March was a busy month for the NGCI Events Department. With a royal visit from Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, CayFilm festival screenings, and a special tea party fundraising event hosted by Mrs Ariane Dart.

NGCI opened the exhibition Native Sons – Twenty Years On in April. The popular exhibition, sponsored in part by Cayman National Bank, showcased a variety of media and subjects by a celebrated Caymanian artists’ collective. With origins dating back to 1996 the group has continued to exhibit both collectively and through a series of solo exhibitions on the island and abroad.

May was a busy month for the NGCI Dart Auditorium and Community Gallery. NGCI hosted two exhibitions featuring works made by our outreach participants and by over 200 students from the Walkers Art Club!

Each summer the National Gallery exhibits work from the NGCI Permanent Collection. This year NGCI put the spotlight on rarely see watercolours with the exhibition A Legacy of Light. Increased advocacy in collection development led to fourteen new acquisitions during the fiscal year putting the collection at just over 200 works of fine art.

Carl Palmer, one of rock’s iconic figures and a founding member of both Emerson Lake & Palmer (ELP) and ASIA, performed in aid of the National Gallery. Produced and sponsored by The Mill Cayman and Susan A. Olde, OBE, the fundraising event also featured Palmer’s fine art prints created by movement patterns made with lighted drum sticks.

Supported by NGCI, Bodden Town’s Simon Tatum had the opportunity to attend the fourth Caribbean Linked artist residency program in Aruba this August. Simon, who is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Drawing at the University of Missouri, was the first Caymanian artist to participate in the regional residency project for young and emerging Caribbean artists.

Making front page news, Speak to Me – Understanding the Language of Art opened at the National Gallery 24 September 2016. The exhibition, curated by Emé Paschalides and sponsored by Mourant Ozannes, challenges the way we think about art and language. The exhibition closes 12 January 2017.

This October the National Gallery welcomed guests from across the region for the 27th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Museums Association of the Caribbean (MAC). From Caribbean museum directors and educators to academics and historians from as far afield as the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Written by Natalie Urquhart the colourful publication, The Art of the Cayman Islands, is now available for purchase in the NGCI store. Thanks to the generous support from our NGCI Chairperson Susan A. Olde, OBE 100% of the proceeds will go towards the National Gallery collections development and collections-related education initiatives. A copy of the collections guide has been donated to every school in the Cayman Islands making Caymanian art more accessible than ever!

Just over 200 guests attended this year’s highly anticipated annual fundraising gala Club Havana. We are pleased to announce that we met our fundraising targets for the event! We couldn’t have done it without the support from our community – a heartfelt thank you to everyone to supported.

We kicked off the festive season with the annual Christmas party for members and supporters, followed by a festive family fun day and artisan fair. Nearly 200 guests were treated to mulled wine, minced pies and festive cheer, and previewed the creations of some of Cayman’s top artisans, as well as gifts from the gallery store.

We are looking forward to another action packed year and we want you to be a part of it. For upcoming events, exhibition information, and to access our 360° virtual tour and online art collection be sure to check out our brand new mobile friendly website. You can also sign up to become a National Gallery member online. See you in 2017!