ARVIP "SPOTLIGHT" BUSINESS/INDIVIDUAL in the field of ART:

Ivan Butcher II of The Butcher Shop

Business Profile: The Butcher Shop

By: Ivan Butcher II

Having taught here since 1969, as a Vocational Art instructor, I consider myself as a
"Preserver of the Culture". I have had over 2,000 students that span the globe and this
doesn’t include the other students and family who were observing me at work.

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Now that I am retired and in business, I am now facing a need for a creative workforce. The
name of my business is the results of my students referring to my art room as, The Butcher
Shop.

The Butcher Shop, " Cut To Your Taste," a commission house for the creation and sale of
Art, crafts and art services. All work will be customized to specifications, will produce a one
of a kind or by the gross.

The public school system here has not provided the focus or support for a viable art
curriculum. Art plays a major role in our lives every day. All forms of business, large or
small, employ an art department and / or an artist's services to work out the audio and /or
visual presentation of their product or service for promotion and sales. I do not want to out
source my work. Especially when I know that there is a need for jobs and opportunities
here. I am struggling and advocating for a more practical Art curriculum reflective of the
growing demand and opportunity in the tech / movie / video industry.

The message, I would like to leave is most of the petty and the felony crimes that are
committed in our society can be prevented. Today’s educational system is out dated and
under funded. We graduate thousands every year and the thousands of dropouts, are sent
out into our communities with a certificate / diploma. Some barely able to fill out an
application for a job . It leaves and puts a lot of them in a survival mode. Malchom X said, by
any means necessary. The youth refer to the crimes committed in the community as, “Street
Tax”. All are not college material. To send our children out into society without a viable
trade or a marketable skill, we are breeding generations of beggars, criminals, thieves and
welfare recipients. No child should leave school without a trade. Those college students
with a trade could easily supplement their education without going into deep student loan
debt.

In order to make St. Croix a more attractive and a more competitive destination, l would
develop our cultural charm; in addition, I believe (our) History has to be rewritten and we
need to be our own illustrators.

The Arts can be the educational catalyst to Change!

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Ivan Butcher II

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"Pure Genius is not Perfection, Genius has to be Edited.

Perfection Belongs to The CREATOR."

Ivan Butcher II