Francis Archibald Wentworth Walter (1926–2009), known as Frank Walter, is one of the most significant visual artists of the twentieth-and-twenty-first-century Caribbean and the only visual artist of his calibre in Antigua and Barbuda. As an impoverished person of color, he struggled to find an audience and platform for his art and ideas during his lifetime. His personal papers, therefore, offer invaluable insight into his artistic practice and his perspective on profound issues, including race and identity, the legacy of slavery, the colonial and postcolonial experience, the history and politics of the peoples of Antigua and Barbuda, struggles with mental health, and environmental sustainability.
Walter’s vast oeuvre reveals an intellectual curiosity explored in a wide array of mediums and subject matters, including painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture, exploring landscapes and memory, flora and fauna, Antiguan society, scientific concepts, and more. In total, he created over 5,000 paintings, 1,000 drawings, 2,000 photographs, 600 hand-carved wooden sculptures, 2,000 hand-carved wooden picture frames, and 500 handmade wooden toys. Since 2003, the Walter family has worked with art historian Barbara Paca, librarian Kelly Elizabeth Nosari, conservation expert Kenneth M. Milton, and registrar Justine Flora to protect the legacy of Frank Walter. This has been the life’s work of all involved, and the integrity of his work has been a source of lasting interest to the team dedicated to protect the integrity of this important artist.
Walter’s papers, art, and audio tapes have endured international travel and relocations, hurricanes, and the passage of time in tropical conditions to offer a thorough account of his life story. Their survival ensures that an important twentieth-century voice can now be available for future scholarship, contributing to the diversification of institutional collections as well as cultural and historic narratives.