On a flight from Belize City to Arizona in April 2025 we sat next to a young Belizean woman who asked, since a passion for the arts is our profession, if we knew “Griffith - the Artist.” She showed us his phenomenal art on Instagram and mentioned that he had a gallery in Belize City. Other than that information, he seemed an enigmatic creative force until we returned home to Belize and reached out in early 2026.
We made the journey to Placencia from the Cayo District for the annual Placencia Sidewalk Art Festival February, to meet some of the top creative talents in the country. But the sheer volume of art there made it impossible to connect with all the artists in one day. There’s an advantage to having a gallery as an artist - it makes studio visits very accessible. So on the way from a Birds Isle lunch with the enchanting flocks of pelicans we could walk the next block to Keion Griffith’s studio on the left hand side of the road.
Keion invited us in and generously shared his pathway in the arts from having teachers including a social studies teacher who took notice of his skills early on and encouraged him. Griffith learned to draw initially from his father who was an avid artist using cartoons in the magazine as his initial guide for practice. Since his mother was a nurse and worked long hours, he would generally spend time with him after school and found his groove making art on those afternoons. As a teenager he found that while school courses didn’t interest him like art, during his time living with his grandparents he found his stride with balancing art and academics.
The artist noted his 2 year anniversary since opening the gallery and this year as his first time participating in the Placencia Sidewalk Art Festival February 7-8. He pulls a 20”x 24” canvas out with an artwork in progress that shows a station with the layers taking shape. What’s clear is Keion cares deeply about the complexity of details in his paintings and carefully applies content from multiple photos to create the crowd in this painting. He intentionally gives character and context to his paintings with photo-realism and an architectural aesthetic.
Griffith navigates the commercial and fine art worlds considering the opportunities that arise as chances to learn something that can be applied in his future creative projects. For example, If a painting doesn’t sell at a festival he sees that people exposed to his work may be more interested in a commission at some point down the line. He also recognizes the limitations with opportunities that create others' ideas rather than his own apparent in his original artworks. While he does create art that can be categorized as commercial, such as the wildlife paintings that are common in Belize, he prefers showing the people and cultures of the country.
To say Keion Griffith’s work is impressive would be an understatement. He is very committed to his creative process and his professional growth as an artist. This artist moves with a sense of purpose and motivation as he shares the other ways he offers his art commercially as prints, puzzles and totes. He extends that grace as he moves into a meeting by allowing us to take his photo beforehand. He stands proudly with a painting that is both gorgeous and mesmerizing of a Garifuna Jankunu dancer with hands extended in front of him in a gesture that would stop anyone in their tracks to experience the beauty of the dance.
Before we leave he shows us photos of a stunning mural he recently painted at Wesley College raising awareness about the use of plastic water bottles in the country. The mural is intended to promote the use of reusable water bottles. We look forward to seeing what he creates in the future.
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