The National Gallery of Jamaica: A Must See When Visiting Kingston or Montego Bay

The National Gallery of Jamaica was established in 1974 & currently has two branches. One in downtown, Kingston & the other in Montego Bay, St. James. It is said to be the oldest & largest public art museum in the Anglophone Caribbean. Its first collection contained 237 paintings & 25 sculptures.

 Currently, they have four permanent galleries at the Kingston Branch. These are:


l The Historical Galleries
l The Edna Manley Galleries
l The Kapo Galleries
l The A.D Scott Collection

                                                                INFORMATION ON THE PERMANENT GALLERIES


The Historical Galleries portrays Jamaica from its original inhabitants, the Tainos through colonization. First the Spanish enslaved the Tainos then the English colonized Jamaica in 1655. The island remained under the British’s rule until it became independent in 1962. You’ll see artifacts, paintings & pictures depicting each period in this permanent exhibition.



 Edna Manley is considered the “mother of Jamaican art”. She was known not just for paintings but sculptures. British by birth and Jamaican by visual arts, Edna Manley made valuable contributions to development of visual arts & culture in Jamaica. For this, she was awarded several awards such as:

· Order of Merit, Jamaica’s fourth highest National Award (1980)
· Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica (1977)
· Institute of Jamaica‘s Gold Musgrave Medal (1943)
· Institute of Jamaica‘s Silver Musgrave Medal (1929
Some of her works include “Before Truth”, and “Into the Mist”,Mountain Girl”, “The Prophet”. She was also a founding member of the National Gallery of Jamaica and wife to Jamaican National hero & Founder of People's National Party (PNP), Norman Manley. This permanent gallery displays her work throughout her lifetime.



Kapo’s birth name is Mallica Reynolds. He was a self-taught artist & religious leader, specifically a Zionist Revival leader. Kapo used his art to embody religious visions. His work is often described as primitive or intuitive. In 1981, his painting “Shining Spring” was chosen as a wedding gift to Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Kapo was alson known for leading a group of artists called the “Intuitives” along with the late late Sidney McLaren and Brother Everald Brown.

An English man known as John Pringle collected Kapo’s works. His family later donated these to the National Gallery of Jamaica for public display.  



Ainsworth David Scott (A.D Scott) was an engineer & avid art collector. He was committed to supporting artists in the post-independent Jamaica. Due to this, he had many pieces of artists who later became prominent. He contributed a collection of over 60 pieces to the National Gallery of Jamaica. In this collection, you'll see artwork by several renowned artists such as Barrington Watson. 



Other than the permanent galleries, there are featured exhibitions worth seeing. Every last Sunday of the month the National Gallery of Jamaica opens its doors to visitors for free from the hours of 11 am - 4 pm. There’s usually a performance on this day. Otherwise, it’s $400 JMD for adults to view the artworks & it’s free for children & students with ID. You can also arrange guided tours for a special cost. There’s a coffee & gift store on property.

Check out our YouTube channel where we put together a special video on the National Gallery of Jamaica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHtMua9YgEE


Do subscribe to our YouTube channel as we’ll be sharing a lot of information on the culture, arts & overall life in Jamaica.

Contact the National Gallery at 1876-922-1561/1876-618-0654, email at info@natgalja.org.jm or follow them on Instagram@nationalgalleryofgjamaica.


Want us to cover a particular place or just say hi? Email us at kavionartjac@gmail.com 









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