The Tribune

By FELICITY DARVILLE

WITH a deep sense of national pride, Linda Christina Stubbs has decorated some of the most outstanding events in The Bahamas. Her works are designed to spark emotions of excitement and bring Bahamian culture alive. Born on Eleuthera, Linda digs deep into her roots to find the passion to execute one thrilling event after another.

All along, Linda has been known for her works. She quietly goes about sketching, sourcing materials, planning, curating and executing her designs. Often, it’s the client who gets the praise. People admire the space and would compliment those who live or work in it. For Linda, there’s no issue in that. She is just happy to know that there’s a new aura in the space - one that brings good feelings to all involved. But in this issue of Face to Face, we uncover a bit about the woman responsible for bringing to life some of the most spectacular events in the country.

Linda Christina Stubbs (née Wood) was born in Gregory Town, Eleuthera, which is one of the most northern settlements on the island. She was born to Wendell and Althea Wood (née Young). Her father was born in Gregory Town while her mother was born in South Eleuthera in a settlement called Wemyss Bight. Both families were very well known in their settlements and made a valuable contribution to their communities.

The Youngs were farmers, making their living off of the land, and holding dear to their morals and principles, living the good island life. The Woods were merchants. Linda’s grandfather, Reginald D Wood, had a large department store that she calls “the Walmart of his day”. He also had large buses that were outfitted with lots of merchandise and they were sent out north and south to sell to people in other settlements who could not get to Gregory Town to shop.

He had large investments in land and several buildings in the settlement. Like many Eleuthera Islanders, he also farmed pineapples and in his spare time, he plaited fish pots.

Linda’s schooling began in Eleuthera. However, she and her siblings moved to Nassau with their mother. She graduated and earned her diploma with awards in Fine Arts. She earned her BJCs and GCEs, and found herself always excelling in fine arts and technical studies.

“It was evident the trajectory my career path would take,” Linda told me.

“I did not attend a traditional tertiary institution; however, I’ve participated in many specialized training courses and seminars in Europe and across the USA, and I still do to this very day. The reason is that we should never stop learning, refreshing our knowledge, learning new techniques and discovering new trends. I am committed to excellence in everything that I do.”

Linda did not begin her professional life as a designer. She married early and from that marriage, she bore three children - Owen, Danielle and Robbyn.

“It’s one of the best decisions I made in that I’m still very young at heart, and my children are adults, two of whom are married with their own families,” she said.

“I’m now able to enjoy the best years of my life.”

With this freedom, Linda has the time to produce one excellent design after another. She has now been in art and design for more than 30 years.

Prior to finding her calling, Linda was a hotelier, banker and timeshare executive. She worked briefly in Virginia Beach, USA, and at Xanadu Resort in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

“These experiences were good, but they were not my calling and I knew it,” She said.

“As soon as the opportunity presented itself, I moved away from employment to self employment. Historically, all of my family members on both sides were entrepreneurs, self-employed or contract workers. That was the right fitting mold for me, so in the early 1990s, I took the leap of faith.”

“My initial focus was interior design. I obtained my certification as a window treatment specialist. Prior to that, I became certified in management and motivational training in London. When I fully immersed myself in designing, I functioned in every area of design. One of my most memorable projects was to have been the first Bahamian that Atlantis Resorts engaged to design and decorate 100 of their rooms, thanks to the late Deon Strachan.”

The opportunity to decorate Atlantis blossomed into a myriad of opportunities, as word of mouth spread about Linda’s special creative touch. She was responsible for renovating the Cabinet Room which was housed in the Churchill Building, downtown, Nassau.

She has also designed the offices of several Government ministers, the office of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, as well as the Levy Building on East Bay Street.

Linda has creatively transformed spaces for several government agencies for various events. She didn’t do it alone, however. She believes in empowering others and as a result, she created a team to help her pull off each assignment. They include: Chedi Ferguson; Cheryl Rolle; Dave Turnquest; Kay Lowe; Kayvette Rolle; Keva Mckinney; Robbyn Stubbs; Eric Jean; Owen Stubbs; Marcus Taylor and others. Together, they make a formidable team under Linda’s direction, and they have consistently produced show stopping designs.

Linda has had the privilege of being the first person to decorate the interiors of the House of Assembly for Independence. This was met with wonderful accolades from the Speaker and Members of Parliament.

She was also the curator of the large scale historical exhibitions often seen in Rawson and Parliament Squares, Bay Street. She has designed showcases for the Governors General, The Road to Majority Rule, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, and The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, for which Prince Harry flew in to officially open that exhibit.

