The Jairus Brewster Children’s Gallery, named after the son of the Honourable Chesterfield Brewster and wife, Susan Brewster, was officially opened on 15 July 2021 at the Barbados Museum and Historical Society.
The Gallery features many contemporary exhibits that are sophisticated and include visual, some text in braille, audial and touch functions making this space highly interactive and engaging. Though the new state of the art exhibitions have been created mainly for children between the ages of three and 13 years; they also appeal to the young at heart.
In keeping with the current trends in museums, the Jairus Brewster Children’s Gallery features a variety of handcrafted exhibits made and installed by artisans from the United Kingdom. This was done to ensure that the children of Barbados inclusive of those with varying developmental needs and physical disabilities, have access to cutting edge technologies where they will be able to “Explore” the human body, perform surgeries; artefacts to touch and smell where applicable and exhibits for music and engineering.
Remarks were delivered by Alissandra Cummins, Director of the Museum; Sir Trevor Carmichael, President; Christopher Holder SCM and Mary Brewster representing The Maria Holder Memorial Trust. Senator Dr. Romel Springer, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training delivered the feature address.
The plaque was unveiled by Seamone Trotman, Jairus’ sister and Mary Brewster, his Aunt followed by a short tour of the new Gallery where children and adults alike were excited with the modern technology and fun, learning opportunities provided.
While Chesterfield and Susan Brewster were unable to be in attendance, they were very pleased with the opening of Gallery named after their son, Jairus, and hope that it will continue to enlighten the children of Barbados and visitors to Barbados alike for many years to come.
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