Anyone who happened to be in North Side Sunday afternoon might have spotted a herd of concrete creatures making their way to new stomping grounds at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park.
The large sculptures were relocated to the North Side park for its Children’s Garden, donated by concrete sculptor David Quasius, also known as Davinoff, who designed and built each piece by hand.
“I’m very excited by the fact that those [sculptures] are going to end up as a complete collection in one place,” Quasius told the Cayman Compass in a telephone interview from his home in Wisconsin on Monday.
The Sheboygan, Wisconsin, native started creating his concrete sculptures in 1998 on his property in North Side and had allowed members of the public, residents and visitors alike, free access to check out the artwork.
North Side MP and Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks, in a brief comment to the Compass about the donation, said, “I would just like to say thank you to the owner for choosing the park, for making such a donation. I’m sure that they will become a great attraction to the park.”
Quasius said for years John Lawrus, the manager at the park, had been asking him for a sculpture or two so he decided to donate them after putting his North Side home up for sale.
He said he knew Lawrus and his wife for quite a while as fellow North Side residents and had mentioned his plans to sell the house, and that the sculptures would probably not remain on the property.
That discussion set in motion the recent donation to the Botanic Park.
“I was looking for a home and I didn’t know if I was going to split them up. I know that the Parrot Sanctuary has a couple of my parrots that I had done specifically for him. [T]hey were interested in the agouti because they got a ‘Little Bits’ [the agouti] running around there and I think they were looking to get the crab, but they all ended up in one collection over at Botanic Park so I’m very happy about that,” he said.
Lawrus told the Compass he was excited to have the sculptures located in the Children’s Garden which “continues to move in a positive direction thanks to all its supporters”.
Long-time wish fulfilled
He said the idea of having the animal sculptures in the garden had been on his mind for some time.
“Seeing the children, local and visitors, enjoying his sculptures at his sand garden in Old Man Bay was always a great experience. I constantly bothered David to donate them to the Botanic Park. This was many, many years ago,” Lawrus said.
In fact, he said, the sculptor and his sister Sher Quasius decided to create a Blue Iguana sculpture just for the Botanic Park in 2017 and it still rests at the entrance to the North Side attraction, welcoming visitors.
The 600-pound statue was damaged back in March, but has since been repaired.
Lawrus said it was “an easy answer” when Quasius asked him if he wanted the sculptures and “we started preparing them last week to be moved”.
“The Children’s Garden is an incredible asset for the people of the Cayman Islands and all of our visitors as well. A safe place where children can learn passively through play as well as through structured learning is what the Children’s Garden is all about. This donation along with all of our previous donations and gifts in kind further encourages the community support that we enjoy,” he said.
A mammoth move
Once they had the green light to take the sculptures, Lawrus and his team had to come up with a way to move them with minimal to no damage.
Lawrus said after coordinating with volunteers, heavy equipment operators and staff of the Botanic Park they began preparing the main sculptures last week, with move day scheduled for Saturday, 10 Sept.
“Expert handling and moving skills came from Stuart Broadbelt and Cecil, and Cody Kaufman, of Kaufman’s Lift & Load, Joseph Betty as well as staff and other volunteers who stopped by throughout the day. We were able to move Ivan, the Blue Iguana; Clawdette, the Land Crab; Romenio, the Cuban Crocodile; Whelkcome, the Giant Whelk; and Aculeus, the Cayman Scorpion,” he said.
They were placed “safely in their new home” in the Children’s Garden at the Botanic Park, Lawrus said.
“With some final adjustments and minor repair works these will be ready soon for children and adults alike to enjoy. We hope to finish the garden soon, but as it is largely donor funded, we still are looking for donations and gifts in kind to finish this great asset for the community and the Cayman Islands,” he added.
The laughter of children
Quasius, who will return to Cayman this week, said when he visited he would talk with almost everyone who came into the park, which was one of his small pleasures.
“What I will miss most is my front yard filled with the laughter of children running from one over-sized concrete animal sculpture to another, dragging their parents and grandparents in tow. Secondly, I will miss visiting with visitors from all over the world who stopped to glance at my over 20 years of sculpting on the Island I always loved,” he said.
He said his favourite sculptures were the iguana, the octopus and the crocodile.
The octopus, inspired by the James Bond film series, has 400 individual suckers which Quasius created and installed by hand.
Lawrus said it was “incredible to have [the sculptures] in the Children’s Garden where kids and adults can enjoy seeing native and regional animals in giant proportions”.
Brooke Moore, who owns a property next door to where Quasius lived in North Side, said she will be happy to see the animals in their new residence.
“We have been fortunate to have the sculpture park just next door for our holiday renters, friends and family to enjoy,” Moore told the Compass. “Dave and family have been so gracious over the years to allow the community to enjoy this free attraction on their [private] property. We look forward to the visiting the sculptures in their new home at the Botanic Park.”
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Thank you Mr. Quasius. For being a true part of our Cayman community.