In 1976 Christine Marais started giving art lessons in the basement of the Walvis Bay Library. A few years later, after the restoration of the Woermannhaus Swakopmund, a studio was available for teaching in the present Art Gallery. Every second year the two groups of art students exhibited together under the name “Studio Painters”. The exhibition was held either in Walvis Bay or in Swakopmund.
As Christine became more involved in her own work, she stopped teaching art. Fortunately this wasn‘t the end of the group painting together. They changed their name to „Desert Painters“ and met once a week to either drive into the desert or, weather permitting - to the dunes and beaches. These hardy desert painters realize how lucky they are to still be in a group and within such easy distance of the limitless subject matter the Namib offers.
Their exhibition to celebrate 30 years of painting together opens on the 30th March 2007 in the Woermannhaus Gallery. The exhibition will be opened by Mr Eckhard Mueller at 6 pm. It will be open during gallery hours for two weeks.