A surprise placement among the top “island museums” has been bestowed on the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art by the popular newspaper USA Today.

In an article on August 21, Bermuda’s unconventional gallery was ranked alongside Jamaica’s Bob Marley Museum, the George Washington House in Barbados and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, Cuba.

“It took us all completely by surprise,” said an elated Tom Butterfield, the founder of Masterworks

The creative director has been walking on air since he found out about the endorsement by the most widely circulated newspaper in the United States.

“It’s the company that we are keeping, the variety of choices, that impressed me,” said Mr Butterfield of the travel piece headlined “Caribbean curiosities: the best island museums”.

“Both in terms of the company and the competition, it shows us that we’re doing well. I love that idea. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with this.

“They made independent choices; it wasn’t influenced by one thing or another.”

A special point of pride is the article’s celebration of maverick and innovative places to see, as it opens with the line “Move over stodgy headphone tours and all that quiet perusing through boring exhibits”.

Masterworks has consistently striven for a balance between modern media and the classic medium of paintings, Mr Butterfield said.

The gallery appears on the list of nine with the likes of the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica, the Heritage Museum Collection in Anguilla, the Aimé Césaire Museum in Martinique, Tobago Historical Museum, and the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad & Tobago.

“All of us here are very surprised — we have circulated it to the board of directors as well,” Mr Butterfield said.

“What it might mean is that those who are supporting us can take great pride, and continue to invest in us through their membership.”