Guyanese sculptor/artist, Francis Ferreira, is a ‘Special Person’

Jun 21, 2020 News, Special Person

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Creating treasures to last for generations to come…

By Rehanna Ramsay

Art is a gift endowed with attributes that live on for centuries, even after its creator fades from this earth. Its timelessness and beauty have been proven as a trans-generational blessing to the human race.

This is a perspective of Guyanese sculptor/artist Francis Ferreira.Ferreira‘s pieces have enthralled art lovers locally and abroad for decades.
His work includes: the decades-old bust of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE’)s longest serving principal, Francis Vaughn Cooke; the Black Cacique – an ode to Guyana‘s Indigenous and African heritage and the admired Marine Turtle Conservation monument which stands in the centre of Kingston, Georgetown – one of the country’s most popular urban squares.
Throughout a career that spans in excess of 50 years, Ferreira has led caravans of local talents to showcase their pieces at a number of distinguished events regionally and internationally. He is the holder of a silver medal for visual arts in Guyana and has become known for his art advocacy work; the type of promotion which led to the formation of Guyana’s first independent support group for artists – the Main Street Art Group (MSAG).
As Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the MSAG, Ferreira has led discussions and projects geared at positioning local art talents and workers in places that would allow them to showcase their work in ways that will benefit them.
It is only fitting that this father of 10 be featured as our ‘Special Person’ today even as Father’s Day is observed.
In addition to being a proud father, he is also a passionate farmer and lover of his environment.
His love for nature has also proven to be a constant source of inspiration for most of his art pieces.
Speaking to this publication about his passions, Ferreira noted that he entered the field for the love of art and stayed for the satisfaction it brought to those who appreciate its ageless beauty.

“I always tell people don’t become an artist to make money, you would be sorely disappointed. Some of the best artists were dirt poor in their lifetime but their work spoke for itself.
Art captures history with grace and class and years; decades maybe even centuries later, people can enjoy and admire the beauty it holds. These are treasures that in many cases become priceless in time to come,” he explained.
Native to Rose Hall, Berbice Ferreira fell in love with art as a boy.
His relationship with art only deepened as he developed his skills into manhood. He intimated that when life’s path veered him on several different directions, his love for art was the one thing that remained constant and abiding.
It led to a career that brought him immense satisfaction and a number of awards for visual artistry. By nature a visionary, Ferreira has worked tirelessly to make his name among the nation’s noteworthy creatives, efforts which began in the ancient county in a household of Matilda DrePaul and Sylvester Ferreira – his beloved parents.
FIRST LOVE
The artist was the third child and first born son to the Ferreira household. He disclosed that his parents had eight children altogether.
“My father was a cane farmer and my mother was what you would call a housewife or homemaker,” Ferreira said. He noted that his parents were hardworking people who stopped at nothing to ensure that the family was taken care of.

When he was quite very young, Ferreira said that his father had left their home in Berbice and travelled to the West Bank of Demerara to participate in a peasant farming project by Bookers Estate.
He said that it was an opportunity for his father to better provide for his growing family. During that time, a young Ferreira and his siblings attended the Rose Hall Scots (Church of Scotland) School in Rose Hall.
“So my father would spend weekdays tilling the soil on the West Bank and come home on weekends to see the family in Berbice.”
He said that though he did not get to see his father every day, even at that age, he understood the reason for his sacrifice.
Under the Bookers for a pilot project on peasant farming, Ferreira explained cane farmers were drawn from various parts of the country as an experiment with household cane farming.
His father was selected among several other farmers to work on acres of land on the West Bank and the West Coast of Demerara too.

“My father was given fifteen acres of land at Belle Vue on West Bank of Demerara to cultivate. He shared his time between the West Bank farm and our family in Berbice until I was about seven- years old. That’s when the project kicked off.”
With a now budding farm on his hands, Mr. Ferreira Sr. moved his entire family from the Corentyne Coast to the West Bank.
As a small boy, Ferreira enjoyed farming. “It was my second best thing to do after school,” he quipped. But his first love was always art. He spent any time he could spare, sketching, painting and chiseling away at pieces of wood or any solid material of that nature which he could find.
“I was always carving little model tractors and buses. The sort of things little boys would play with…”
At Belle Vue, the young Ferreira was exposed to beauty and serenity that comes with living in the countryside.
Like most children his age, he attended La Retraite Preparatory School. He explained that though he never was an academic overachiever, he performed satisfactorily and was loved by his teachers.

