As 2019 came to a close it was time to reflect on the past year’s achievements of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) and the many programmes and exhibitions that were produced, all in keeping with the gallery’s mission to promote awareness and appreciation of the arts in the Cayman Islands.
What a year it has been. We welcomed 24,820 visitors across our three venues and welcomed 65 school tours (comprising of a total of 3,000 students) through our Dart sponsored ‘Minds Inspired’ programme. Further connections were made with 1000+ students through NCGI’s outreach programmes in which staff members visited schools in different districts across the island. Our Education Department remained extremely busy throughout the year and averaged 35 educational workshops and programmes a month, while the curatorial team mounted 14 exhibitions. The Events Department hosted 35 third party facility rentals as well as over 40 NGCI events.
NGCI’s international visibility was further raised through our Regional and International overseas engagements this year. Staff travelled to gatherings in San Diego, Havana, Martinique, New Orleans and Miami to share the work of the Gallery. Meanwhile, Director Natalie Urquhart was invited to contribute in an advisory capacity to several global cultural sector initiatives including a meeting at UNESCO for a review of standards for the museum sector, moderating a working group in Lisbon for the EU-LAC Foundation (which develops cultural programming to further European and Latin American/Caribbean relations), and a Caribbean art conference in Guadeloupe; helping to raise the profile of the Caymanian art sector abroad.
Our year’s varied programming and exhibitions did much to reach a wide and diverse audience as well as continue to raise the profile of the gallery locally and internationally. The following is a summary of some of the highlights experienced from January through to December.
January
We opened 2019 with the exhibition The Photographer is Present: Select Photographs from the Collection of Ella Latter with support from the Cayman Islands National Archive. The rarely seen collection honoured Cayman’s first professional female photographer and encompassed a range of subjects from portraits, landscapes, architecture and events, illustrating the wide scope of Latter’s personal interests. Latter’s photographs offered an invaluable insight into Caymanian society in the early to mid-twentieth century – from the people of that era to their pastimes and national events. The exhibition formed an inspiring subject for our school programme, as well as our wider visitors.
Running simultaneously was the exhibition Traces: Activating the Art Curriculum, in which a series of art educators from various departments of local high schools across Grand Cayman came together to discuss how lesson plans could be transformed into inspiring art projects culminating in a unique exhibition. Various concepts and techniques were introduced to students through the art curriculum to assist students and enhance their personal portfolios.
February
The month of February saw the launch of the first-ever Cayman Islands Biennial – entitled Cross Currents – the largest exhibition project that the National Gallery has ever undertaken. The multi-island/multi-site exhibition, supported by Butterfield, Susan A. Olde, OBE and the Ministry of Health, Environment, Culture and Housing, featured the work of 42 local artists and was designed to take art beyond the museum walls and into the public sphere.
In their own distinct way, the 42 participants, who were selected by an international jury from the 71 proposals submitted to our Open Call, each represented a different approach to the question ‘what is contemporary Caymanian art?’, honouring tradition while reinvigorating historical themes. Through their innovative use of new media and techniques, as well as their engagement with timely social, political and environmental concerns, the artists offered us a window into contemporary art making on these shores.
Cross Currents had an extensive programme of events, lectures, panel discussions and workshops in all three islands, including an inspiring gathering of 300+ guests at the opening reception. Programming included talks by featured artists along with special lectures by international guest curators on topics such as “Making the Connecting – Accessing opportunities at Biennials and Art Fairs” and the future of the Cayman Islands Biennial within the wider region. Importantly it also saw the relaunch of the NGCI Business of Art programme which provides professional development training for artists, which remains ongoing process.
The Biennial was accompanied by a fully illustrated exhibition catalogue which was the first of two major publications produced by NGCI in 2019, and which offered a critical appraisal of the state of contemporary art in the Cayman Islands.
March
In March we launched the Art at the Airport project in partnership with the Cayman Islands Airports Authority and in conjunction with the opening of the newly expanded Owen Roberts International Airport, presided over by H.E The Prince of Wales. The new airport facility is now a world-class gateway and our project was designed to further enrich the airport experience by providing visitors from around the world access to Cayman’s unique cultural life in a wide variety of visual art forms. Through excerpts of past National Gallery exhibitions, we sought to explore key areas of Cayman’s visual heritage – maritime history, traditional thatch craft, architecture, and archival photography, as well as contemporary visual art. This was the first phase of what we hope will be a long-term creative partnership with the airport.
