Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (January 29, 2010) A year 7 student from Cayman Prep & High School Dorothy Ojerio has been selected as the best young artist from the 20 students who attended the Children’s Art Workshops Wednesday January 27, 2010 at Dart Park in South Sound. World-renowned marine life artist Wyland, hailed by USA Today as a “marine Michelangelo”, had the difficult task of selecting the winner from the very talented group of students from Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.

                                             

During the workshops, which were facilitated jointly by the Department of Tourism and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, Wyland created a painting on a canvas, while the students followed along and painted their own individual masterpiece.

“It’s so nice to be back in Grand Cayman and share my art with the children from Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac,” said Wyland. “My goal is to inspire them to be youth ambassadors for the planet.”

Dorothy will receive as her prize, two tickets to the International Underwater Film Festival and two tickets to the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame (ISDHF) dinner and induction ceremony. As well, her winning artwork will be featured on the cover of the ISDHF 2011 programme. All paintings from the workshops will be displayed at the Art@Governors event on Saturday January 30.

Wyland is on island this week as one of the 2010 inductees into the ISDHF. The induction ceremony, which takes place this Saturday night, January 30 at Pedro St. James, will see Wyland recognized alongside the likes of Jacques Cousteau, Lloyd Bridges and Ron and Valerie Taylor for his contributions to the sport of scuba diving. “I’m proud to be inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame,” said Wyland, “it is truly a great honour. I consider Grand Cayman to be one of the greatest diving sites in the world.”

Wyland is indeed a true friend to the diving industry and has earned distinction as one of America’s most unique creative influences and a leading advocate for marine resource conservation. An accomplished painter, sculptor, photographer, writer and SCUBA diver, he has travelled to the farthest reaches of the globe capturing the raw power and beauty of the undersea universe. His non-profit Wyland Foundation has supported numerous conservation programmes since 1993 and his efforts have been recognized by the United Nations, the Sierra Club and the Underwater Academy of Arts and Sciences. In celebration of its 200^th Anniversary, Wyland created a work of art for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), paying homage to their contributions to our ocean and atmosphere. The original oil painting is considered one of the most significant works of his career. Wyland is however most famous for his "whale walls" where he paints huge murals of whales on the sides of buildings. These walls can be seen around the world and are completely unique to this artist. His 100^th "whale wall" was done on the Great Wall of China for the 2008 Olympics.

At the International Underwater Film Festival, which takes place tonight, Friday January 29, Wyland will present Wyland: Earth Day – the story of his attempt to paint a three-acre interpretation of the planet earth in a 24-hour span for Earth Day. The film won Best Film in the San Diego Filmmaker Series at the 2009 San Diego Film Festival.

24-hours after boldly announcing his goal to paint the largest picture of planet earth, renowned environmental artist Wyland put the finishing touches on Earth: The Blue Planet atop the Long Beach Convention Centre. The non-profit Earth project was part of the artist's restoration work on the iconic "Planet Ocean" mural on the walls of the sports arena. Named the world's largest painting by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1992, this addition doubled the total painted surface, bringing the project to six acres. "I've always tried to do something special to call attention to Earth Day,” Wyland said.

Local residents will also get another opportunity to meet Wyland through the ISDHF’s “Dive with the Greats” series. Wyland will host a two-tank dive off of Grand Cayman’s East End, through the Maze and Ironshore Gardens with Ocean Frontiers. For more information, please call Ocean Frontiers.

Art@Governors, the well-known art festival put on by the National Gallery each year, highlights an array of our islands’ artists and traditional crafters. This year’s theme “Conserving Cayman’s Oceans” will provide the inspiration for the many art activities on display.  In fact, one of the deciding factors in announcing this year’s Art@Governors theme, is the involvement of Wyland, the Gallery’s 2010 ‘Featured Artist’. 

Wyland will be displaying some of his work (www.wyland.com) along with the student artwork from the workshops.

For more information on any of the events listed above, please call the Department of Tourism at 949-0623 or visit www.scubahalloffame.com.