In celebration and remembrance of her husband F.J. Harquail, Mrs. Harquail generously donated both 12 acres of land and the funding to construct the F.J. Harquail Cultural Centre to comprise both the theatre as well as a cultural village.

In memory of her husband Mrs. Harquail asked CNCF through Chairman Martyn Bould to find a sculptor to create a bronze statue of him. Fortunately, Martyn had a good friend Valerie Bloomfield from Jamaica who had at the time recently finished a lifesize bronze of Sir William Sherlock the chancellor of UWI, as so was able to take on the commission.

One challenge was to find photographs taken from several different angles to ensure the correct three-dimensional view. Once this was overcome, a head and shoulder’s model was created and the bronze cast and installed in the entrance to the Harquail theatre where it remained for a number of years.

Unfortunately, it was removed and has lain in storage until recently when it was returned to its rightful place in the entrance to the theatre.

The timing of the return is appropriate, given CNCF’s embarkation on a Strategic Planning Exercise as part of its forward planning, and renovations of the F.J. Harquail Cultural Centre.

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The Cayman National Cultural Foundation

For more than 30 years, the non-profit Cayman National Cultural Foundation has carried out its mission of stimulating, facilitating and preserving Caymanian cultural and artistic expression. CNCF has achieved this through the extensive development of wide-ranging programmes. These programmes include stage productions, creative education for young people, free workshops and financial support of artists, as well as festivals, publications, national recognition of artistic and cultural achievement and the preservation of Caymanian heritage, and arts and culture for future generations.