2019 was the first full year of partnership with the Cayman Islands Legacy Fund which enables us to adapt and travel our exhibitions to venues in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman through our Sister Islands Travelling Exhibition Programme. The programme allows all Caymanians to experience and enjoy visual art, in keeping with our mandate to preserve, promote, and develop visual arts in the Cayman Islands. With support from the Brac Reef and Little Cayman Beach Resort, we were able to install multiple exhibitions across the three islands. Each exhibition is designed incorporate lectures, school tours, and workshops all free of charge and allowing as many people to experience the opportunities as possible. This helps expand our mission to bring visual art exhibitions to our wider community and to provide lectures, school tours, and workshops, all free of charge.
In March NCGI’s exhibition, Coral Encounters – Photographs of our Underwater World travelled to Cayman Brac as part of this programme. The work of 30 local and international underwater photographers created a stunning collection of images offering a unique chance to glimpse one of the world’s most diverse environments and helping to raise awareness about the beauty of, and threats to, our coral reefs. At the same, the Cayman Islands Biennial was on display at the Little Cayman Museum and in public spaces across the Brac via Kaitlyn Elphinstone’s Coral Tiles installation.
April
Families gathered at NGCI for the Cross Currents Family Fun Day which featured art activities focused on themes coinciding with Cross Currents. Family Fun Day is a regular programme that is designed to encourage family time in a creative environment. The 75+ attendees enjoyed printmaking sessions with instructor Sarah McDougall, collage & colouring stations held on the Breezeway and scavenger hunt worksheets carried out in the Exhibition Hall.
April also saw our Annual Tea Party, a highly anticipated event in our fundraising calendar. This year we were hosted at the Governor’s House by our esteemed hosts His Excellency Mr. Martyn Roper and Mrs Elizabeth Roper and NGCI Chairperson Mrs Susan A. Olde, OBE, in the beautiful grounds of Government House. This much-loved event helps raise critical funds for the National Gallery Education Department and our Annual Gala helps us to introduce school children across all Cayman Islands to art, critical thinking, engage with Caymanian Heritage and have fun with each other.
Many gathered at NGCI for the inaugural Cayman Islands Biennial Awards Ceremony in mid-April. The ‘Bendel Hydes Award’ and the ‘Emerging Artist Award’, handcrafted by local artist Horacio Esteban, were created to encourage high artistic standards and practices in the Cayman Islands. The awards were presented by the Minister of Culture, the Hon. Dwayne S. Seymour MLA, to Nasaria Suckoo Chollette and Paige Jordison respectively. This celebratory occasion invited the Cayman arts community to come together and to honour many of the leading lights in the Cayman art world, as well as the many talented artists who featured in this first iteration of the Cayman Islands Biennial.
May
As a result of the generous sponsorship from Mourant, we launched our new Bright Stars initiative welcoming local students and adults with special education needs for weekly art classes. The Bright Stars art programme is designed for both school groups and home-schoolers to participate in hands-on art classes. Under the instruction of David Bridgeman, the lively class offers students a chance to learn new skills and to experience cultural activities relating to Caymanian heritage.
During the month of May Art Haven, a monthly programme that NGCI has been running at Northward and Fairbanks for over fourteen years, received an overhaul with a new art history-based curriculum being implemented by instructor Joseph Betty. Art Haven provides creative education to help incarcerated individuals develop ways of expressing themselves and to develop new skill sets for their re-entry to society. Participants also began working towards their end of year exhibition. This programme was generoulsy supported by Mr. Kevin Butler and Ms. Lori Monk.
June
The exhibition Tropical Visions: Landscape Painting from the National Collection opened in June. Through work drawn entirely from the National Gallery’s permanent collection, the twenty-three featured artists offered a unique perspective on the art of landscape painting in Cayman and its evolution over time, providing a visual record of a rapidly changing physical and cultural environment. Collectively, these ‘Tropical Visions’ depicted the scenery of our everyday experience – the abundant tropical flora and lush vegetation of our islands – while also meditating on the artist’s eye and the act of looking itself. The related programme of events and workshops ran throughout the summer.
Starting in June, NGCI welcomed seven work experience students as part of our wider NGCI Creative Careers programme. Students from both private and public schools across the Island gained experience and knowledge about the National Gallery. Since the programme was formalized in 2013 it has become our umbrella programme for creatively-minded Caymanian teens and young adults interested in art and creative careers. Our work experience component is a week/month long training opportunity designed to introduce students to museums careers and the wider work environment. The programme has been embraced by schools and, as our educational institutions begin to explore and diversify career options, we have seen a marked raise in the demand for placements, university/college research assistance, careers advice, and mentoring requests.
