When Joi Trott moved to Bermuda from New Jersey, some of her friends expressed concern.

Born in Manhattan and raised in New Rochelle, New York, Mrs Trott built a career that spanned Motown, Def Jam, Cosmopolitan magazine and high-profile events with global brands.

She has a scrapbook filled with photographs of herself with celebrities such as Barbara Walters, Shaggy, Maxi Priest and others.

Her friends could not understand why she was leaving such a high-profile career to live in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Mrs Trott shrugged them off.

“This place is amazing,” Mrs Trott said. “Do you know how many people want to live in Bermuda? I get to do it!”

She moved to Bermuda after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

That day she was on the Hudson River ferry headed to work in the Midtown and East Side areas when she saw the second plane hit the World Trade Centre towers in Lower Manhattan.

“I saw it with my own two eyes,” she said.

At first, she thought it was a freak accident. Planes had crashed into Manhattan buildings before. It was only when she got off the ferry and saw the panic in the streets that she understood the scale of what was happening.

Over the coming weeks, between the smouldering wreckage, lingering stench and anthrax scares, life became unbearable.

“It was traumatising,” she said. “I needed to get away.”

Bermuda was her escape hatch. As a child, she had spent many happy summers on the island with her Bermudian au pair, Phyllis Robinson, and Ms Robinson’s family.

“I had often said how much I wanted to move to Bermuda, even back then,” Mrs Trott said. “Bermuda has always been a place that I love and find dear.”

After 9/11, she went back and forth between the US and Bermuda until she met Bermudian Leslie Trott in 2003. They were married three years later.

Mrs Trott worked at the Fairmont Southampton hotel as manager on duty for six years.

“I oversaw every single VIP, dignitary and royal family member who came to Fairmont Southampton,” she said.

Then she went back to the US for a few years to care for her ailing mother.

She was a volunteer at the Bermuda National Gallery before being hired by the BSoA.

At the moment, she is focused on elevating local artists and getting more art in front of people. She is seeing a lot of tourists coming through the doors.

She joked that sometimes the people who come in are looking for air conditioning.

“Once I get them in, it is great, because then I let them see what I have,” she said.

Mrs Trott is digging through the collection and uncovering treasures that have been in storage for some time.

“I have found things in the back and I don’t know how they did not sell,” she said.

“People have to see it to want to buy it. I found cards from the BSoA’s 60th anniversary. They were just in the back. Nobody was using them. We are selling them for $10 a pop. It is a great fundraiser. We are moving them like hot cakes.”

She is particularly pleased with the current exhibition featuring young Bermudian artist Josh Stevens.

“His work is so incredible,” she said. “We are working on making prints, so we can offer a less expensive version of his work.”

She is determined that the space serve as a true people’s gallery. She wants to work with emerging artists, students and those who may not have the means to pay for classes or programmes.

“If they are willing to show and we can support them here, we want to do it,” she said. “I don’t want to turn anybody away who can’t afford it.”

She is already planning specialised art experiences for children on the autism spectrum, as well as grief-therapy art workshops led by a qualified therapist.

The BSoA is also gearing up for Canvas & Cork, a sip and paint on Saturday from 1pm to 3.30pm. For more information call 707-7377 or e-mail bellapdesigns@gmail.com.

Mrs Trott insists that the role at the BSoA is neither a step down nor a slowdown.

“I don’t take Bermuda for granted,” she said. “To be working in Bermuda and doing this kind of stuff is great. I feel like it is art for art’s sake now.”