As Baha Mar has grown, it has also sought to create new pathways for guests to connect with Bahamian life and culture. One of the most obvious examples has been the expansion of its arts program, the success of which had the knock-on effect of elevating the creative community in Nassau, which has seen numerous new galleries open over the last few years—some overseen by curators who had previously worked at the resort.
In the fall of 2022, John Cox, the executive director of arts and culture at Baha Mar, launched a second gallery, ECCHO, on the property (the first, The Current, was there at launch) in a 13,000-square-foot back-of-house space that had previously been used to store casino equipment and uniforms. “We begged, borrowed, and stole furniture from other parts of the property” to outfit it, Cox says. It now hosts between six and ten openings a year devoted to Caribbean artists (with a strong focus on the Bahamas), while also devoting space to work owned by the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas.
ECCHO and The Current are a catalyst for the Fuze Arts Fair, which now represents the second component in Baha Mar’s annual Culinary + Arts Festival, part of the resort’s crowded events calendar (the Derek Jeter Invitational, the former Yankees star’s annual charity golf tournament, was in full swing on my visit), which will have an expanded footprint and longer running time when it opens its tents later this month. Because of the Bahamas’ proximity to the US and ease of access, Cox believes it is “the best-situated country for a global art fair.” Davis, never shy about his ambitions for Baha Mar, says, “What I want this resort to be is the Art Basel of the Bahamas.”
He’d like it to be the music capital, too. To that end, he recently made the audacious move of removing a 20,000-square-foot chunk of his casino floor to open a 300-seat jazz club, set to open next month with a house band and a major celebrity attached. Davis is even contemplating a music studio, which could lure stars with homes in the Caribbean to hop over and lay down a few tracks, or entice podcasters in the States to come record a session before a live audience. “I want to give guests more than a roll of the dice or a lie on the beach,” he says.
