Photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
LEFT: Winston Cox (second right), executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank, amuses Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall (right) while Lady Hall and Paul Issa, chairman of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, look on. They were attending the college's fund-raising banquet and launch of its development fund, held at the Hilton Kingston Jamaica, New Kingston, on December 1.
RIGHT; Chief Justice Zaila McCalla (left) chats with Oriente Issa at the banquet.
There is a saying that if you don't support the arts, then you better build more prisons.
Hopefully, with the support of those who attended the fund-raising dinner for the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts on Monday, that will never happen to the young people who performed. Current students put on quite a show for their guests at the Hilton Kingston Jamaica, including keynote speaker, CBS Television's Judge Joe Brown.
EMC development fund
The event also witnessed the launch of the EMC development fund, to ensure the survival of the arts. Chairman of the college, Paul Issa, encouraged the guests to cherish and nurture the talent as it would lead to the growth and development of our culture. Meanwhile, Brown, who sounded like a fiery Baptist minister at times, decried arts that send the wrong messages to the youth and challenged everyone to promote art forms that reflect something positive. He also said that Jamaica was more than just an island, but an inspiration for the whole world, and feels Jamaica has the opportunity to be a paragon for the region.
Guests out included: Maurice Facey, Robert MacMillan, Candy DePass, Lois Lake-Sherwood, Garth Sanguinetti, Donnette Zacca, Petrona Morrison, Carol Hamilton, Denise Salmon, Dr Claude Packer, Sydney Bartley, Alethia Lambert, Lenford Salmon, Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson, Bunny Pommells and Stevie Golding.