Scheed Cole breathes life into National Heroes

It was a hero’s welcome that our national heroes and heroine got when they arrived in Half-Way Tree on Emancipation Day, August 1. The sculptures, created by Scheed Cole, looked lifelike that bystanders could not help taking multiple shots.

Over the years, the float parade hero effigies were gigantic caricatures in loose-fitting clothes dancing and swaying in the wind. Even then, they were quite popular and somewhat scary to some children. This time around, in their sartorial splendour, the heroes were mounted on their own float that carried the tag, ‘We can all be diamond heroes’. That theme was created by Cole himself.

Yet the country nearly didn’t get a chance to see this spectacle of the heroes surrounding a massive diamond resting atop a mountain. Cole was not cognizant of the plans for the heroes in the float until someone sent him a flyer a few days before the entry deadline, which was too near. Moreover, he was busy. Another person called him. It was another no, but the person encouraged him nonetheless.

Outside of the time factor, the task was way up Cole’s alley. He is a figurative sculptor who loves to do portraits. He is into realism as against abstract art. Also, the man who studied history in school is passionate about his Jamaican culture and heritage, and all that they mean to him. Yet, it was the notion that Jamaicans can produce good-quality works of art that inspired him most.

INSPIRE PEOPLE

“I believe that the country needed it (high-quality art). I believe that it would inspire people to see what Jamaicans can do and get a level of pride within ourselves … I thought it was a good idea, and I know the quality of things that can come out of Jamaica. That was really my goal, to show that it can be done locally, and I also want to keep it in the area (portraiture sculpting) I specialise in,” he explained. After much reflection, he submitted a proposal under the afore-mentioned theme and eventually got the job.

Cole knew exactly what he was getting into, and he was committed. “I brave the challenge because I think it would have been inspirational … And I didn’t want to miss out on making an impact,” he explained. But he might not have known the amount of personal and familial sacrifice he would have had to make.

Working with 10 other people, sometimes through sleepless nights, there were many jittery moments, and in all of this, the onus of meeting the deadline was on his shoulders. “It seemed impossible straight through,” he said, laughing, “But I kept on pushing everybody.”

Yet, he said, “The headache was that I was the bottleneck.”

Before anybody could start their part of the job, he had to lay the foundation. As such, there was no downtime. It reached the point where he banned himself from driving outside of the property, and there were matters, including family time, that he denied himself and his family just to finish his job so that others could do theirs.

“For the month and a half, it was lockdown, locking down myself,” he revealed. But why? “I didn’t want to let Jamaica down,” was his response. And he certainly did not. The message was clear in Half-Way Tree on Emancipation Day.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

This was not the first time that Cole had created sculptures of notable Jamaicans, in keeping with his love for his Jamaican history, heritage and culture. He had done images of Marcus Garvey, Nanny of the Maroons, and Sam Sharpe before. Add to the pantheon, international reggae icons, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley and renowned folklorist, Louise Bennett Coverley.

In August, Prime Minister Andrew Holness unveiled another of Cole’s likenesses of Bustamante in Cole’s presence on the grounds of the Hanover Parish Library in Lucea. Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels was so impressed that he wants a similar statue of Bustamante mounted in Lucea Square. Discussions about such an installation have been initiated.

And what is going to happen to the pieces from the Heroes’ Day parade? A permanent home, preferably a museum, is being sought for them. For he doesn’t regard his work as props, something to be discarded after the event is over. It’s about permanence in every respect. Our national heroes have long departed this realm, but Scheed Cole’s intention is to make them still visible with their life-like features. He is infusing life into them so that those of us who are still in this realm will continue to remember and honour them.