Decorative pieces are easier to access than ever. Imported alternatives can be purchased quickly and at lower price points. Digital tools, including artificial intelligence, continue to reshape creative production, while consumer purchasing habits are increasingly driven by convenience, speed and affordability. For Jamaica’s artists, that changing marketplace has required adaptation, not only in how artwork is created, but in how it is presented, marketed and consumed.
Janine Fletcher-Taylor, Manager of the Marketing Services Unit at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), says the shift also creates opportunities for artists and institutions to rethink how creative work is positioned for modern audiences.
As Jamaica’s creative economy continues to evolve, JBDC is encouraging artists and cultural stakeholders to continue to explore how traditional craftsmanship and storytelling can coexist within a rapidly changing marketplace.
Fletcher-Taylor says original artwork creates a different type of consumer connection because it reflects experiences, emotions and identity. “When a consumer connects with an art piece, there’s something in the story that piece is telling that resonates with them strongly,” she says.
At the same time, she acknowledges that consumer habits continue to evolve. “We understand that new consumers, this generation, have very little time for traditions and sentimentality,” Fletcher-Taylor says. “They don’t engender that emotional connection in the same way.”
She says that shift has implications for sectors built on craftsmanship, time and originality. “It must be something that can be quickly done and consumed quickly,” Fletcher-Taylor says. “What that means is that if you were to compare that kind of product with the product that takes time to nurture, the same time it takes to create, it is probably the same time it will last.”
“The promise of a traditional product like the art forms we are talking about is that it is timeless. Once you’re looking at fast consumption and mass consumption, then you’re looking at this immediate need.”
The changing consumer landscape has also influenced how artists and creative enterprises position their work within the market. “Have we given them something to connect to?”, Fletcher-Taylor asks. “We have not truly educated our society around the intricate nature of how these things are created. We see them, we take them for granted in our spaces, but we don’t understand how they were created and how significant they are.”
For veteran Jamaican artist Alphanso Blake, exposure and cultural connection remain important to sustaining appreciation for fine art.
Blake, whose work has appeared in films on Showtime, on coffee cans in Japan and at the Organisation of American States (OAS) building in Washington, D.C., says appreciation for art is often shaped by what people are exposed to from an early age.
“If you grow up and you see people having art, going to art shows, going to theatre, going to National Dance Theatre Company, you identify with culture,” Blake says. “But if you are not exposed, more likely you are not going to find an interest in art.”
He believes original artwork also carries long-term cultural and financial value. “If you got a painting from your relatives, older generation, and you own an artwork, you consider it part of your family legacy,” Blake says. “When you have an Alphanso Blake on your wall, the value of that painting goes up, and that is the truth.”
THE BUSINESS OF ART
The Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce’s National Craft Policy positions the craft sector as an economic development priority, recognising its role in employment, entrepreneurship, tourism and national earnings, while identifying authentic Jamaican craft as part of Brand Jamaica.
For many artists, the challenge is not simply creating work, but building a sustainable business around it. Unlike traditional manufacturers, where production and operations can be separated, fine art often revolves around the artist as both creator and enterprise.
“The artist is the business,” Fletcher-Taylor says. That creates a different commercial structure from conventional business models. The same individual responsible for conceptualising and creating the work is often also responsible for marketing, negotiations, customer engagement and income generation.
“The artist wants to focus on creating the work,” Fletcher-Taylor explains. “When you’re trying to get them to transition into a business, you are going to grapple with how that interferes with them as an artist doing their work.”
She says the marketing and commercial pathways for fine art also differ significantly from traditional consumer products. “When you are looking at marketing art, it’s a totally different ballgame,” Fletcher-Taylor says. “It’s not a typical product that you go into a shop and buy per se.”
That evolving marketplace has also pushed many artists to diversify how their work is presented and consumed. For Delroy Millwood, adapting to the changing marketplace has meant expanding beyond traditional canvas work.
The fine artist and muralist produce original paintings, historical Jamaican scenes, merchandise and wearable art, while using digital platforms to increase visibility for his work.
He says understanding different audiences has become an important part of sustaining his work commercially. “With my new merch now, as in t-shirts, mostly young people purchase them, because I did a painting and I made some t-shirts from it,” Millwood says. “And I noticed most young persons support that piece.”
Millwood says consumer interests often vary across demographics and markets. “Older persons, or business entities, support the historical places, like the Spanish Town Bridge,” he says.
“But when it comes to the young persons, they support the Rastafari message within my work. And also, the wider international market, they love my Rastafari message.”
He says digital storytelling has also helped him connect audiences to the history behind many of his pieces. “What happens is, I try to use the internet,” Millwood says. “I have a YouTube programme that I call Delroy Paint Jamaica. I hunt the historical places of Jamaica with my video team.”
One of those projects focused on the historic Spanish Town Bridge, which now hangs in a museum in Singapore.
“I went there [Spanish Town Bridge], I made it interesting, made it fun. Interviewed persons that live in the community, that know the bridge, the history of the bridge. And what I do, I do a painting. I even go into the river and paint with the people,” he says.
ART TO HEART
Through its Marketing Services Unit and the Things Jamaican retail platform, JBDC supports market access and commercial visibility for authentic Jamaican creative enterprises. Its latest campaign, Art to Heart: With Love, From the Artisan’s Hand, focuses on increasing visibility for Jamaican artists while highlighting the stories, processes and craftsmanship behind original works.
“It’s not the kind of product that you’re trying to sell,” Fletcher-Taylor says. “It’s the type of product that you tell stories about.”
The campaign which runs from April 2026 to June 2026, emphasises the “Artisan’s Hand” through the fine arts industry, showcasing the journey from raw materials to retail-ready artifacts to build consumer trust and a “nostalgic slice of home” for the Diaspora.
For Millwood, the campaign aligns closely with the kind of storytelling he believes art should create within communities. He reflects on a mural project he worked on in Tivoli Gardens, where he used art to transform spaces marked by violence and trauma into symbols of hope and cultural expression.
“I remember when I was there doing this particular mural, and a lot of gunshot holes were there on the wall that I was painting,” Millwood says. “And I was there changing that effect from a devastating feeling to a butterfly.”
He says the experience reinforced the emotional and social impact art can have within communities, particularly for young people growing up in difficult environments.
“So instead of those holes, they’ll have a butterfly,” he says.
The campaign reflects broader conversations around preserving cultural identity while adapting to changing consumer habits and evolving technology.
Delroy Milwood is among the 20 Fine Arts creatives who are being featured covering Painting, Sketch, Ceramics, Sculpting and Photography on Canvas as well as Fine Jewellery. Their pieces are available on the Things Jamaican ecommerce store at www.thingsjamaicanshopping.com and at all Things Jamaican stores – 14 Camp Road, Devon House, and the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA).
