PAINTING majors at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts have finally returned to their designated spaces after a fire, which gutted the Hope Brooks painting studio in 2021, left them sharing classrooms at the institution.

The new studio, which was officially unveiled on Monday, is one of two beneficiaries of the 2023 Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run. The other was the University Hospital of the West Indies Paediatric Unit.

The financial conglomerate through its charitable arm, Sagicor Foundation Jamaica, announced then that a record-breaking $91.8 million was raised. Of that amount $25 million was allocated to the reconstruction of the studio.

At the handover ceremony at the school, fourth year painting student Lavanya Jones told the Jamaica Observer that the initiative was “godsent”. She noted that prior to the building’s reconstruction, students had to share classroom spaces with sculpture students.

“That was kind of unfair to them, because they’re doing their work, we are trying to do our work. The space wasn’t enough for the both of us. Having to pivot and change spaces was an experience for both students and teachers, as the teachers were also getting used to not having their own space.

“For us as painting majors, it was like, okay, here is the space that we’re giving you, this is what we have at the moment until the building is completed or until it is able to be reconstructed. But now us having this space, which is our own, has really changed the way how we work, how we communicate with each other, and how we network,” said Jones.

Dorrett Campbell (left), interim principal at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, and Nicole Campbell Robinson, vice-president, communications, social media and corporate social responsibility at the Sagicor Group Jamaica, look at a mural following the unveiling of a new painting studio at the college. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

These sentiments were echoed by Natonya Grant, a second-year painting major who told the
Observer that the transition from the shared space to the recently renovated building was a bittersweet moment.

“Sharing with others, especially as painters, was kind of difficult. Sometimes furniture is being placed on our work. Sometimes bodies are being pushed against our work, which causes smudging and other accidents that we have to continuously go over every time when we come and revisit our work. Sometimes I don’t feel like its intentional, but due to the fact all of us are sharing the space, accidents are likely to happen.

“We got used to over the other side, but we are comfortable now because it feels really good to be in a space where it’s quiet, less crowded, and there’s less traffic going in and out. It gives us some form of ease knowing that our work is secure which I really do appreciate,” Grant added.

For Alexx Kerr, her hopes of the building being restored remained high.

“Sharing space is not necessarily that bad, but it creates a lot of clashes. It creates a lot of taking down your work every minute so that a class can happen. A lot of people touching your work, your work being at the risk of anything happening to it, especially leaving it overnight,” Kerr told the Observer.

Dorrett Campbell (right), interim principal at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, and Nicole Campbell Robinson, vice-president, communications, social media and corporate social responsibility at Sagicor Group Jamaica, cut the ceremonial ribbon to open a new painting studio at the college. built with a donation from the 2023 Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

“I only learnt that the space burnt down when I came here to Edna. Before, I just thought it was an old building, so when I came and I realised that we had to be sharing spaces, and I questioned why we don’t have that much space, I was told this building was for us. I was praying that the building would be back up and running before I left the school,” she added.

Welcoming the initiative, Dorrett R Campbell, interim principal at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, told guests at the ceremony that the college has not been able to accommodate a full slate of students due to the damage caused by the fire.

“I think also that Sagicor understood the importance of having this studio. Before it was refurbished, we noticed that the intake of students of painting would have dropped. I’d like to think that with its refurbishment, the numbers will increase somewhat because we would now have the capacity to take in more students,” said Campbell as she argued that the arts is integral to social transformation and national development.

Meanwhile, Nicole Campbell Robinson, vice-president of communications at Sagicor, told the Observer that the decision to rebuild the painting studio was a no-brainer for the financial conglomerate.

“It was an obvious choice for us to put forward to the board for them to be considered a beneficiary for the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run. I believe about 40 students annually benefit from the building. And so many great artists have come out of Edna Manley, some of the biggest and most creative names out there. So there is a linkage to Edna Manley, and so we’re very happy to have done our part,” she said, adding that the project will incorporate a phase two.

“We had agreed to complete the works for the second floor, which we have done. What they want to do now is to restore the ground level. So that’s an additional project that we are hoping, through visibility of the works that have been done here, that other corporate sponsors will come on board so that they can get phase two mobilised. Of course, we will always evaluate to see how much more we can do,” added Campbell Robinson.