We also rolled out new opportunities for volunteer training with the Volunteer Induction Sessions and Docent Tour training, held bi-monthly. Volunteers are indispensable to NGCI and training ensures they have a deeper knowledge of our programmes and Caymanian art history.
July
The month of July saw the opening of Imaginarium, the 2019 annual Walkers Art Club student exhibition. Imaginarium showcased work from students ages 5-17 who participate in our weekly after-school Walkers Art Clubs: Foundation, Primary, Secondary, Teens, and Cayman Brac. Since September 2018, students have been exploring their imaginations and learning techniques in various media including watercolour and acrylic painting, drawing, ceramics, assemblage, collage, and printmaking.
Under our NGCI Creative Careers umbrella, we welcomed three NGCI Summer Interns: Lori Peterson, Hayley Wilheim and Gianna Whittaker (from June through August). These paid summer placements are designed for high school graduates and university students who are considering a career in the arts. NGCI internships allow these transitioning students to gain experience needed in the working field while continuing their education. Interns took part in setting up and disassembling the summer exhibitions, participated in NGCI events, supported the education department with school tours and provided support for the wider end-of-year archiving project. We were very impressed with the commitment of all three students and enjoyed having them as part of the NGCI team. Lori Peterson subsequently applied for NGCI’s year-long paid internship and started the position in September.
August
One of our favourite projects in the month of August was the relaunch of our seniors programme, developed in partnership with EY Cayman. The quarterly Seniors Tea Party welcomes seniors from across Cayman and aims to facilitate thought provoking discussions and social time within the Gallery environment. Over 70 attendees enjoyed curated tours of the Tropical Visions: Landscape Painting from the National Collection exhibition followed by afternoon tea.
The redevelopment of the front of the NGCI site – a two-year long project developed in tandem with the expansion of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway – supported by Dart, took great strides in August. The revitalised entrance includes beautiful gardens that boast a diverse array of native plants, flowering bushes, and trees, along with an outdoor exhibition of sculptured trees. Guests are now able to walk from Camana Bay along the path through the NGCI grounds to enjoy scouting for wildlife. We look forward to the continued progression in 2020 which will see lighting installed and the further development of a sculptural installation for the median at our entrance.
September
September welcomed the start of a new school year and a new term for our weekly afterschool programming Walkers Art Club (supported by Walkers), our Toddlers Friday Morning Club, and Bright Stars (supported by Mourant). It also welcomed a compelling exhibition called Inside Out that featured artworks by inmates of HM Northward and HM Fairbanks prisons and residents of the Caribbean Haven Residential Centre who participated in the National Gallery’s outreach programme, Art Haven.
The NGCI team participated in the CIFEC Careers Fair at the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre and enjoyed meeting Year 12 students who were embarking on six-month internships in businesses across the community. Attending the fair, as well as other annual Career Fairs, and hosting a CIFEC intern each year is an important component of our Creative Careers programme, which aims to provide meaningful experiences for Caymanian students interested in pursuing careers within the arts.
At the end of the month the National Gallery hosted the prestigious Museum Store Association Florida Chapter Regional Conference (MSA), which encompasses Florida, Bermuda, the Caribbean and South America. During the three-day conference, delegates visited a wide array of cultural institutions in Grand Cayman and attended six different workshops related to the non-profit retail industry associated with museums. The conference was a huge success as it provided very useful insight and information in operating museum stores and how their non-profit retail professionals can better serve their institutions and the public.
October
October saw the culmination of several months of planning and research with the opening of the seminal exhibition Bendel Hydes: A Retrospective. Hydes is widely considered the forefather of Caymanian contemporary art as the first Caymanian to study fine art abroad and to acquire international recognition. The extensive survey exhibition is the largest by a solo artist hosted NGCI to date and it is accompanied by a 200 page, fully illustrated catalogue. The wider project included archiving Hydes’ New York studio and packing and shipping over two hundred work from NYC to Cayman, photographing 420 artworks, tracking locally owned pieces, and conducting many hours of interviews and research – all of which will contribute to a longer-term archiving project of the artists career. The opening reception, which welcomed over 250 guests, celebrated Bendel and all that he has contributed to Caymanian culture. It was an uplifting evening for all involved.
To commemorate Older Person’s Month, NGCI hosted another EY Seniors Tea Party and Tour in October where the 81 guests enjoyed tours of the Hydes exhibition and a chance to share their personal memories of his work.
