Each month, Caribbean Queen at Palm Beach Plaza Mall honors one local female artist who lives and creates here.  The Caribbean Queen program was launched when the store opened in late 2011, and has been running successfully ever since.
For the month of May 2015, local artist María Celina Muñiz López is the boutique’s celebrated Caribbean Queen, showcasing her iconic impressions of Aruba.
Born in Quito, Ecuador, Celina also lived in Caracas, where she took painting lessons when she was a child. Her family and closest friends were the recipients of her early artistic expressions: hand-painted postcards, paintings, poems, and decorative ornaments. Her most frequent mentors have been her curiosity, books, the Internet, and her soul´s need to find artistic expression.
Having frequently visited Aruba as a child, she fell in love with the island—its sweet language, pristine beaches washed by turquoise seas, vibrant sunsets, and the huge palette of greens that washes over the landscape with each rain shower.
Celina has now lived in Aruba for more than 15 years and has learned to appreciate Aruban culture, traditions, and nature. Concerned with the preservation of the island’s most ancient cultural expression, the petrographs of Fontein, Canashito, Ayó, and other valuable sites, Celina decided to translate the rock drawings into terracotta tiles. These tiles—treated to simulate stone—represent the original sketches made in past centuries by Aruba’s indigenous people, with extra meaning and bright color added by the artist.
Aiming at bringing locals and tourists together to save Aruba’s cultural heritage, Celina also creates ethnic amulets in the style worn by ancient people. She also designs and makes delicate macramé bracelets, necklaces, and other accessories, playing with knots to join together threads of different textures and colors.
Celina is recognized as an authentic local artist by the Department of Culture of Aruba.
Caribbean Queen earmarks a percentage of all sales for its Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World) program. The collected funds are given quarterly to local not-for-profit organizations in an ongoing effort to do good and serve the community. All the foundations served with donations from Caribbean Queen are dedicated to the promotion of art and artisan education on the island.
Enjoy these unique pieces by Celina throughout the month of May, and drop in to witness a live demonstration of her craft at the boutique on the third Thursday of the month in the evening hours.

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