Mandeville Art Fair opens Thursday
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The 28th staging of the annual, fund-raising Mandeville Art Fair hosted by the Roman Catholic Diocese opens Thursday (November 7) at the St John Bosco Auditorium in Hatfield, just west of here.
The fair will run for three days with proceeds going to a number of charities and institutions which are supported and run by the Roman Catholic Church.
Organisers say tickets for opening night, which includes a cocktail reception starting at 6:00 pm, will cost $2,000. Entry for the remaining days will be free of cost with doors being opened to the public at 10:00 am.
A press release from the Art Fair’s organising committee said: “Opening night guests will be feted to an open wine bar and exquisite hors’d óeurvres, as well as a visual feast for the eye, with over 500 pieces of art in various formats of artistic expression.
“The exhibition features artists like Damian Cunningham, Valrie Beaumont, Miranda Sampson, Pheona Godfrey, and Mark Bell, among others.
The Junior Art Competition section features students aged 6-11 (youth category) and students aged 12-18 (junior category). The night’s event will culminate with the Julia Lyn Scholarship to be awarded to a deserving final year Art student of the Edna Manley College”.
Brainchild of the first Bishop of Mandeville, Paul Boyle, the Mandeville Art Fair, which was started in 1991, has “supported 17 Catholic Diocesan institutions and poor relief activities to include but not limited to basic and primary schools, homework centres, medical outreach and poor relief housing,” the release said.
Last year funds from the art fair supported a health clinic programme, St John Bosco Children’s Home and the Mustard Seed Community, feeding and care programme of the St Vincent de Paul Society, five basic schools, the Catholic College of Mandeville, two high schools, and a scholarship to Edna Manley student, Richard Gayle.
“The Diocese of Mandeville and the Art Fair Committee are once more deeply grateful to the artists, organisers, sponsors and donors who participate, coordinate and donate to the art fair and the worthy projects of the diocese,” the release said.
