Premier Ewart Brown officially opened the Masterworks Museum of Modern Art during a special reception for donors last night.

Celebrations will continue through Sunday, when the doors of the purpose-built gallery will open to the general public at noon.

The museum represents a massive achievement by the Masterworks Foundation, which was established in temporary digs 21 years ago, with a collection valued at $60,000.

Its mission to amass a body of work representative of the island has never strayed. Today, the museum offers a collection of Bermudiana ¿ great works by such artists as Georgia O'Keefe, Winslow Homer, Ogden Pleissner, Dorothy Stevens and Andrew Wyeth ¿ worth nearly $7 million.

Masterworks' members have been invited to view the new museum at a reception this evening, while a third function is to be held for artists and media representatives tomorrow night before Sunday's public opening.

A museum spokesperson said: "This event is the culmination of 21 years of collecting Bermuda artwork by artists around the world, representing a compendium of all manner of styles, media and the many nationalities that have come to the island to seek artistic inspiration.

"It is one of the great moments in Bermuda's history to have these works gathered under a purpose-built roof for the first time.

"The four-day celebrations are being sponsored by Butterfield Bank, who have been partnering with the Masterworks Foundation for the past ten years to foster an appreciation of art in the community."

The museum is truly a gift to the island, insisted Masterworks' Elise Outerbridge.

"It's really Bermuda's own collection. It's been lovingly assembled by us over the past 21 years, but it belongs to the people of Bermuda. What we wanted to achieve, if we could, was the whole notion that if somebody parachuted into the building, they would get an understanding of Bermudian history and her people.

"The collection is a reflection of our culture. The paintings speak to all aspects of Bermudian society, culture and history. It was marvellous of the Government to give us the opportunity to transform the old Arrowroot Factory into a state of the art museum."

Masterworks' founder and executive director Tom Butterfield was equally enthusiastic in his praise of those who contributed to the museum's existence.

"To describe what's happened as 'neat' would be coy and undervalue all that has been accomplished by our staff, by people who have dug into their pockets and the board," he stated.

"They all had a dedicated and focused ambition of seeing this come to life. But I think the most significant thing is that it's Bermuda's first purpose-built art museum and we're grateful to the Government for allowing us the challenge of redoing the building. If not for the Government and its understanding of our vision from early on, none of this would have happened."

Preparations for the museum's opening and tomorrow night's announcement of the recipient of the $10,000 John Charman Prize ¿ a juried exhibit of works by Bermuda residents ¿ had left him without sufficient time to fully reflect on the accomplishment, Mr. Butterfield said.

"Eight years ago our paintings left a facility, which didn't belong to us, and they have now come home. There's a wonderful sense of permanence. If I were to get hit by the metaphorical pink bus, I know there's now something there that others can latch onto and feel good about their life and the world around them."