Grenada’s Underwater Sculpture Park got a new addition this month. A new sculpture, “The Silent Cry,” is the first of a series of seven planned sculptures by local sculptor Rene Froelich.
Froelich and local craftsman Jefferson Thomas (known as Buju of Grenville, Grenada) produced the artwork at Froelich’s roadside studio and workshop in Westerhall, Grenada.
The seven-foot-high sculpture, the largest in the park to date, is constructed of stainless steel and concrete and represents the organic root system of the giant trees in the Grenadian rainforest.
The park is in Moliniere Bay in a protected marine area on Grenada’s west coast.
It was designed in 2006 by Jason Taylor, an English artist and a licensed dive instructor, to reduce the environmental impact from divers and snorkelers on other sites in the protected area.
The sculptures serve as a habitat for coral, algae and marine life and become the basis for new coral reefs.
However, many of the underwater sculptures were damaged by a storm in 2008. Phil Saye, owner of Dive Grenada, is leading an action group for the regeneration and future development of the sculpture park. He has removed some pieces that were damaged and dug up those buried by sand.
Currently there are 65 sculptures in the park, all set in clear, shallow water for viewing by divers, snorkelers and passengers in glass-bottomed boats.