NINE years ago, the Masterworks Foundation opened its gallery doors to a body of promising artists, and offered them a springboard to the public.

For two weeks of the year, each would have the chance to showcase their talent. For lesser known artists especially, the opportunity to hang their works at minimum cost, in a respected and well-travelled arena, was a godsend.

Manuel Palacio, Dan Dempster, Graham Foster, Jennifer Smith and many others were part of that original gang of artisans who participated in the first of what was to become Masterworks' Artists Up Front . . . Street series.

MASTERWORKS' Artists Up Front . . . Street is, perhaps, a perfect example of a programme that has lived up to its expectations - in all respects.

For the Foundation, it has introduced the public to artists whose works they might otherwise have never known; it serves to educate as to the variety of styles and media which fall under the catalogue of art; it provides an informal setting in which parents might expose their children to art.

The series has also worked for the artists involved. It promotes their talents, teaches them the ins and outs of holding an exhibit and enables them to meet and greet different sectors of the community - according to Foundation director Tom Butterfield, some of the exact objectives Masterworks had in mind when the concept was first discussed.

"The issue was always how to have a format like this understood," he said. "And understood from the point of view, that it was good for both the viewer and the artist. When I say 'good for the artist', it's not always that an artist expecting to sell, will sell, but it's good that they have a theatre.

"There are some artists who know that they do some installations that they don't want to sell but they just want to get their ideas out and across.

"I guess the idea cropped up because I was very involved, when I was in Toronto, in exhibiting. There are very few places in Bermuda - (especially) nine years ago - where one could exhibit for a relatively inexpensive price. We don't charge anything.

"The only charge to the artist is getting frames - for those who need frames done - and hors d'oeuvres. But the idea is to have artists become their own curators, sequence their work, learn hanging, do a little bit of pricing, so they're comfortable with the public."

Today, the series has become an integral part of Masterworks' programme list, said the Foundation's assistant director, Elise Outerbridge.

"It's our ninth season of Artists Up Front . . . Street and this year it's called 'Cloud 9' for the ninth year," she said. "These shows are great because they give an individual artist a chance to show a whole body of their work instead of just a one-off.

"A one-off may be spectacular - and they usually are - but to figure out the inner machinations of an artist's mind is really interesting. I think you get to understand an artist a lot better. While some people don't think that artists should curate their own work, this gives them an opportunity in a small, intimate, very casual setting to make a statement through their art rather than having to make a written statement.

"One of the problems with Bermuda right now is that there's a disproportionate amount of artists as opposed to galleries and gallery spaces. Over the years I think we've played an important role in the community.

"What I'd like to see have happen is for people in Bermuda to look at this as the stepping stone to exhibiting overseas or being part of the (Bermuda National Gallery) Biennial. It gives artists a chance to showcase themselves and then move into other arenas. After they leave, we're not agents, we're not a commercial gallery, so they have to go off on their own."

Education plays a big role in the annual exhibit, says Mrs. Outerbridge. As might be expected, many who wander in for a look learn more about art in general - its various mediums and styles; the different ways in which artists express themselves. For others, however, an entire world is revealed.

"As usual, our artists represent a mix of talent, media, age, sex, gender, you name it," she said. "We try to have a really broad cross-section because every time we have an opening, we bring in an entirely different facet of the community.

"It's really interesting. At every opening we have the old stand-bys who come every two weeks, but the number of people that have travelled through our gallery over the last nine years for individual openings has been really astounding. Many of them are people who have never been to an opening or been to an art gallery before and it really is quite interesting to see their reactions.

"We want to encourage all our members - anyone who gets an invitation to come, bring their children - we really believe children should be exposed to the whole gallery experience and this is a good way to (do that) in a way that isn't intimidating.

"They can come in with their parents and their friends and look at paintings. We also encourage the parents to talk to their kids about the paintings and, because the artist is there on the spot, they can talk with them also."

The programme's organisation differs slightly this year, she said, with exhibitions spread over the spring and fall months with a break through summer.

"We found that during the summertime people were thinking of boats and barbecues and beaches and to get people to stay in town on a Friday night really wasn't fair. It was too hot. In the spring and the fall are the times when people are really thrilled to come to shows."

With the expense of exhibiting in the Artists' Up Front . . . Street series relatively cheap - as far as the artist is concerned - the difference is borne by Masterworks' membership, according to Mr. Butterfield.

