If you ever find yourself in Cayman Brac, do yourself a favor and take a drive toward the end of South Side road. When you see Foots Drive (you can’t miss it!), pull in and visit the Foots Museum.This is what you will see when you pull into the driveway. You know this is going to be a great adventure!So why is it called the Foots Museum? The creator of this museum, an artist named Ronald Kynes, has size 16 feet which resulted in him getting the nickname foots. As you might imagine, the foots museum is a collection of his artwork.Foots has turned his entire home into a gallery of his work. Attached to the end of the house is the stairway to heaven, a tower with spectacular views of the island and a tribute to Led Zeppelin.If Foots is home, he will invite you in to look around his house. He may even give you a small gift of his work as I have heard this is tradition.Foots home has his work everywhere. It’s very cool to explore and see his drawings, paintings and sculptures.Sadly, I hadn’t brought any money with me as this seems like a pretty solid deal! (My friend told me; I wouldn’t know!)
Foots first visited Cayman Brac in 1985 and immediately fell in love with the island. He would move there shortly after. He had a dream that he would create a lost city of Atlantis under water just off the shores of Cayman Brac. He would make this dream his life’s work.
The residents of Cayman are mostly conservative Christians and unfortunately, aren’t particularly big fans of Foots artwork.
Some locals would vandalize artwork that Foots left out on display and some would say that his art was “Obeah” (which as I understand it is like Voodoo).
In late 2017, Foots was charged with “obscene publication” for the nude statues he has around his property.
Foots represented himself in court after the public defender offered to him suggested he just build a wall around his property so people passing by would no longer be offended by his work. Foots stood his ground however and after a two-day trial was acquitted due to freedom of speech laws in the Cayman constitution.
When I visited Foots in early 2020, he told me he was going to sue the Cayman government. As of Feb 2020, he has followed through and has started proceedings against the Cayman Government alleging malicious prosecution. He is seeking millions in compensation for his arrest and treatment by the local authorities. Foots points out that nobody was ever charged with the vandalism and fire that his art was subjected to. As an aside, this piece really speaks to me (because I’m such a big fan of the Queen! or perhaps Red Stripe).
But enough about that… the stairway to heaven inside Foots tower.
What about Foots 30+ year dream of creating the lost city of Atlantis under water off the coast of Cayman Brac?
I’m happy to share that Foots has achieved his dream. He has deployed 70 statues underwater off the coast of Cayman Brac weighing a total of more than 135,000Kg! His lost city of Atlantis dream is now a popular dive site (sorry, no pictures of this… yet).
So, if you find yourself on the island of Cayman Brac drop by and say hi to Foots. Check out his art and maybe find the lost city of Atlantis.
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Shawn Bags the Bluff Summit Expedition – Cayman Brac – Trip Bagger · February 29, 2020 at 8:11 pm
[…] Unfortunately, the sign blew over in a windstorm and broke. You can learn more about Foots here: http://www.tripbagger.com/2020/02/03/shawn-bags-the-foots-museum-cayman-brac/ View from the top isn’t bad at all. The traditional summit selfie must make an appearance! From […]