walcott place - saint lucia national...

Walcott PlaceA Gateway to the Legacy of the Walcott Brothers

saint lucia national trustFundraising ProsPectus

WALCOTT PLACE PROSPECTUS SAINT LUCIA NATIONAL TRUST

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The creation of Walcott Place is ambitious; it is grand; and it is long overdue. Walcott Place proposes to create a physical space to celebrate Roderick and Derek Walcott’s achievements, and to be a source of inspiration and education. It shall be the focal point for our acknowledgement of the enormity of their contribution to the arts.

The Walcott Place project will restore the Walcotts’ childhood home located on Chaussee Road in Castries, and convert it, along with adjoining spaces acquired by the Government of Saint Lucia, into a museum of the brothers’ works, with studio space for art and writing workshops and a theatre. Moreover the project will lead a renaissance in the Chaussee Road-Grass Street area through the creation of economic opportunities associated with Walcott Place.

“I come from a place that likes grandeur; it likes large gestures; it is not inhibited by flourish; it is a rhetorical society; it is a society of physical

performance; it is a society of style.”

Derek Walcott

Introduction to Walcott Place


alix Walcott Warwick Walcott

roderick, Pamela and Derek Walcott

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The Walcott Family

Derek and Roderick Walcott were born in a modest Chaussee Road home to Alix and Warwick Walcott on January 23, 1930. Their father, a civil servant and amateur water colourist, died in 1931, leaving Pamela, their older sister, Derek and Roderick in the

sole care of their mother.

Their talented and gregarious mother was head teacher at the Methodist Infant School in Castries for 40 years and also worked as a seamstress to make ends meet. She had a love for the arts and would

often recite poetry to the family.

(www.thereedfoundation.org)


Derek Alton Walcott

At the age of 14 Derek had a poem published in a local newspaper, and four years later published a book of poetry. Following university, he moved to Trinidad and founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, which produced works of Caribbean and international playwrights. By the time he won the Nobel Prize in 1992, Walcott had already received several accolades including Officer of the Order of the British Empire, the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (“Genius Award”), the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, the Arts Council of Wales International Writers Prize, and the W. H. Smith Literary Award.

selected WorksPoetry coLLections

1948 25 Poems1949 Epitaph for the Young: Xll Cantos1965 The Castaway and Other Poems1969 The Gulf and Other Poems1973 Another Life1976 Sea Grapes1979 The Star-Apple Kingdom1984 Midsummer1986 Collected Poems, 1948-1984, featuring

“Love After Love”1987 The Arkansas Testament1990 Omeros1997 The Bounty2000 Tiepolo’s Hound, includes Walcott’s

watercolors2004 The Prodigal2010 White Egrets2014 The Poetry of Derek Walcott 1948-2013

PLAys1949 Henri Christophe: A Chronicle in 7 Scenes1951 Harry Dernier: A Play for Radio Production1953 Wine of the Country1954 The Sea at Dauphin: A Play in One Act1958 Ti-Jean and His Brothers1966 Malcochon: or, Six in the Rain1967 Dream on Monkey Mountain1970 In a Fine Castle1974 The Joker of Seville1974 The Charlatan1976 O Babylon!1978 Pantomime (Walcott play)1980 The Joker of Seville and O Babylon!: Two

Plays1984 “The Haitian Earth”1986 Three Plays The Last Carnival, Beef, No

Chicken, and A Branch of the Blue Nile)1997 The Capeman (book and lyrics, both in

collaboration with Paul Simon)

2002 Walker and The Ghost Dance2011 Moon-Child2014 O Starry Starry Night

other Books1990 The Poet in the Theatre, Poetry Book Society

(London)1993 The Antilles: Fragments of Epic Memory

Farrar, Straus (New York)1996 Conversations with Derek Walcott, University

of Mississippi (Jackson, MS)1996 (With Joseph Brodsky and Seamus Heaney)

Homage to Robert Frost, Farrar, Straus (New York)

