Surrounded by family and friends, beloved muralist, businesswoman, and art instructor Barbara Oliver celebrated her 90th birthday on Monday, 4 Dec.
“I feel a little older and achier, but I still feel young at heart,” Oliver told the Compass.
Barbara Oliver and her late husband, Ed Oliver, arrived in the Cayman Islands in the late 1960s from the United States, and with passion and a shared vision, both contributed to the world of art and literacy over the years.
The couple owned Cayman ARTVentures, a supply store and gallery in George Town, hosted many art classes and competitions, supported drama and theatre productions, and funded the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands Ed and Barbara Oliver Scholarship.
Her late husband was an acclaimed painter, decorated author, musician and art teacher, plus he also made and sold postcards. As a teacher, he played a significant role in the success story of locally acclaimed artists such as Bendel Hydes, Raphael Bodden, Alpha Kozaily, and Danny Ebanks.
In 2004, Hurricane Ivan destroyed their home and, with Ed’s deteriorating health, forced the couple to relocate to the US. Ed passed away in 2005. Throughout the years, Barbara would come back to visit Cayman. In 2012, she donated copies of her late husband’s books that she was able to salvage from the 2004 storm, to the Cayman Islands National Museum.
For Cayman’s early art pioneer, Barbara still remains an icon of inspiration and creativity, etched in the hearts of those she taught and remembered through paintings, murals, and artefacts across the islands.
‘Identify with earth and nature’
As she celebrates her 90th birthday, she remains active and delights in her lifelong love of gardening. “I lived on the beachside in Bodden Town in Cayman. Here, in the US, I found dirt and now I’m out gardening as often as I can.”
She added, “I think it’s really important to identify yourself with the earth and nature, as gardening can be very philosophical. Since I was a child, I was in nature a lot and that’s where I found my spirituality.”
For Barbara, home is where the heart is and that is Cayman. “I have so many Facebook friends, they’re a lot younger than I am, because most of my older friends have passed on. I taught art to children there for 16 years; a lot of them have grown but I’m still in touch with them, as well as younger people. I’m still friends with them.
“I grew up to be connected to them still, and up to the morning of my birthday, I’ve been responding to their greetings. I have alll of these Cayman connections. I identify a lot with the Old Cayman site on Facebook.”
Barbara described her time in Cayman over the years as “heaven”. She said the last time she visited, she couldn’t believe how much the island had developed, but noted, “Everyone was kind, loving, everyone knew everyone else. People were polite. I loved every interaction that we had with any walk of life, you were recognised, respected and loved.”
She shared that she recently had to renew her driver’s licence. When asked whether she wanted to extend her licence for four or eight years, she chuckled as she recounted her response: “I’ll take eight”.
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