An exhibition of the costumes, awards and photographs of the late designer Reba Dilbert, titled A Reba Dilbert Creation, is open at the Cayman Collections Centre in West Bay with no closing date, the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage said in a statement published on 1 October.

The Ministry opened the exhibition on Saturday 26 September at the centre, the former Cayman Motor Museum on North West Point Road. The statement said the opening was attended by her family, community members and invited guests, and that Minister Isaac Rankine MP spoke. Premier André Ebanks MP also attended and spoke.

Dilbert, known across the islands as Miss Reba, died on 6 August 2025 at the age of 71. Announcing the exhibition in Parliament on 24 June 2026, Mr Rankine called her "a cultural icon: renowned costume designer and master artisan", according to the Official Hansard Report of that sitting.

What is on show

The centre's display rooms hold her costumes, masks and photographs, together with her awards and video of her work. Mr Rankine told Parliament in June that the exhibition would feature "Ms. Reba Dilbert's costumes, her award certificates, and other significant memorabilia", subject to the family's agreement. The Ministry's statement said the family worked with it to bring the collection together.

"It's awesome to be here," Mr Ebanks said in remarks at the opening. "I know how much work has been put into this celebration. Reba was a passionate, driven creative force, and is the pride of our country!"

Mr Rankine said at the opening: "My staff communicated with her family, who allowed us the opportunity to showcase Reba's creativity and genius, for which we are so grateful." He added: "We will continue to tell Reba's story."

In the Ministry's written statement he said: "Cultural icons like Ms. Reba do more than create things; they help a country remember itself."

Four decades of carnival

The Ministry said Dilbert was connected to Batabano and Pirates Week for more than four decades and created works depicting Cayman's beaches, flora and fauna. It said she also mentored young women in pageantry, modelling and etiquette and introduced students to costume making.

She received the Queen's Certificate and Badge of Honour in 2011 and was made a Member of the Order of the Cayman Islands in 2021 for her work in arts and culture, Mr Rankine told Parliament. He said she won Best National Costume at Miss Bikini World in Malta and Miss Tourism World in Turkey in 2002 and the Golden Apple award in Moscow in 2003, and that the Ministry's nomination of her at CARIFESTA in Barbados in 2025, in the category Most Iconic and Transformative Creative, was successful after her death; he accepted the award on her behalf.

Mr Ebanks, her Member of Parliament, told the House in the same debate: "Ms. Reba was definitely larger than life." He said her gift was artistry and that he had wondered, on visiting her in hospital in her last days, how the country could honour her.

Visiting the exhibition

Admission is free. The centre is open on Fridays from 10am to 4pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm, and is closed on Sundays, according to the Ministry's statement.

Mr Rankine told Parliament the Ministry will also establish a Reba Dilbert Grant in her memory to support young Caymanian creatives, which he said is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2027. Neither his statement to Parliament nor the Ministry's 1 October release says what the exhibition cost to stage or which budget met it.