Local students to raise funds for DOE and National Trust with help from international marine artist

The Rogest Kids Gallery Programme during Kids Sea Camp in Grand Cayman includes a special international marine artist this year, and local students will be participating in the activities. The Kids Gallery Programme is designed to provide an environment that focuses on lifelong learning, relationships and respect for oneself and others through bringing the study and concepts of environmental education and visual art to life, and to introduce students to the ecology of the world's oceans through art.

Working alongside Ron Steven "Rogest", a renowned marine artist, local children ages 12 – 16 will create their own unique piece of dot art over two half day sessions on July 25th and 26th, 2005. The Kids Gallery Programme will be hosted at Divetech at Cobalt Coast Resort in West Bay as a part of Kids Sea Camp activities for local students to participate in.

Rogest will engage the students in discussions of the habitat, species diversity and interrelatedness, as well as the aboriginal culture of Australia. Students will research a marine organism of their choice and with the assistance of Rogest, each student will create a painting of their chosen organism in the Australian Aboriginal style of dot painting. Students will learn about marine ecology, sustainability and population diversity; aboriginal traditions, beliefs and customs; acrylic painting skills and techniques as well as have the opportunity to have their work contribute to the marine environment.

On Friday, July 29th between 3:00 and 5:00pm, the art and the students descriptions of the organism and it habitat will be displayed at The Butterfly Farm. An auction will be conducted during this time for parents and local businesses to bid on all of the paintings. We wish to celebrate the raising of these funds and the enjoyment of painting with the community at large, and are calling on all businesses and parents to come and join us and bid on the works of art created by our youth. With up to 40 students participating, the Kids Gallery Programme will raise much needed funds. Through education and art we wish to engage the community for the betterment of the environment.

The proceeds from the auction will be donated to The National Trust's Coral Reef Exploration for Children programme and the Department of Environment's Sea Turtle Satellite Tracking programme.

Parents may call Divetech at 946-5658 to register their children. A maximum of 40 children will be registered. There are no registration fees. The students will be given a Kids Sea Camp T-shirt (courtesy of PADI Diving Society), mask, fin and snorkel set plus a wetsuit (courtesy of ScubaPro), all art supplies (courtesy of Kids Sea Camp), lunch and refreshments (courtesy of Cobalt Coast Resort), a Stingray City dive or snorkel trip (courtesy of Divetech). Boatswain Beach is a sponsor to the event, providing all of the logistics, refreshments and support for the auction to take place. Transportation to and from the Kids Gallery Programme is not provided.

Artist Ron Stevens, better known as Rogest, has been featured on the front covers of many magazines, and he has donated his work to Scholarship programmes and Ocean Pals, as well as many marine and environmental causes. He is a leading painter of aquatic related images, influenced by the Australian style of dot painting and utilizes seawater (salt) and sand from the ocean for texture, making his paintings truly unique. www.rogest.com

Divetech and Cobalt Coast Resort host Kids Sea Camp in Grand Cayman annually for 2 weeks each summer. Children from ages 4+ learn to snorkel, SASY and scuba dive in a variety of educational and fun courses, while the parents are out scuba diving. Marine awareness & identification, underwater photography, a treasure hunt, pizza/movie night, games, arts & crafts, Stingray City trip and an Atlantis semi-sub ride are incorporated into the event. www.divetech.com www.cobaltcoast.com

Kids Sea Camp is the brain child of Margo Chornlesky, a certified diver since 1988. She moved to the Cayman Islands in 1992, working as a Travel Agent and Tour guide, and returned to Florida in 1995. Margo runs Caribbean Adventures Dive Travel and is a working mother of two. Margo created Kids Sea Camp to travel with her family to fun, educational children's programmes. Meeting all the educational standards, Kids Sea Camp has chosen PADI Diving Society, the Seal Team, Jr. Certification and SASY for children's water-based programmes. www.kidseacamp.com

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