Ruth Thomas, MBE, one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Bermuda National Gallery (BNG), will be honoured by the gallery at a special luncheon tomorrow to mark her retirement from its board of trustees after 12 years. She will receive the honorary title of Founding Trustee.

Previously, Miss Thomas had been a member of the Steering Committee set up in 1986 to establish the gallery. Other Founding Trustees are the late Hereward Watlington, Michael Darling, Desmond Fountain, Jay Bluck, Maurine Cooper, Georgine Hill, John Kaufmann and Charles Zuill.

David L. White, chairman of the BNG's Board of Trustees, said: "We are very sorry to see Ruth retire because she has been such a tireless and enthusiastic supporter of the gallery right from its inception. Without the vision and energy of people like Ruth Thomas, the gallery would simply not have existed and both the Board and the people of Bermuda owe her an enormous debt of gratitude. We are proud to honour her as a Founding Trustee of the Bermuda National Gallery."

Miss Thomas was similarly praised by BNG Director Laura Gorham, who said: "We have been blessed to have someone like Ruth Thomas on our Board. She has always taken her commitment as trustee very seriously, and has been actively involved in every aspect of gallery life.

"In addition, she has always brought to the gallery her vibrant and infectious passion for the arts and a love of Bermudian culture, for which she has been such an articulate and vital champion for many decades. The visual arts in Bermuda would be all the poorer without her hard work and involvement."

Today the BNG is Bermuda's premier art museum, but in the 1980s when Miss Thomas and the other founding members began holding meetings at the homes of Desmond Fountain and Dennis Sherwin, the prospect of actually establishing a Bermuda National Gallery was far from certain.

"We had meeting after meeting ? I never thought we would make it!" Miss Thomas recalled. "We found an ideal space at Dockyard, but the cost of renovating was prohibitive. We were beginning to get very discouraged when suddenly the space at City Hall became available and we saw the potential. It was like a gift from heaven and our years of struggle were worth it."

Miss Thomas said she is proud to have watched the gallery grow and play a key role in its development. "When I think of the first Bermuda Biennial and how few pieces we had, and then look at this year when we were inundated with works, it is just fantastic," she said.

"There is now a large number of visual artists on this Island, and there is such a variety of styles and multitudinous perceptions of what art is ? it's as if there has been an explosion of the arts. It is very enriching for the whole community, and our culture is all the better for it."

Miss Thomas believes the BNG continues to play an important role in bringing Bermuda's diverse and often divided community together.

"The gallery has made a tremendous effort to bridge the gap between all Bermudians, by appealing to various segments of society and trying to be relevant to the entire community. It's an ongoing effort but bit by bit it's being achieved," she said.

"I am just so proud of its existence and the work that it is doing. This was not available when I was a youngster, and it's so wonderful to see Bermuda achieve something like this in my lifetime. When you compare it to other destinations, it may not appear to be such a monumental accomplishment, but for Bermuda it is."

Miss Thomas said her hopes for the gallery's future can be summed up in three words: "Space, space, space! We need a godfather!" And she added: "Our education programme has to grow. It has reached a wonderful stage, but its work is paramount because we have so many people out there still to reach and there are so many different aspects of the visual arts. I see the gallery as one of Bermuda's treasures. It's a very vital component of our cultural development."

An accomplished and respected amateur actress, writer, dancer and singer, Miss Thomas has been an active participant in and promoter of the arts all of her life. Originally trained as a teacher, she became Government's first Cultural Affairs Officer, and from 1984 to 1997 she was a highly effective advocate for the arts and Bermudian culture.

Among many cultural contributions, her department produced the Sunday-night TV series 'Bermudian Profiles' and 'Bermuda Recollections' ? a senior citizens' oral history book. She also conducted fiction, playwriting, acting and directing workshops. Miss Thomas also inaugurated the annual Premier's Concert in which promising musicians and other young artists are given the opportunity to perform before the Premier. She also brought the travelling art show, Carib Art, to Bermuda in 1993, which she believed was something of a catalyst in the development of Bermuda's contemporary art scene.

"When a number of our artists saw some of these works, especially from the Spanish islands, and how they were confident and bold enough to make social, political, historical and religious statements ? perhaps all in one painting ? it encouraged our artists to experiment more. As a result, our artists are becoming more confident, bolder, and are breaking out of the mould. We've come a long way from what used to be done here."

A former chairperson of the Bermuda Arts Council for more than 12 years, Miss Thomas remains actively involved in the arts, including roles in theatrical productions. She is the founder of Ruth Thomas and Company, an acting group that performs works based on Bermudian traditions, history and folklore, which she calls 'Mosaics'. Her group has performed 51 mosaics, including in the 2003 Bermuda Festival. She has sung all her life, and for years was a soloist for church and community groups. She estimates she has sung at every church in Bermuda.

In addition to being a Trustee of the BNG, Miss Thomas gives regular talks about Bermuda's culture to visitors, including regular talks at the BNG and to visiting travel agents. She is also a trustee of the Bermuda Dance Foundation and the Menuhin Foundation.