Straw thatch baskets, brooms and slippers from Vinola and Anna lee Ebanks
on display.

The Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands hosted another beautiful evening of art and craft from Cayman Brac. The opening night of the Art and Craft Exhibition and Sale was held on Tuesday, 22 April at the Heritage House and proved to be worth the visit with a display of 13 artists’ creations, where some of the artists were on hand to show off and explain about their creations.

The exhibition and sale ran through to Tuesday, 6 May where Derry Lee Martin, who is in charge of Heritage House, reported that there were one hundred and twenty visitors for the exhibition. A number of items were sold and an offer has been made by an entrepreneur in Grand Cayman to purchase all the remaining items.

The exhibition saw a wide range of variety in artistic work and improvement in individual work. Development in art saw Nina Banks with her underwater photographs being transferred to canvas and viewers could hardly differentiate between the actual picture and the canvas. Other artists who had their work on display were Derry Lee Martin with her photographs, Vinola and Anna lee Ebanks with straw thatch baskets, brooms and slippers, and Leann Christian and Brunzil Rivers had canvas knitting,

Tenson Scott and Calvin Scott had their exotic jewelry pieces, Starrie Scott had crochet and shell work while Elvern Anderson, Simone Scott and Lolita Esteban had their paintings on display.

The art and craft exhibition and sale event is one of the ways embarked upon by CNCF in promoting local talent to the public in art and sculptor. Craftsmanship is a major legacy in the Cayman Islands’ culture and through these experiences younger artists can develop the confidence to continue in their career path or to improve on their talent, as seen with the photos going on canvas.

James Tibbetts put the pictures on canvas and different artists worked together to create something special and unique. According to Simone Scott, organizer of the event, “Art is a part of our culture as many of our forefathers discovered this talent and made a living from it while passing it on to younger generations,” she added.

She further commented that everyone is an artist in their own way and it was just that some placed more emphasis on what they do than others.

Viewers at the opening commented on the work of the artists and really appreciated the hard work that was demonstrated in the pieces. The youngest artist was Jacob Scott who made candles that were beautifully coloured from conch shells. The different facets of artistic work made viewers marvel, and what was catching to the eyes was the piece done by Simone Scott of the Lions annual swim meet.

Persons who purchased items could not remove them until after the exhibition’s closing date on Tuesday, 6 May. For more information on how to contact the different artists please contact Derry Lee Martin at the Heritage House.