Local Talent On Display In Mall At Marathon Latest Mural

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – It’s not every day you walk into a mall and see The Bahamas come alive in color.

Various islands, ocean scenery and even flamingos, all captured in a breathtaking mural in the center court at the Mall at Marathon.

It’s a bold and beautiful collaboration with Bahamian and international artists and a proud celebration of our culture.

Our Evlynn Ferguson has the story.

Step into the Mall at Marathon’s center court just near the sports center and Aunty Anne’s Pretzels and you’re surrounded by The Bahamas itself.

A captivating mural of our archipelago of islands, the ocean, and flamingos, all sealed in resin so every detail shines.

Behind the drawings is self‑taught artist, Denzel Lightbourne, who grew up in Freeport.

The artist poured weeks of work into bringing this vision to life. He says teaming up with an international company that the mall’s team brought in to finish the piece, was a dream collaboration. But, Lightbourne also admits the path to becoming an artist was never easy.

The feedback he’s gotten has made it rewarding.

“Being a creative, just sharing your creativity with others too, not just for yourself, but, you know, like, I, the post that I post, people are always, They thank me and they like, you know, thank you for doing this. It, you know, it brought so much, it’s brought so much joy to so much different, so many different Bahamians.”

Lightbourne says the mural is more than art – it’s the result of years of persistence and risk – a journey that began back in Freeport.

He recalls the moment he decided to fully embrace life as an artist.

“2019 is when I really locked in and, um, decided to go all in, um, being an artist, um, from, I’m from Grand Bahama, Freeport Grand Bahama, and, Taken on that, uh, taken on that type of career is very risky and is very, um, challenging, to say the least, but since, yeah, since 2019, I’ve been doing, Uh, if you guys remember, there’s a, there’s an art gallery that was, there was an art gallery in Port La Cayo. We used to do paint and sips there, and that’s how I started my career.”

Being able to collaborate on this mural, adding his artistry to showcase the beauty of The Bahamas, was a gratifying moment for Lightbourne.

We spoke with mall leaders about where the idea came from and why they felt it was important to spotlight Bahamian artists in such a public way.

Mall at Marathon acting General Manager, Troy Johnson, explains why giving artists this kind of platform is vital.

“We are a people of talent. We have talents, whether it’s music, whether it’s art, sports, we have so much talent throughout the Bahamas, and the unfortunate part is there aren’t many places that we can really showcase on this scale. And so I felt it necessary to one, look for artists, like I said, that don’t have that platform that, you know, other artists have time, has really showcased who they are, but allow these artists that are a bit unknown to now step into the light and bring out, who they truly are.”