"The first bit of criticism we got was that two weeks wasn't long enough but it has worked for us. We're delighted by the cross-section of people who come. I think it's a testament of some measure of success when artists who have exhibited before, ask if they can come back and do it again.

"I'm really honoured by that. I don't want to name names, but what it's done for some artists, is give them a springboard; they never would have realised that they might have been able to produce work, find an audience and keep moving on with some new work and so on.

"We've seen a lot of people as a result of having done a show flourish individually. It's a programme that really, in part, is supported by the membership. They well understand that this is one of the educational programmes that we do.

"For one or two artists, of course, the educational part of it is relatively routine but for those who are doing stuff for the very first time it's an education. And that's what we really want to do."

The artists are a diverse group, with each of their talents an example of just how many forms of art exist.

According to Mrs. Outerbridge, that each skill brings something different to the programme, was what Masterworks had in mind when creating Artists Up Front . . . Street and is made evident through a look at this year's participants.

q Kok Wan Lee:

"He brings a whole other dimension to the series. He's been slowly building up a reputation in Bermuda. He's one of those 'almost undiscovered but everybody knows how good he is kind of artists' that people are camouring to see because he is so original and brings another discipline to the series."

q Richard Reminger:

"He's an award-winning artist exhibiting widely in America and Europe. His paintings have been described as 'evocative land and seascape oils with striking masses, light and shadow treatments and an underlying expressiveness of brushwork'."

q Chris Marson:

"Chris is Bermuda's foremost watercolourist. He's been practising watercolour painting for as long as I can remember. We feel he's the closest we have to a homegrown Winslow Homer. He's just a really interesting person. He keeps on pushing himself and refining his watercolour skills. Every year he does something that just amazes and delights."

q Robin Trimingham:

"She's come full-circle. She used to be our administrator and when she was here Artists Up Front . . . Street was just starting. What's so great is that she's always had this hidden desire and has (since) started drawing."

Al Seymour:

"He's the father of artists down here. He does amazingly beautiful, detailed watercolours. Very traditional, but they've got a lot of life in them."

Billy West:

"A student who's been seriously applying himself to his art and who is going to art school next year. He really is very innovative, very abstract. He's really pushing the envelope. He has his own ideas and his own thoughts which, every time I see his work it's a little different and he's really growing; going from strength to strength so I look forward to seeing what he does having been at art school."

Jennifer Stobo:

"She has just been doing the most delightful, accomplished work. Again, she's another person who you never t know quite what they're going to produce. We've been after her to do a show for a number of years now and this year she finally has said she'll do it. I have no idea what she's going to do but I know it's going to be wonderful. I just think she brings a whole way of looking to things which I find terrific."

Chesley Trott and Shirley James:

"They've both been artists and working in Bermuda for years and years and years. They have had a show together (before) and they're being reunited. They are contemporaries. Chesley is sort of the grandfather of sculpture and Shirley has done really beautiful work over the years so we're really pleased and honoured that (they're) with us."

Laura Bell:

"Laura Bell does amazing abstract canvasses. Another young up and coming artist who I think over the years is going to go from strength to strength in the Bermuda arts scene. Her work is reminiscent of Georgia O'Keefe. She thinks in a very abstract way and has shown quite in a number of different places."

Arthur (Butch) Bean:

"We always have fun with Butch's shows. I've been told by other photographers that he's one of the best photographers in Bermuda. He practises photojournalism in his work for The Royal Gazette but there's another side to Butch which is a very sensitive photographer. This is the second show he's had with us. The first was received with much acclaimation from the public and the press."

Linda Vickers:

"Linda is married to John Elsgood. She's from Louisiana and she brings another dimension. She does a lot of animals, a lot of sports scenes. She seems to like action paintings and she's a skilled woodworker. This will be her first show."

Matthew Clifford:

"We're just so fortunate in Bermuda to have the scope of artists that we have; people such as Matthew. He's been producing innovative, amazing work on the computer. His work, because it is digital imaging, we see a lot (without immediately realising) it's Matthew - in publications and advertisements and wherever."

Masterworks' Artists Up Front . . . Street series begins on March 29 with watercolourist Kok Wan Lee. For more information on the series, telephone Masterworks at 295-5580. All exhibits will be held in the Foundation's gallery at 97 Front Street, which is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. through 4 p.m.