KINGSTON, Jamaica — In a tribute to the late Peggy Blades, a revered matriarch of the Blades family and former director of Mussons Jamaica Limited, a groundbreaking national art prize has been unveiled. The $1.5 million Peggy Blades Art Prize, announced by the Musson Foundation, is set to become an annual initiative aimed at nurturing young Jamaican artists, educators, and school art programmes. The inaugural award ceremony will take place on October 2, 2025, during the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Art Competition and Awards at the Confucius Institute on the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus. This initiative seeks to bolster creativity and enhance art education across the island by integrating the prize into the JCDC’s national Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition. The award will feature multiple categories, recognizing top-performing student artists, educators, and school art departments. Additionally, it will fund workshops and teaching resources to establish sustainable art programmes in schools. Peggy Blades, remembered for her quiet philanthropy and passion for the arts and education, left a lasting legacy of social impact. Her daughter, Susan Scott, an artist herself, emphasized the personal significance of the award, stating, ‘Through the Peggy Blades Art Prize, we are honouring a woman whose warmth, generosity, and love of Jamaica touched everyone she met. Our hope is that every child who takes part feels encouraged to explore their creativity, because that spark of imagination can change a life.’