PARLIAMENTARY Representative for Gros Islet, Emma Hippolyte, has announced the launching of the Frank Norville Centre for Creative Arts, which is to be located in Gros Islet.
At a Press Conference last Thursday, Ms Hippolyte, the initiator of the idea for the Centre, stated that the launching will take place this coming Sunday- JounenKwéyòl – at Monchy from 3:00 p.m.
The idea behind the Centre is to provide an avenue through which unemployed and unattached youth in the district of Gros Islet can learn skills in the creative arts to empower then to improve on their situations. For the time being the Centre, will operate as virtual entity with activities taking place in four locations- Monchy at the Human Resource Centre, the Gros Islet Secondary and Primary schools, the Corinth Secondary School, and the Grande Riviere Primary School. Classes will commence with students from those schools but will be expanded to take in the unemployed youth in the district.
The Centre is named in memory of the late Frank Norville who passed away in May this year and was an enthusiastic singer and promoter of St. Lucian Folk music. It is his connection with Folk music that made JounenKwéyòl an appropriate date for the formal opening of the Centre while Monchy was chosen as the venue for the launch because Norville had worked extensively with the Monchy School.
The Centre has already received a gift of musical instruments from Professor Harvey Millar, a Canadian based St. Lucian university lecturer in Business, who is well known here as a Jazz musician. Dr. Millar, who contributed to refining the concept and modalities of the Centre, was also present at Thursday’s Press Conference.
The programme for the launching of the Centre on Sunday, includes performances by the school orchestras from Monchy, the Gros Islet and Corinth Secondary Schools, the Gros Islet, Grande Riviere and Dame PearletteLouisy Primary Schools. There will also be addresses from Ms Hippolyte and a representative of Frank Norville’s family who have warmly embraced the idea of the Centre of Creative Arts in his name.
The programme will be preceded by JounenKwéyòl activities in Monchy from early morning and will be climaxed with a performance from Monchy’s popular solo group, Secret Band