1998 What the Twilight Says (essays), Farrar, Straus (New York, NY)

2002 Walker and Ghost Dance, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY)

2004 Another Life: Fully Annotated, Lynne Rienner Publishers (Boulder, CO)

AWArds1969 Cholmondeley Award1971 Obie Award for Best Foreign Play (for Dream

on Monkey Mountain)1972 Officer of the Order of the British Empire[10]1981 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (“genius

award”)1988 Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry1990 Arts Council of Wales International Writers

Prize1990 W. H. Smith Literary Award (for poetry

Omeros)1992 Nobel Prize in Literature2004 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime

Achievement2008 Honorary doctorate from the University of

Essex2011 T. S. Eliot Prize (for poetry collection White

Egrets)2011 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

(for White Egrets)

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Works

The Harrowing of Benjy (1958), Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

The Banjo Man, Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

The Legend of Tom Fool, Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

The Expatriates, Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

The Image of Canga Brown, Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

A Flight of Sparrows, Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

The Education of Alfie, Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

Malfinis, Trinidad: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

The Trouble with Albino Joe, Kingston: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

Shrove Tuesday March: a play of the Steelband, Kingston: UWI Extra-Mural Dept.

Chanson Marianne (1974)

Romiel et Violette (1979)

The Guitar Man’s Song

The Wonderful World of Brother Rabbit

AWArds

1976 - Officer of the Order of the British Empire

2000 - Joseph Devaux Lifetime Achievement Award, Minvielle and Chastanet Fine Arts Award

2000 - St. Lucia’s Medal of Honor (Gold) for outstanding contribution to Literary and Performing Arts.

RoderickWalcott

Roderick Walcott is remembered as the leader of the St. Lucia Arts Guild during the fifties and sixties, (circa 1955 - 1967), after it was founded in 1950 with his brother Derek Walcott in the driver’s seat. He was highly respected throughout the region as a playwright, screenwriter, painter, theatre director, costume and set designer, song lyricist and literary editor. He also led the Turks Carnival band, and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of Saint Lucian Carnival. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern Caribbean theatre. His collaboration for many years with Charles Cadet, a noted Saint Lucian academic and musician produced many folk songs that have now become classic Saint Lucian songs.


Project Background

In 2006 the Government of Saint Lucia acquired the Walcott family home and vested it in the Saint Lucia National Trust with a mandate to convert it into a museum to celebrate the life and achievements of the Walcott brothers. The project design acknowledges the significant economic and social decay of the neighbourhood and seeks to trigger a regeneration of the area as an integral part of the overall plan. The Trust has created the Walcott Place planning committee chaired by Her Excellency Dame Pearlette Louisy to lead the project planning, and technical committees to plan various aspects of the project.

our Vision: Creativity and the Arts shall become key drivers of national pride, economic re-generation and urban renewal.

our goal: To celebrate the artistic and creative genius of the Walcott brothers.

our objectives: The Walcott Place project is designed to achieve the following:

1. Development of a museum and place of learning to celebrate the Walcott family, focusing on interpretation, education, culture, drama and entertainment, with supporting infrastructure;

2. Regeneration and rebranding of the lower Chaussee Road area into the Castries Arts & Heritage Quarter

In pursuing these objectives we propose to:.

• develop a working Museum exploring the Walcott Family, focusing on interpretation, arts education, culture and entertainment

• inspire the pursuit of excellence among the nation’s youth

• create a viable, world class tourism product in urban Castries

• encourage the development of the arts and cultural industries in Saint Lucia

• facilitate social change and urban renewal in the Chaussee Road-Grass Street community

• regeneration and rebranding of the Lower Chaussee Rd area (incl. Grass St and Mary-Ann St into the Castries Arts & Heritage Quarter

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Project Description

The main components of Walcott Place include:

1. Reconstruction of the family home using traditional design to be used as interpretive space.

2. Construction of an approximately 170-seat theatre, gift shop, classrooms, reading room, artist’s studio and café.

3. Construction of a courtyard to serve as the entrance to both the museum and theatre.

Supporting physical enhancements will include:

