A brand new art exhibition showcasing the talents of youngsters is opening this Friday at The Gallery at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman and all will be welcome to come and enjoy this special event, which will run from 6pm until 8pm.

The artwork has been created by year six students from Government schools all over Cayman who have been participating in the Heritage Arts Programme throughout the school year and many of the students will be there at the opening event to present their artwork to visitors to the show.

There will be artwork created by talented students from the Lighthouse School, Red Bay Primary, Bodden Town Primary, Prospect Primary, East End Primary, Edna M. Moyle (North Side) Primary, George Town Primary and Sir John A Cumber Primary.

Instructors from Cayman Traditional Arts, the entity which created the Heritage Arts programme now embedded in the year six curriculum, interact with the students on a weekly basis, to ensure that Cayman’s heritage, art and culture is instilled in the students for generations to come.

Ms. Tonia Harris, a teacher from Edna M. Moyle Primary School, says the Heritage Arts programme is a good initiative as it exposes students to Caymanian culture in both a theoretical and practical sense.

“The students were very excited about the programme and have definitely learnt a lot about their heritage as a result,” she advises. “The students also enjoyed learning how to do sketches, mix paint and create their own pieces of artwork. It was quite refreshing to see my student s working collaboratively together to complete the pieces of artwork that they did. What made it even more interesting was the fact that they were allowed to create images of local scenes. This was quite enriching as it was something they could relate to and it forced them to examine and learn more about their local environment.”

Ms Harris continues: “Due to the myriad of benefits, I strongly believe that this programme should be continued in schools. I am looking forward to see how my next group of students will benefit.”

Chris Christian, Director with Cayman Traditional Arts, says exhibiting at The Gallery at The Ritz-Carlton is the culmination of many months of work on the part of the students.

“The students have incorporated a wide variety of techniques, styles and ideas for subject matter into their artwork and we are very pleased that they have such a prestigious location in which to showcase all their efforts. It would be fantastic if as many people as possible could come and show their support for Cayman’s young artists and visit the art exhibition, which runs until 15th August 2016,” he said.