Features Virgin Islands Craft Artist/ Doll Fashion Designer

Orlando, FL, USA, March 11, 2025 – The Smithsonian Folklife Magazine explores and documents how culture and history shapes our lives. Through publish stories about music, food, craft, language, celebrations, activism, and individuals in communities who sustain these vital traditions the stories are told.  The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is a research and educational unit of the Smithsonian Institution, located in Washington, DC. They promote greater understanding and sustainability of cultural heritage across the United States and around the world through research, education, and community engagement. Virgin Islanders definitely have stories to be shared and documented as seen in a 2025 Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage Magazine Article.

Virgin Islander Carmen A. Nibbs a craft artist, doll fashion designer, and Owner of brand Laylee M Doll Clothes is visibly seen in photos and quoted in a recent 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Magazine article titled

“Artistry through African American Ancestry:  Central Florida Craft Artists Draw Inspiration from the Past” 

Nibbs is one of eight skilled craft artist from Central Florida chosen for  ” African American Craft Artist for Cultural Sustainability and Legacy Planning Project”  hosted by Orange County Regional History Center & Museum in Collaboration with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Center.  The eight artist featured in the article were chosen for skills in Quilting, Sewing, Chain stitch embroidery art, Wood carving, Vintage teddy bear making and Making traditional folk musical instruments. The project consisted of several components such as a day seminar, virtual meetings, public panel discussion, recorded interviews, photo sessions, radio interviews and The Exhibition Honoring Black Heritage & Culture at the Orange County Regional Center in downtown Orlando.  In the Smithsonian Magazine Article Nibbs discussed, sewing, her grandmother,  Madras fabric, fashions and Virgin Islands culture. As s child, Nibbs wanted to sew for her dolls; grandmother Mabel Nibbs a British Virgin Islands skilled seamstress was delighted to provide scraps and lessons. The skills learned back then, continue to be relevant today in fashion designs, fashion history, culture, doll fashions, and ancestral ties that are fully documented in this 2025 Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage Magazine Article.

Attached is link to full Smithsonian Folklife Full magazine article :

https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/artistry-african-american-ancestry

Photos Captions

Header: Smithsonian Magazine article Feature Photo

1st insert: Carmen Nibbs Sewing/ Doll Fashion Stylist, Winston Andrew /Wood Sculptor, Teighlor Johnson/Chain Stitch Embroider

2nd insert: Carmen Nibbs

Last October, leaders from across the Commonwealth came together in Samoa to reaffirm their “belief in the value of the Commonwealth as a trusted forum where diverse voices of our member states, the large and the small, the young and the old, come together as one family.”

These gatherings are important for helping all Commonwealth nations to tackle the challenges of the day, yet they also play another vital role.  In these uncertain times, where it is all too easy to believe that our differences are problems instead of a source of strength and an opportunity for learning, the Commonwealth’s remarkable collection of nations and peoples come together in the spirit of support and, crucially, friendship.

This year, the world reflects on the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War 2.  More than one-and-a-half million men and women who served during the War came from across the Commonwealth to support the United Kingdom and its allies.  On this special anniversary, we remember with particular pride and everlasting gratitude the untold sacrifice and selflessness of so many from around our Family of Nations who gave their lives in that dreadful conflict.  The Commonwealth’s ability to bring together people from all over the world has stood the test of time and remains as ever-important today.  Leaders recently reiterated the importance of collaboration for peace and human rights, as well as for the restoration of Nature both on land and in the oceans.

As we mark this Commonwealth Day together, there is no more important task than to restore the disrupted harmony of our entire planet.  For the sake of our younger generations’ threatened future, I can only hope that the Commonwealth will continue its vital work to restore that harmony.

Charles R.

Flag bearers leave after attending the annual Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration at Westminster Abbey, in London. Picture date: Monday March 10, 2025.

Samoan Prime Minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mata’afa speaking at the annual Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration at Westminster Abbey, in London. Picture date: Monday March 10, 2025.

Ottawa, ON, Canada, March 14, 2025 – Today, at a ceremony presided by the Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, at Rideau Hall, Canada’s new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, was sworn in alongside members of the 30th Canadian Ministry.

This new, leaner, focused Cabinet includes returning ministers, seasoned leaders, and new voices who will bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the team as it delivers on the things that matter most to Canadians, such as strengthening Canada’s economy and security.

The new Cabinet is as follows:

• Mark Carney, Prime Minister
• Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada
• Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development
• François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance
• Anita Anand, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
• Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence
• Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services
• Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
• Ginette Petitpas Taylor, President of the Treasury Board
• Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity, Parks Canada and Quebec Lieutenant
• Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
• Kamal Khera, Minister of Health
• Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
• Rechie Valdez, Chief Government Whip
• Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Jobs and Families
• David J. McGuinty, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
• Terry Duguid, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
• Nate Erskine-Smith, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
• Rachel Bendayan, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
• Élisabeth Brière, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency
• Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
• Arielle Kayabaga, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Democratic Institutions
• Kody Blois, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Rural Economic Development
• Ali Ehsassi, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Services and Procurement

This team reflects the ambition that makes Canada strong and it will work each day to protect workers, families, and businesses. It will take action to unite Canadians, defend Canada’s sovereignty in the face of unjustified trade actions by the United States, make Canada an energy superpower in both conventional and clean energy, create new trade corridors with reliable partners, and build one Canadian economy – the strongest economy in the G7.

“This team is built for immediate action and focused on protecting Canadian workers, supporting their families, and growing this great country. We are changing how things work, so our government can deliver to Canadians faster – and we have an experienced team that is made to meet the moment we are in. Our government is united and strong, and we are getting right to work.”

The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, is the s 24th Prime Minister of Canada.  His cabinet is the 30th Canadian Ministry and consists of a total of 23 ministers, in addition to the Prime Minister.  The Cabinet is the central decision-making forum in government, responsible for its administration and the establishment of its policy. Its members are each responsible for individual portfolios or departments.