His introverted behaviour and love for drawing even caught the attention of one of his teachers, Miss Yonette Grey, in such a way that she decided to take money from her own pocket to purchase materials for him to continue working on his art.
“I was also never the child that played a lot in school. So, when the other boys were running about playing football and cricket. I would always use my spare time to sit in the corner drawing.
I think Miss Grey recognised that there was an aptitude for art and so she would buy me materials like books, paint sets, pencils and so on,” Ferreira recalled of his teacher with a smile.
He said that even after school, he would take his art home and continue chipping away or colouring the pieces to perfection.
LEADERSHIP
His school days were short-lived as Ferreira recalled being unable to finish high school.
“I dropped out at fourth form and began my first job as a log attendant at the Wales Sugar Estate.”
Ferreira continued in that post for two years. He noted that though the pay was satisfactory, he found no pleasure in collecting samples to be processed at laboratory for sugar production.
As a result, he left the employment and joined the Young Socialist Movement (YSM), a youth arm founded by the People’s National Congress (PNC) under the Forbes Burnham administration.
“Back then, the YSM was popular among young Guyanese,” he said, recalling, “We had a group in almost every single village across the country.”
He quickly moved up the ranks and served as Chairman of the Patentia, West Bank Demerara YSM Council.
As chairman of the group, Ferreira earned enough money to take care of his growing family. He said that his income was $170 per month. “I also had my own bicycle which was a common mode of transportation in those days.”
As head of the YSM, Ferreira was selected to attend the ideological institute at Long Creek on the Linden Soesdyke Highway. There, he was introduced to the paramilitary training, socialist ideology and nationalism.
He said as leader of the PNC-led youth group, he was not just mentored in political matters but in community development affairs, farming, and craft, among other things.
TRAINING
It was during his time as YSM leader that Ferreira attended a national exhibition at the Multilateral Secondary School in East Ruimveldt.
He ran into celebrated local sculptor Phillip Moore. Moore had already become renowned for work on the 1763 monument commonly referred to as “Cuffy; the spirited statue”.
An encounter with Moore only deepened Ferreira’s interest in the art.
“We talked about practically everything and he encouraged me to join the art school which he was teaching at Eccles.”
According to Ferreira, Moore already had a few budding local artists under his wings and he was looking to add to the fleet. Along with budding artists like Bryan Clarke, Ferreira joined the group in training.
He said that as a protégé of Moore, he was instructed in more than sculpting, pottery and the likes. His art teacher mentored him in the various disciples of life from philosophy to spirituality. Moore would incorporate all these things in his teachings.
“He spoke to us about philosophy, morality, spirituality, manhood expectations and just life topics as we worked on our pieces. That way we were never bored and we learnt so much about life from him.”
During a period when the usage of recreational drugs was being promoted as the way to ease one’s mind, Ferreira said his mentor would always say, “meditation is better than using drugs.”
However, his stint in the art school was cut short due to financial issues.
“I had a wife and children to take care of so I had to return to farming.”
But in 1979, his work was recognized; he won his first visual arts award for his sculpted piece titled ‘Bonds of Slavery’.
The following year, Dennis Williams, the Director of Art at the Department of Culture made an honourable mention of his piece and arranged for him to get a scholarship via the Public Service Ministry.
Through the scholarship, Ferreira was able to complete his final year as an artist. He majored in sculpting and minored in principle design.
CERTIFIED
As a certified artist, Ferreira returned to Berbice and took a job teaching art at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School.
“My job as art mastery there did not last long because I was too young and restless,” Ferreira said teasingly.
According to him, “as a young man, I found Berbice too slow for me so I returned to Georgetown.”
Shortly after leaving Berbice, the artist took part time jobs teaching Burrowes School of Art and the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). It was during this period that he was asked to create a bust monument of the CPCE’s longest serving Principal, Francis Vaughn Cooke.
Later the artist was contracted by the Marine Turtle Conversation Society to build a statue that would remind the public of the magnificence of Guyana’s leatherback turtles and the importance of protecting them.
“That was 2008. It was Annette Arjoon and Shyam Nokta that contracted me to do that piece.” The Marine Turtle Conservation Statue now stands in the centre of one of Guyana’s busiest commercial square at Kingston, Georgetown.
Flanked by several local landmarks and important urban structures such the Pegasus Hotel, the Umana Yana and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI); the Marine Turtle Conservation sculpture catches the eyes of hundreds of passersby on a daily basis. The charming piece of sculpture is an attraction for locals and tourists alike.
But this is not the only work of art that has made Ferreira’s name among some of the nation’s admired creatives. Throughout his career, Ferreira built several pieces for private individuals and public display. He lists Dunstan Burrowes and former Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green, among his valued customers.
And at the height of his career in the 1970s, Ferreira’s customer base ranged from Guyana’s first executive President Forbes Burnham to Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rashleigh Jackson.
He explained that in those days, art was fashionable and art pieces were relished.
“The Government would purchase pieces as state gifts. Our work would be purchased as gifts for many notable visitors/friends of this land in his work. That kind of support gave artists an avenue to earn a living by doing what they did best,” he explained.

 

 

 

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