Twin Art: Sunrise & Sunset by Suelyn Dankerlui
Own a Piece of Boardwalk Beach
Celebrating local Aruban art is something we've always made space for at Boardwalk, this year, that meant two paintings by Suelyn Dankerlui: twins, born from the same sunrise and sunset on our section of Palm Beach. Guests and locals watched both sessions happen live, right on the sand.
The sunrise piece now hangs proudly at Boardwalk. Its twin, the sunset, is being auctioned to support Earthquake relief efforts, and it could be yours to own. Whoever wins the auction takes home a piece of Aruba genuinely tied to a place and a moment, while its other half stays here, connected to it, always.
The winning bid will be donated to causes personal to our team and the community in Aruba. Many of the team at Boardwalk have friends and family in Colombia and Venezuela and we've watched what this year's earthquakes have done to the people we love there. This auction is a small way for us to help. It's a one-off shift from Twin Art's usual cause of supporting Aruban arts education, which the next commission will return to.
Bidding opens Friday, 21 August 2026 and runs through Sunday, 6 September 2026. Open to everyone, not exclusive to hotel guests.
Meet Suelyn Dankerlui
Suelyn Dankerlui is self-taught, and her connection to art started long before she picked up a brush, as a child cloud-watching in Aruba's mondi. That instinct for reading light, shape, and feeling has stayed with her ever since. Today, she's considered one of Aruba's most respected artists, known for painting feelings rather than objects: layered textures built from a palette that could only come from this island, soft beiges, earthy browns, ocean blues and greens.
She painted our section of Palm Beach live, in front of guests and locals, capturing both ends of the day, the early morning light, and the sunset. Both sessions happened on the sand, in real time, shared with our online community as they unfolded. One canvas, the sunset piece, now hangs permanently at Boardwalk. The sunrise piece is the one being auctioned.
Hear from Suelyn
Award winning journalist & podcaster, Waverly Colville, sat down with Suelyn Dankerlui as part of Boardwalk's Creative in Residence program to talk about her process, her connection to Aruba, and painting our beach live at sunrise and sunset.
Hear the rest, in her own words.
Sunrise
Sunrise, is the smile of a new day. Inspired by the fresh turquoise waters and white sands of Boardwalk Beach, it captures a new beginning, the gentle sea breeze, and the light dancing across the water at first light. It is the quiet promise that comes before anything else has happened yet, a canvas full of possibility.
- Stays with us always at Boardwalk
- Painted by local artist Suelyn Dankerlui and commissioned by Boardwalk Boutique Hotel
Sunset
Sunset, is a warm farewell. Its twin, Sunrise, was the smile of a new day. As the sun disappears, the clouds catch every color in the sky, a quiet thank you and a beautiful close to another day.
- Sunset's twin.
- Ready for a new home, the piece going to auction
- Proceeds support earthquake relief in Colombia and Venezuela
- Bidding opens: Friday, 21 August 2026, 10:00 AM AST
- Bidding closes: Sunday, 6 September 2026, 3:00 PM AST
- Open to: everyone, not exclusive to hotel guests
- Where the money goes: fully online via 32auctions, https://www.32auctions.com/boardwalk-twin-art
Where the money goes: 100% of proceeds split between GlobalGiving's Venezuela Earthquake Relief Fund and Colombia Earthquake Relief Fund
Art at Boardwalk: The Twin Art Project
Launched in 2025, Twin Art is Boardwalk's ongoing commissioned art series, a quiet nod to the two founders who built this hotel together, Kimberly and Stephanie, and the idea of two halves forming one whole. Each commission is created in pairs: two works, one story, exploring duality and this island's sense of place.
There's no fixed formula for what happens to each pair, that's decided with every artist. For Suelyn's commission, the arrangement carries real meaning: one painting stays at Boardwalk permanently, the other goes out into the world. Wherever it ends up, it stays connected to the piece that never left, and to the island, and the stay, it came from.
Twin Art was conceptualised and curated by Boardwalk Boutique Hotel's Concept Designer, Claudia Nooren Ruiz-Vasques.