• Enhancement to the façade and general improvements to properties north of existing Walcott House to create spill-over inner courtyard and additional amenities

• Extension of Grass Street east to connect to Leslie Land road

• Enhanced landscaping and streetscaping elements

• Improved lighting in the extended neighbourhood

• Clearance of dilapidated structures and creation of pocket parks

• Creation of Community Garden


The total cost of the project is estimated at EC$16.3 million (US$6.1 million). This includes land acquisition, construction costs, fitting and furnishing the museum, theatre and café, and physical enhancements to the community. Thus far EC$7.5 million (US$2.8 million) has been donated by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the Government of Saint Lucia will meet the cost of the land acquisition, estimated at EC$2 million (US$750,000), leaving a funding gap of EC$8.05 million (US$3.01 million).

Project Funding

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Financial Viability

Our planning committees are generating ideas and plans to support the operations of Walcott Place. Some ideas being developed include:• Ticket Sales from tours and theatre

performances.• Rental of the theatre and outdoor space for

small events.• Sale of Walcott Place branded merchandise in

the gift shop, online and to other retailers.• Concession rentals.• Sale of books and other publications.• Charitable donations/fundraising events.• International grants.• Workshops

investment Facilitation

The Trust has undertaken a project to list buildings and streetscapes of significant cultural, historical and/or architectural value with the view to preserving facets of Saint Lucia’s cultural history. This project compliments the Walcott Place project as it will facilitate the listing of the lower Chaussee Road area as an important cultural landscape, thereby granting property owners access to incentives/funding for building restoration.

The Trust will also pursue the establishment of an incentives régime to spur investment in the Grass Street community. Specific areas to be included in the régime are art galleries, guesthouses, hostels, art supplies stores, and restaurants/cafés.

community Participation

Community buy-in and integration are important for the sustainability of Walcott Place. While studies are being conducted to inform related project design elements we have had consultations with the community, coming out of which some ideas for their involvement in the project are emerging, such as:

• Costume design and production

• Lighting and sound engineering

• Business development

• Playing selected musical instruments

• Drawing/painting

• Tour guiding

Sustainability of Walcott Place


Project management

Given the national, indeed global nature of this project, the Trust is working closely with a number of agencies and individuals to deliver this project, including:

• Saint Lucia’s Governor General, Her Excellency Dame Pearlette Louisy

• The Grass Street Community

• The Cultural Development Foundation

• Walcott Family members

• Folk Research Centre

• The Ministry of Physical Development, Housing and Urban Renewal

• Ministry of Social Transformation, Local Government & Community Empowerment

• University of the West Indies Open Campus

• National Archives

• Saint Lucia Social Development Fund

• Saint Lucia Archaeological and Historical Society

• Ministry of Education

The Saint Lucia National Trust’s role in the development of Walcott Place is explained by the Saint Lucia National Trust Act, Chapter 6.02 of the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia which mandates the Trust to “locate and to promote the preservation of buildings and objects of archaeological, architectural, historic, artistic or traditional interest and the establishment of museums”.

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DonateApproximately EC$8.05 million (US$3.01 million) is required to meet the total funding requirements of the project. Donations can be made to the Saint Lucia National Trust via the organisation’s website, www.slunatrust.org or via cheque or credit card payment. The Trust is a registered charity in Saint Lucia and as such all donations are tax deductible under Section 55 of the Income Tax Act Chapter 15.02.

WALCOTT PLACEFinancial Prospectus

“Our house with its bougainvillea trellises,the front porch gone, was a printery. In its noise

I was led up the cramped stair to its offices.I saw the small window near which we slept as boys,

how close the roof was. The heat of the galvanize.A desk in my mother’s room, not that bed, sunlit,with its rose quilt where we were forbidden to sit.”

From Omeros

saint lucia national trust(758) 452-5005 / [email protected]. slunatrust.org

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