Museum fundraiser brings its history to life

By Lindsey Turnbull

The Cayman Islands National Museum building has had a fascinating history, as one of the few surviving nineteenth-century structures on the Islands. It has been Cayman’s first post office, the earliest Commissioner’s office, a courthouse and a jailhouse, as well as a schoolroom, library, bank, church hall and dance hall.  It first opened its doors as a museum in 1990.

Bringing that rich history to life in as far as its historical role as Cayman’s courts building, the National Museum has recently launched a new fundraiser called Jail & Bail.

Jail & Bail is a light-hearted fundraising campaign geared to helping the Museum to continue to produce its exhibitions and educational programmes.

The concept revolves around 10 volunteer “offenders” who have been charged with humorous crimes inspired by Cayman culture and traditions: from adding water to turtle stew to referring to the Cayman Islands as the “Caymans”. After being found guilty in the Museum’s historic courtroom, each volunteer will be challenged to raise a minimum of CI$5,000 to earn their freedom. The ten volunteer “defendants” participating are Berna Cummins (Museum Board Chair), Brent McLean, Ashley Crowe, Mona Lisa Meade (Museum Board Member), Mariah Tibbetts, Selita Ebanks, Orneil Galbraith, Hon. Isaac Rankine, Geneve Phillip Durham, Luigi Moxam, and Harris McCoy plays the Judge.

Each volunteer is “arrested” for the “offence” and appears before the judge in the historic Old Courts Building. The judge delivers a guilty verdict and sends them to jail, so each volunteer then has a fundraising goal to secure their release.

People can then visit the defendant profiles, donate, and help bail them out, while sharing their page with friends, family, and colleagues to help them reach their goal.

Brian Watler Jr., the National Museum’s Communications Manager, said:

“Jail & Bail is our new annual fundraiser, an idea that has been several years in the making. The concept of Jail & Bail started with the building itself. The Old Courts Building, now home to the National Museum, has a long history as a courthouse and jail, among other uses. We wanted to bring that history back to life in a fun and engaging way through this fundraiser.”

Mr Watler said that while Jail & Bail was designed to be entertaining, it also had an educational purpose.

“We hope that along the way, people will learn something new about Caymanian culture, our history and the fascinating story of the Old Courts Building,” he confirmed.

The National Museum said the response to its Jail & Bail fundraiser had so far been overwhelming, and they were so grateful to everyone who had supported their defendants so far.

“But we’re not halfway there yet. We need the community’s help to reach our fundraising goal and continue supporting the Museum’s exhibitions and education programmes,” they stated. “Whether you give $5, $25, $100 or whatever you can, every contribution brings us closer to our goal and helps us continue creating exhibitions, educational programmes and experiences for our community.”

Visit https://museum.ky/jailandbail/  to find out more.