Charles Hyatt Foundation to support the arts

 Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

'Jr' is strikingly absent from the name of the Charles Hyatt Foundation, which will be officially launched on Monday. For while the non-profit organisation is run by Charles Hyatt Jr, it stands as testimony to his father's commitment to excellence in the arts.

Hyatt died in January 2007.

Hyatt Jr tells The Gleaner that while the Charles Hyatt Foundation was incorporated as a non-profit organisation last September, the company was registered a year before. And, he had the idea "from before my father died". He broached it to his father and he said "if that is what you want to do, go ahead".

However, he points out that giving back of his energies and nurturing the arts also comes from his mother, Dr Vera Hyatt. "To bring understanding of this small island of ours to other places around the world and the wider public. That is what has pushed me," said Hyatt Jr.

Hyatt also emphasises his father's insistence on quality, which propelled him from doing mimes on the street to the stage and eventually a scholarship to England and a spot on the BBC. "It is the same thing for my mother. Everything she does she puts 300 per cent into it," he said.

The Foundation is as wide-ranging in scope as Charles Hyatt was in life. "He had a plethora of hats on," Hyatt Jr said of his father. So the Charles Hyatt Foundation will cover theatre, radio, television and music, among other areas.

Music project

Music is among the foundation's initial two projects, as Hyatt Jr says that two students at the famed Alpha Boys' School have been facilitated in doing their external theory and practical examinations. Also, supplies have been distributed to students of the Nannyville Early Childhood Institution.

"We are committed to staying connected to Alpha," Hyatt Jr said. The same goes for the Nannyville school.

The Foundation will pay attention to, not only, the persons audiences see onstage. "What we want people to understand is that each position you take that supports the creative arts industry is to be taken seriously. It is not something you do on a whim," Hyatt Jr said.

"It is something that has to be taken seriously, because, it is when you take it seriously that the creative juices flow and you create masterpieces."

Hyatt Jr says he has delayed fund-raising efforts until after Monday's launch and also says that the Foundation will be donor-supported. Not only is there a bank account but he is also pursuing DonorPerfect software to facilitate contributions.

However, he says it is not a matter of simply taking in money, but also, "we want to keep the donors involved in the process, even if they do not want people to know who they are".

Just as Hyatt Jr is starting the Foundation in honour of his father, he expects that his son will take on the responsibility in turn. "It will be going long after I pass. My son will pick it up," Hyatt Jr said.