The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum (CEAM) and Flagler College will present an exhibition of new work by Tampa-based artist Kendra Frorup titled “Roots, Return, and the Weight of Memory.”
The exhibition will be on view from Jan. 20 to March 28, at CEAM, located at 48 Sevilla St. in downtown St. Augustine. An opening reception will be held 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, as part of First Friday Art Walk, with an exhibition walkthrough led by the artist at 6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Frorup’s mixed-media assemblages and sculptures draw heavily on her Afro-Caribbean roots for inspiration.
Her current work references The Bahamas, where she was born and raised, as well as her travels abroad, and incorporates materials such as coconut crowns, found objects, cast materials such as metal and concrete, as well as printmaking, all of which continue her longtime exploration of how culture influences artistic expression. Frorup describes how the work included in “Roots, Return, and the Weight of Memory” evokes “themes of home, migration and the balance between leadership and care,” ideas central to the exhibition and her “ongoing exploration of Caribbean material culture and diasporic identity.”
Kendra Frorup has exhibited her work throughout the United States and at museums and institutions in the Caribbean, France and Puerto Rico. In 2022, the National Gallery of the Bahamas hosted her mid-career retrospective, “The Whimsical Collector.” In 2025, Frorup was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, partnering with the University of The Bahamas. She received her M.F.A. in sculpture from Syracuse University. Frorup is currently an associate professor of art and design at the University of Tampa, where she teaches sculpture, printmaking and book arts courses.
