On Wednesday October 26 , 2011, an historical event took place at around 4:45pm in the evening – the Grand Unveiling of the Hastings Mural!

After some three weeks of work by our tiler, Rusty, based on the design work of David Spieler, the mural was ready to be unveiled. But how to unveil a 100+foot piece of artwork on a public wall?

Cover it with reel end newsprint from the Nation Publishing of course! After some 45 minutes Vicky, Ayana and Nicole managed to tape up the mural with paper that will of course be recycled, in order to have a special ceremony where children’s unwrapping skills were the order of the day!

Seen here, thanks to the photography of Tracey Simpson, children were more than happy to do the unwrapping!

The ‘unwrapping’ of the mural followed a formal ceremony where Dr Julia Horrocks, Director of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project spoke of the importance of Barbados’ role in conserving the sea turtle habitats and indeed the species, which is the focus of the mural project. Dr Leo Brewster , Director of the Coastal Zone Management unit, complimented the concept and was happy to see a solution to the ‘blank wall’ that was part of the Boardwalks’ development, and Mr Tyrone Lowe, Chairman of the National Conservation Commission spoke of the continuing partnership with the FCT with this project no exception.

All who attended the ceremony and the ‘unwrapping’ felt the sense of a worthwhile project being completed for generations to come, of both visitors to Barbados and locals alike, to admire.

It is with thanks to our sponsors and partners to this project that it was able to be taken from idea to reality:

• David Spieler
• Earthworks Pottery
• Tourism Development Corporation

Gold Partners:

• KPMG
• Barbados Fertility Centre

Silver Partners:

• Blakeys Bar and Restaurant
• Art Splash Cafe
• Tapas Restaurant

And of course our FCT Platinum Sponsor, Barbados Light and Power Co Ltd

Thanks also to our media partners on the day, The Barbados Advocate (Thanks to Ms Kerri Gooding) and to Barbados Today (Thanks to Mr Shawn Cumberbatch) as seen in this image.

Thank you to everyone for enabling such a beautifully educational landmark!

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Tags: Art Splash Cafe, Barbados, Barbados Fertility Centre, Barbados Light and Power Co Ltd, Barbados Sea Turtle Project, Blakeys Bar and Restaurant, CZMU, Dr Julia Horrocks, Dr Leo Brewster, Future Centre Trust, KPMG, NCC, Tapas Restaurant, TDC, Tourism Development Corporation, Tyrone Lowe, Vivan-Anne Gittens