Exhibition
To celebrate the end of the first year of classes in the National Gallery Education Centre, work by gallery instructors was showcased in the first-ever National Gallery Instructors Exhibition.
Instructors at the National Gallery were either art teachers, well-known professional artists or non-professionals with much experience and practice in their medium. Classes were diverse, ranging from “Sketching for Life” to abstract art to photography. Instructors were invited to develop their own curricula, allowing individuals to learn at their own pace from a range of artistic philosophies and approaches.
The work on display came from a diverse range of genres and mediums allowing the audience to appreciate the full scope of the programmes.
“The show seeks to demonstrate that art courses are run by artists for artists”, said Emérentienne Paschalides, the National Gallery’s education manager. “People come to these courses purely for the pursuit of art, for the desire to understand artistic thinking and process, and to discover what that understanding can bring.”
About the Artist
John Broad
b. 1947
John Broad graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a degree in painting and drawing, and from the University of London with a teaching qualification. He taught art in Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, before settling in the Cayman Islands. His work is influenced by the Islands’ maritime culture and is recognisable for its loose brushwork and bold palette. Broad has taught in local schools and at University College of the Cayman Islands and has run numerous workshops on behalf of the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands and the Visual Arts Society. In addition, he has created two commissioned murals in George Town (The Walls of History in 2004 for NGCI and Fort George for the National Trust in 2012), and in 2009 was chosen to exhibit in London and Berlin with Art Below. Previously, Broad won the Carib Art poster competition in 1992 and was a recipient of the CNCF award for achievement in art education, as well as for his contribution to the arts of the Cayman Islands in 2003. His work was featured in the prestigious international travelling exhibition Carib Art (1995), and many NGCI exhibitions including Founded Upon the Seas (2012), Art of Assemblage (2013), All Access (2015), Saltwater in their Veins (2017), Upon the Seas (2017), Mediating Self (2017), Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019), and Island of Women: Life at Home During our Maritime Years (2020).
