that if I did something like this, I would touch lives. That is what I want to do. We have to educate our Bahamian people on how important it is to preserve our culture, on how rich our heritage and culture is,” she said.  

While in Abaco Nettie discovered gifts of writing, painting, and personal talents she never realized existed. She has dedicated most of her life to telling the Bahamian story and encouraging Bahamians to value their heritage and culture. Nettie’s paintings are all abstract and are accompanied by folk stories.

“I cannot draw a banana. I wanted to draw a banana, a sheep, a hibiscus all my life and never was able to. But the spirit led me to start painting. I bought a book with the easel, the paint and the brushes and I decided since I was going to Abaco I will just paint,” she said.

Nettie has done abstract paintings of Michelle and Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry Bill Clinton and others.

“I am hoping that my inspirational art work could reach as many in the local and international market as possible. I have had several persons from Albany and other places, approach me in search of unique art. They always say my work is uniquely different and fascinating,” she said.

Over her lifetime, Nettie has been honoured with many awards, including the Order of Merit, Order of British Empire, numerous Cacique Awards, and the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s first Hotelier of the Year Award.

In 1976 she was crowned the Most Outstanding Woman in Business and in 2002 she was named a living legend by the local branch of Zonta International. She is a lifetime director of the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board and the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association. While she currently owns and operates her two hotel brands, Nettie’s Different of Nassau and Casuarinas, she is primarily invested in her writing, art and other creative and cultural pursuits. Earlier this year she published a memoir, “A Girl Called Nettie: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love”.