In recent weeks The Morgan Gallery has featured heavily in my posts and I thought it about time to dedicate a little more space to their business on these pages.
The gallery is owned and run by Geraldine Morgan and her husband Steve Byars and is situated in the Galleria Plaza on Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. They established the premises post Hurricane Ivan, having moved to the island in August 2004. The gallery was soon attracting attention and was featured in the CayCompass in August 2005 which was around the time I was leaving the island for my extended stay in the UK.
Concentrating very much on fine art, the gallery space is very clean and bright and it strikes you when you walk through its doors that the one thing it lacks is the sense of intimidation that often accompanies high end galleries. Its doors are open to everyone who cares to step inside and view the artworks on display, and the floor to ceiling glass frontage encourages you to look inside and see what is going on. The relaxed atmosphere is further enhanced by Geraldine and Steve who welcome visitors with a friendly and professional approach - both are knowledgeable about the art and the artists they represent – they will freely discuss the exhibits and answer questions with a confidence and insight which is refreshing, and their love of art is very evident in their conversation.
Geraldine is passionate about both the business and the art she sells, and although initially the focus of their efforts was to bring fine art from Europe across the Atlantic and into Cayman, they have also embraced many of the local artists; as can be seen from their website. Their involvement and willingness to nurture local talent has been hugely beneficial for the local art community, and has enabled Caymanian artists to experience the pleasure of seeing their work displayed side by side with some well established European talents.
Currently the gallery has work by several local painters – my good friend and fellow Native Sons member Randy Chollette is enjoying a successful working relationship with the gallery, as is another Native Son, Gordon Solomon. To list all of them here would be a little too much but you can find the current roster of talent at the gallery’s artist pages.
In addition to their exhibits at the gallery several of the artists have an online presence of their own. You can view the work of local artists Avril Ward and April Bending online, and Scottish painter Ian Elliot , also boasts his own website.
Since my return to the island I have been pleased to work with Geraldine and Steve, having granted them exclusive rights as the only private gallery selling my work on the island during my time abroad. I am delighted that since coming back to Cayman, my dealings with them have been mutually beneficial and my decision to continue the association has left me with no regrets.
In addition to selling original works, they have now expanded their business and made the invaluable service of giclee printing available to the artists who are interested in producing and selling high quality reproductions. This is a really excellent service which not only provides an additional income stream for both artist and gallery but also means that buyers who would like to own their own slice of fine art, have every opportunity to do so, even if the original piece is no longer available. Because the gallery produce all reproductions in-house, quality control is first class, and artists will often hand finish prints to ensure the best finish for a buyer’s money – giclees are normally hand signed by the artist too.
If you are planning to visit the islands and love to see fine art, a visit to the Morgan Gallery should be high on your list, and if you are a business looking for art for your premises, or a resident seeking something just that little bit special for your home, why not see what they can do for you? All the artists represented will consider commissions, and all can be contacted via the gallery, so even if that special piece is not on display at the time of your visit, you may still secure that much coveted and dreamed about unique slice of fine art.
All the contact details for Geraldine Morgan are available on the website.
(I was watching an interview on local television before I sat down to write this – April Bending was talking about her work on a local arts and culture programme and to my shock and surprise some of my paintings were nicely displayed over her shoulder – some filming had obviously taken place in the gallery and I was delighted to receive such free publicity 
I shall leave my scribblings on that note and sign off for now with a small painting I recently completed called “Catboats and Fishpots”.
Please do leave your comments on the blog…………….my plea is a genuine one as although I’m seeing a lot of visitors my comment count has gone way way down andthe interraction is one of the things that make blogging fun!
Until next time……….Nickola
