The latest art exhibition at The Gallery at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, is about to showcase some of Cayman’s most exciting new talent, for the first time featuring artwork created by students from St Ignatius School. The students, who are all currently studying for their IGCSE or A-level art exams, have been given the opportunity to exhibit some of their art next to an impressive list of Cayman’s established and well-loved artists.

The ‘Emerging’ exhibition, curated by Chris Christian of Cayman Traditional Arts, will open on Tuesday 17th February 2015, at 6:00pm – 8:00pm and everyone is invited to come and celebrate the incredible abilities of all the participating artists.

Bernadette Devlin, Head of Years 7 — 11 and Head of Art & Design at St Ignatius School says the exhibition gives students a brilliant opportunity to highlight their artwork to a broader audience.

“We generally hold an annual exhibition at the school that’s open to the public to highlight the work created by our IGCSE and A-level students,” she confirms. “This year, Chris Christian who is a parent of student Andrew, and who produces the Ritz-Carlton art exhibitions, suggested that we hold the exhibition at the Gallery instead. We have 16 students in total who have been given the chance to exhibit three pieces of artwork at the show. Normally when students exhibit at the school show we see how the event boosts their confidence as they realise their work will be seen by the public. This year they’ve been given an even greater boost knowing that they will be exhibiting at such a prestigious location as The Ritz-Carlton alongside Cayman’s renowned and highly talented local artists.”

Ms Devlin adds that while the students might even be feeling a little intimidated by the importance of the event, it gives them a unique chance to push themselves even further.

“The thought of exhibiting to such a wide audience has really assisted to motivate them during their studies and has helped them to focus on their work,” she states. “They have also been given the chance to have one art piece to be printed on canvas and they will be able to sell that one piece at the Gallery. This has certainly given them an additional boost and created a healthy level of competition.”

Chris Christian is delighted that the exhibition has created such exciting possibilities for local students.

“We hold two or three exhibitions at The Gallery at The Ritz-Carlton each year and they are always extremely well received,” he says. “Over the years we have managed to highlight some incredibly talented artists and this year we are especially pleased that we can give local art students a platform from which to highlight their talents. We have been blown away by the creativity and quality of their work and we know everyone who visits the Gallery will be equally impressed.”

Ms Devlin says that St Ignatius School has had an impressive pass rate among art students, many of whom have shown a real gift for art, and some have decided to further their artistic skills at universities after they leave school.

“One young student, Jacob Whewell, who is exhibiting at the Emerging show, passed his IGCSE in year nine and is now studying A-level art at the age of 15. I have had two students who have been sponsored by the Deutsche Bank/National Gallery scholarship who have gone on to study art further and I have just had an A-level student go on to study art education, which is really exciting,” she confirms. “I have to sincerely thank the parents who have been so incredibly supportive of the arts over the years. My thanks also go to Chris Christian for this wonderful opportunity.”

St. Ignatius students participating in the Emerging exhibition are:

Andrew Christian, Abigail Narandja, Aliyha Nelson, Andre Jennings, Angelica Dodds, Hayley Wilhelm, Halle Manderson, Ebunae McBean, Daniela Granados, Coral Tomascik, Jacob Whewell, Daniel Burns, Julian Jervis, Madison Mc-Taggart, Stephanie Gundy and Brandon Saunders.

Returning established artists are:

Al Ebanks, April Bending, Avril Ward, Cathy Church, Chris Christian, Christel Ibsen, Cj Viggers, Courtney Platt, Dawn McTaggart, Gordon Solomon, Jerome Wilson, Jim Hellemn, Kara Julian, Kerwin Ebanks, Kylie Vallo, Laurel Schmid, Lorna Griggs, Michael Seffer, Monte Lee Thorton, Patricia Nicholson, Randy Chollette, Shane Dready, Susan Lueck, Tansy Maki, Villence Buchanan, Yonier Powery, Carolyn Whitney, Monika Wojtkiewicz,Patrick Broderick, Maureen Anderson, Bethea Christian, Levin Vallo And Nasaria Chollette, Hannah Cook, Renate Seffer and Amanda Nicholls.

IMAGE: St Ignatius student Ebunae McBean will be exhibiting at the Emerging exhibition