The Great Wall of Tortola began as "The Ridge Wall Project," an idea conceived by cultural enthusiast Eileen Lucia Parsons, who is presently serving as minister of natural resources and labour. The idea was shared with local artist Reuben Vanterpool, the then speaker of the legislative council, who developed a proposal for executing the project.
The concepts for the subject matter came readily to Vanterpool, who had lived in the area as a child and seen it all: donkeys carting sand, preparations for early Saturday morning market, baking "Bong Bong," moonlight crabbing, dipping cattle and many more. Vanterpool inspired other artists to work on the project: Quito Rhymer, Cedric Turnbull, Pearl Friday, Thor Downing, Dean "Ghost" Smith and Garth Hewlette. He outlined the murals on the panels and allowed the other artists to develop designated sections according to their individual interpretation and skill.
Vanterpool's goals for the project were to pass down the cultural history to Virgin Islanders and tourists, to create an outdoor art gallery accessible to everyone and to beautify a bare concrete wall. The Great Wall, as it has come to be known, seeks to summarize some of the cultural history of the BVI. Located on the Ridge Road in the Fahie Hill area, it brings the traveller face to face with aspects of life in the Virgin Islands as early as the 1930s.
The Great Wall Artists
High above Road Town at Great Mountain, Reuben Vanterpool's studio offers an almost 360-degree scenic view of the rest of Tortola. His paintings immortalize the history of BVI society and culture, including such images as washing day, market scenes, sugar mill activity, old administrative buildings, country walks and pasture scenes. During the 1990s, he taught classes at his Road Town studio where he nurtured several now-budding artists. Since retiring as the speaker of the BVI Legislative Council, he has been painting full time and now creates life-size pieces, such as the restructuring of the 18th-century Lower Estate Sugar Works.
Quito Rhymer remembers feeling very competent in drawing as a child, but his confidence in painting developed later when he was helped along with "light and shadow" by a more accomplished artist. His passion for island life can be seen in his contribution to the community mural, in which he celebrates the vigorous spirit of the "Heritage Dancers" and captures the activity "Inside the Boiling House." He owns Quito's Gazebo, a restaurant in Cane Garden Bay where gourmet desires and dancing feet can be satisfied at the same time.
Cedric Turnbull is very versatile and works in varied styles and mediums. He excels in airbrushing, graphic design, photography, screen-printing, fine art painting and woodcarving. Currently an art instructor at the BVI High School, he studied art at the Centre for Media Arts and at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. His works can be seen at the chief minister's office, the East End Community Centre, on The Great Wall and at his gallery at Cat Enterprises, which is located in Crafts Alive village. You can also view a display of walking sticks, sea creatures, faces and abstract designs, which he carves from red and white cedar and mahogany.
The lone female artist in the project, Pearl Friday, is self-taught and was born in Trinidad. Her artistic tastes can be seen as unusual but realistic, all depicting the history of the Caribbean. She came to the Virgin Islands in 1995 and her skills have matured during her residency, especially while under the tutelage of Reuben Vanterpool. She took one of his courses and blossomed into a confident artist, and her contribution to the murals can be seen in "Baking Bong Bong" and "A Good Catch." She also enjoys contributing to community projects such as the Lower Estate Sugar Works Museum and "Artists Against Drug Addiction" in the Sandy Land Project. Her work is displayed at The Light House located near Radio Doctor on the Blackburne Road in the Port Purcell area.
A member of the BVI Arts Guild, Thor Downing is very versatile and renowned for his portraits of faces and eyes. His paintings are deep studies that may take one into far-reaching, ancient philosophies. Born in Tortola, he won an art scholarship at the age of 11 to Felsted School in Essex, UK. He went on to become an architect and worked in that discipline for 10 years, seven of which he devoted to the study of architecture. He took up his brushes again late in 2003, contributing his touch to the Great Wall in the mural "Relaxing Evening." He also recently exhibited in the BVI Culture and Art Series, an exhibition of local paintings on display for six months at a time in the BVI House in London. Downing moved to Argentina in 2006 to pursue painting as a career and also exhibited in Joker Broadway Gallery and at the RamScale Gallery in New York in conjunction with the BVI Arts Guild.
Dean "Ghost" Smith is a self-taught, full-time artist. He has been sketching since his primary school days and later on developed his oil-on-canvas techniques. His contributions to the murals can be seen in "The Memories of Georges Northside School" and in "Cutting Sugarcane." He is accomplished in the airbrush technique, and his work can be seen on the sides of the Safari Buses, along with other vehicles and boats. "Ghost" shows up whenever there are theatre stage décor and props to design in the Cultural Centre and at other performing arts venues. He is an expert in signage and tends to produce anything the market calls for.
Born in London of West Indian parents but educated in the BVI, Garth Hewlette is a self-taught artist specializing in drawing and pencil work. Hewlette illustrated the Pace Press Newsletter when he attended the Pace Press University in New York. His works in pencil chronicle aspects of the West Indian peoples and their intriguing lifestyles. He was encouraged to paint in the mural project by Vanterpool, during which he enjoyed working with acrylics for the first time.
The concepts for the subject matter came readily to Vanterpool, who had lived in the area as a child and seen it all: donkeys carting sand, preparations for early Saturday morning market, baking "Bong Bong," moonlight crabbing, dipping cattle and many more. Vanterpool inspired other artists to work on the project: Quito Rhymer, Cedric Turnbull, Pearl Friday, Thor Downing, Dean "Ghost" Smith and Garth Hewlette. He outlined the murals on the panels and allowed the other artists to develop designated sections according to their individual interpretation and skill.
The lone female artist in the project, Pearl Friday, is self-taught and was born in Trinidad. Her artistic tastes can be seen as unusual but realistic, all depicting the history of the Caribbean. She came to the Virgin Islands in 1995 and her skills have matured during her residency, especially while under the tutelage of Reuben Vanterpool. She took one of his courses and blossomed into a confident artist, and her contribution to the murals can be seen in "Baking Bong Bong" and "A Good Catch." She also enjoys contributing to community projects such as the Lower Estate Sugar Works Museum and "Artists Against Drug Addiction" in the Sandy Land Project. Her work is displayed at The Light House located near Radio Doctor on the Blackburne Road in the Port Purcell area. 