The opening of Parliament is one of the biggest fashion highlights of the year. But what many do not know is that the exquisite backdrop was designed by Linda on many occasions. She has also served as decorator for the opening of the Legal Year by the Supreme Court.

Beautiful memorials created for the lying in state of great Bahamians such as Paul L Adderley, the longest serving Attorney General of the 20th century, and for the late Chief Justice Stephen Isaacs were also done by Linda. These designs were mini exhibitions of their lives and work.

When international diplomats from around the world have convened in New Providence for high-level talks and conferences, Linda has designed the room on countless occasions. She has even traveled abroad to decorate events for the government of The Bahamas, including Cuba, when The Bahamas received keys to the city.

Linda shares other highlights of her design career: “We were honoured to have been granted the opportunity to decorate for the official opening of the Office of the Prime Minister in its current location, and what a beautiful event it was!”

“My team and I have decorated the event to stage the Cacique Awards on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism on several occasions. We took pride in nailing the event, by bringing to light the selected theme where coordinators, honorees and attendees had a great appreciation for the execution of the theme.”

“We were just as honoured to have decorated Goombay Summer Festivals and Junkanoo Summer Festivals for the Ministry of Tourism, bringing to light the selected themes for all of the events, which were extremely successful.”

Linda has decorated for Junior Junkanoo, at the request of Esso and the National Junkanoo Committee. She was also responsible for the exhibit to launch Carnival in the Bahamas, as well as the exhibit to commemorate the life of Sir Sidney Poitier.

During Christmas time, Bahamians seem to always find it a hit or miss with the national Christmas tree.

“For years, the Bahamian people were disappointed and agitated with the way the tree was decorated,” Linda explained.

“In 2020, my design team was finally called upon to decorate the Christmas tree. Needless to say, it was beautiful and greatly appreciated by Bahamians and visitors alike. Many photos were taken and sent around the world by proud family members and friends. We received great commendations from the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture for the first tree produced in recent times that was lauded and not criticized. The tree was photographed and used for a Christmas card by UNESCO, sent to more than 250 counties.”

“Christmas of 2021 found the world still grappling with the effects of COVID-19. We were once again invited to submit a bid for the Christmas tree. It was announced earlier that there would be no Junkanoo because of COVID. Prime Minister Philip Davis requested that the city be decorated properly for the season. I was called in by a lighting company who was awarded the contract to create an attraction downtown. We were subcontracted to decorate the tree. Needless to say, we did a magnificent job and the lighting company executed their job brilliantly.”

Independence is also a special time for Linda and her team, as it is an opportunity to kick national pride into high gear. She has led the team responsible for decorating national spaces for Independence celebrations for 18 consecutive years.

“We have taken it from simple displays to the most spectacular, memorable designs ever produced,” Linda shared.

“We have installed larger than life 2D renditions of our coat of arms, which spanned some 21 feet wide by 19 feet high. When the coat of arms was installed, the city erupted. People came from all over Nassau to take photos at the larger than life replica. It was epic and the sense of being proud to be Bahamian permeated throughout the entire country by way of social media for those in the Family Islands and abroad.”

“The following year 2020, we replicated the largest version of the Bahamas flag to have ever been seen. I will never forget, after working during the wee hours of the morning installing the flag, the sun was rising and the installation was done. The flag was 22 feet wide and 18 feet high. We were standing off and marveling on how beautiful and perfect the flag was slotted together. As we stood there, a small group of ladies approached the area. When they saw what we were looking at, they erupted into loud cheers. Just recalling the incident gives me goosebumps! They ran towards the flag and began singing the national anthem, beaming with pride and tears were streaming down one of their faces. It was a brief but emotionally charged experience and this design also went viral across the nation.”

In 2018, Linda and her team paid tribute to the four Bahamian Prime Ministers with praying hands: “They gave us the theme ‘We’ve Come This Far by Faith’. We depicted the Prime Ministers asking God to bless and guide our nation, because I truly believe that in governing a nation, they must seek God and pray. I brought on cultural Ambassador Jamaal Rolle to help create this piece. It was requested that it remain in place for months past Independence.”

For this year’s Independence, Linda formed a group called ‘Designers United’ - which consists of 18 professional designers with different skill sets. They have all come together to curate a special line of products for the home and office in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bahamian Independence.

Linda sources as much of her materials locally as possible. She supports a number of local businesses, and gives special credit to Commonwealth Fabrics. The company, over the years, has been a tremendous support to her business, and they have always ensured that the correct pantone colours of the Bahamian flags are used in all of their products. To contact Linda, email her at decoratorsden@yahoo.com, or call 477-7383.