Anyone who has had the pleasure of talking art with Tom Butterfield, founder and director of the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, will be aware that he can only be compared to dealing with a kid in a candy store and his excitement is infectious.

And certainly he is excited about a new exhibit "We Are Sailing" that opens tonight at the Butterfield Family Gallery, at the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

"We Are Sailing" is one of three shows opening at Masterworks the others are "Longtails: The Bermuda Dream", an exhibition of backlit photography featuring the Bermuda Longtail by media mogul and entrepreneur Reg Grundy, in the Rick Faires Gallery, and the other is Artist-in-Residence Sean Sims with his "Exhibition of Bermuda Work".

"We Are Sailing" examines Bermuda's bond with the sea and the wide-ranging effects of the Island's unique seascape, topography, and light on the many artists who have experienced them.

Organised on the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Bermuda, "We Are Sailing" comprises approximately 45 paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures, and other objects, ranging in date from 1793 to the present, and featuring artists, including Albert Gleizes, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, Malcolm Morley, and Frank Stella.

"Following its opening in 2008, the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art is positioned to bring Bermuda's important artistic legacy to a broad public," said Mr. Butterfield.

"The Museum is fortunate to house collections that are diverse enough to form the basis for a wide variety of exhibitions, including 'We Are Sailing', which brings together works that tell the remarkable story of Bermuda's maritime history."

Among the highlights are Homer's S.S. Trinidad (1901); Hartley's Movement, Bermuda (1917); and one of the newest additions to the collection, Frank Stella's Bermuda Petrel (1980).

"Less well-known, but equally illuminating work includes some very early watercolours by Edward James from the 1860s, a charming scene of Flatts Village, a local 'snug harbour' (this is a sailing term for a safe harbour) by George Tobin (1797), and a selection of photographic prints from vintage," added Mr. Butterfield.

"Together, these varied artworks and objects reveal both the Island's unique nautical culture and the artistic responses that it has evoked," he said.

"We Are Sailing" is accompanied by a series of public programmes, including rigging demonstrations, storytelling, and film screenings, as well as displays of various objects and ephemera showcasing and examining Bermudian maritime culture, industry and history.

Speaking about the accompanying exhibitions, Mr. Butterfield said: "Reg Grundy uses photography to record endangered species, including Bengal tigers, polar bears and whales.

"The exquisite Longtail, Bermuda's traditional harbinger of spring and a national symbol, has declined steadily due to coastline development and other environmental factors.

"However, recent intervention has helped nurture the Longtail's habitat and increased the population."

On Artist-in-Residence Sean Sims "Exhibition of Bermuda Work", Mr. Butterfield said: "This exhibition comprises paintings completed during Mr. Sims' three-month residency on the Island.

"Mr. Sims is a graphic designer based in New York City. The Museum's Artist-in-Residence Program sponsors four artists annually and presents exhibitions of their work on the conclusion of their stay."

All exhibitions open this evening at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art in the Botanical Gardens.