November
November was a very busy month for NGCI’s Minds Inspired school tour programme which welcomed an average of four schools per week, from across the Cayman Islands, for tours of the Bendel Hydes’ exhibition. The students who ranged in age from 5-11 were able to learn about the techniques that Bendel Hydes used to create his own artworks which include collage and abstract painting. Through the accompanying workshop, they had the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice by creating works of their own.
Staff were also very busy in November planning the highly anticipated annual Fundraising Gala which took the theme ‘A Night at the Museum’ and saw famous artworks from the history of art coming to life after dark. Guests were invited to portray their favourite artworks in their attire and the results were extraordinary. The evening was a big success exceeding our fundraising goals. Proceeds raised on the night support the Gallery’s extensive education programmes and provide free admission to the Gallery for all. Our Sponsor a Scholar programme saw an unprecedented level of support and guests were enthusiastic with their contributions, with the live auction, in particular, generating a lot of energy among our attendees.
December
December presented an exciting opportunity to publicly showcase highlights from our National Collection through a collaboration with Camana Bay, sponsored by Provenance Properties. This three-month, outdoor exhibit features ten works from the National Gallery’s permanent collection and encourages people to visit the wider collection on display at NGCI. Be sure to stop and take a look when you are next at Camana Bay and to join us for the official Members launch event on 17th January.
In the spirit of the season we hosted our annual festive Artisan Fair and Members Christmas Party. Guests were treated to local crafts, mulled wine and mince pies and encouraged to view the current exhibition. It was a wonderful opportunity to thank all of our members for their support in 2019. The Bendel Hydes catalogue was also previewed during the event, with the wider launch scheduled for the New Year. Copies of this catalogue are now available for purchase in the NGCI Gift Shop.
We ended 2019 receiving the wonderful news that the Ministry of Health, Environment, Culture & Housing had granted substantial funding towards the purchasing of artwork for the National Collection. We are excited to announce the acquisition of nine new works through this grant including; Amen by Randy Chollette, Grand Cayman by Horacio Esteban, three recent works by John Reno Jackson, Who Ya Fah? by Paige Jordison (winner of the Emerging Artist award at the inaugural Cayman Islands Biennial), Breadfruit by Bendel Hydes, Soul Cage by Chris Mann, Tides of Change by Sarah McDougall, traditional baskets by Lizzie Powell, and a sculptural piece by artist Yonier Powery. This closes a great year for the growth of the National Collection which includes other new acquisitions via several private donations: Source Series #2 by Bendel Hydes (donated by Alexander Gunther-Calhoun), Becoming Again by Nasaria Suckoo Chollette (donated by Susan A. Olde, OBE), along with Kick Knack Paddy Whack by Avril Ward, Tropical Forms by Simon Tatum, Breadfruit Walk by Charles Long and a significant collection of works donated by Deutsche Bank including watercolours by Joanne and Jeremy Sibley and an important Bendel Hydes painting Untitled I & II. Many of these works are currently on display in NGCI Permanent Collection Gallery.
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2019 was certainly an eventful and successful year, filled with vibrant events and opportunities and we would like to extend our sincerest thanks to everyone who supported NGCI over the past 12 months: artists, donors, instructors, educators, members, our board members, corporate partners, volunteers, community groups and visitors to name a few. None of this would have been possible without your hard work, support and generous contributions!
We are looking forward to welcoming you for another exciting year of exhibitions, events, and programming in 2020! Keep up to date with all our upcoming exhibitions, events and programmes by visiting our website www.nationalgallery.org.ky . If you are not yet a member of the National Gallery and are interested in becoming one, or if you wish to renew your membership for 2020, please click the link above or call Camille at (345) 935 8111 for more information.
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Thank You to Sponsors
It is through the help of our incredibly generous sponsors that we are able to continue doing our part in providing the community with access to art and education every year. We are so excited to be able to host such wonderful exhibitions and events, and so we would like this time to send a special thank you to the major sponsors who have helped make all of this possible:
- Susan A Olde OBE
- Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage
- Blue Dot Studios
- Butterfield
- Calderwood
- DART Enterprises Limited
- Davenport Development
- Ernst and Young
- Fidelity Bank Limited
- GT Automotive
- Helix Healthcare
- KAABOO Cayman
- London & Amsterdam Trust Company Limited
- Luxury Cayman Villas
- Rawlinson and Hunter
- TJ Wilson
- Walkers
- Charles Grover
- Clive Harris
- Dax Basdeo
- Gaye Randolph
- Lori Monk
- Patricia Cunningham
- Phil Pace
- Philipp Schloter
- Shan Warnock Smith
- Shane Aquart