Dear Editor,

Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, School of Visual Arts, shares in offering condolence to the family, friends, and colleagues of Justice Dennis Morrison, King’s Counsel. We are forever thankful to have been touched by his generosity of giving in the spirit of love, quiet camaraderie, and social justice. We will remain grateful for the memory of this, his legacy.

Justice Morrison, as we came to know him, was a caring, loving, and gentle brother and son; a giant in his field; a humanitarian, inconspicuous and unpretentious. Receptive and responsive to the plight of our humanity; receptive and responsive to the needs in our society; receptive and responsive to the need for the lifting of the human spirit. Sombre yet approachable; unassuming yet observant.

He personified the true meaning of private and confidential. I was never too sure what to do in his presence, stuck between awe and being flabbergasted by the ease with which he would approach, with a quiet whiff of a smile that would grace his face as he greeted, followed by a wave, and a nod, and he was gone.

Very much an artist in his own right, his support for the arts was exemplified through the provision of bursaries for students at the School of Visual Arts for many years as well as annual visits to view the final year students’ exhibitions. His benevolence to students’ education through his bursaries was unbeknown even to his sister, Petrona Morrison, who served as director of the School of Visual Arts for many decades. Personal delivery to the college registry was his way of sharing his contribution. In and out; he was gone before you knew he was there. If it was not a matter for you, then you would not know.

He was receptive and responsive to the needs and supported our young artists when support was not readily found, for which the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and the School of Visual Arts in particular is truly grateful.

He was one who exemplified the word of God embedded through the true Christian principle of Matthew 6:3-4: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”

Truly a patriarch and a legacy-maker whose principles must be mirrored, exemplified, and amplified. The tapestry of his life is woven with many threads, each creating beautiful sceneries, like brush strokes on a giant canvas, no stroke playing more than their designated part. Not seeking their own yet honouring the whole. So will be our collective memories as we carry our varied memories of him in our hearts.

We pray he will rest in peace. May God’s eternal light shine on him favourably.

Dorrett R Campbell

Interim principal

Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts