I DID not expect that I am elected as the new chairman of the Committee on Visual Arts of the Bohol Art and Cultural Heritage Council. With this role, I must steer the sector to where we want to be.
Let me share my thoughts. Through this, I hope to clarify to my fellow visual artists where we are going, which is for public interest.
The art scene in Bohol does not differ from what I had experienced in Iloilo City from 1998 to 2014. There, a full-time artist could get hungry. Many well-to-do families looked down on local artists. When they bought artworks, they were mostly from Manila.
But the scenario has changed a lot in Iloilo City since I left that place. There have been many exhibits from over ten galleries managed by different institutions. I asked a once struggling artist and said he can now survive with art making alone.
Here in Bohol, we are living in a similar situation when rich people in Iloilo City did not yet appreciate local art. So how did Iloilo City make it?
Iloilo City used to have no budget for art. But in Bohol, the visual arts sector has an allotment from the province. This means we have a better chance to grow in this aspect. If the Iloilo City art scene has improved a lot, so can we. Let us maximize what we have to improve our situation.
Change can come if we deliberately push the right buttons. We need vision and use the right strategies, even with meager resources.
Before I share my vision as the new chairman of the visual arts committee, I want to emphasize that development in the visual arts scene depends on the art ecology of a place. It depends on the presence of art galleries, museums, curators, writers, artists, art collectors, the government and other stakeholders. We must all strive to develop these elements in the art ecology to develop.
In coming up with my vision and strategies, I focus on these elements, hoping to touch as much as I can, depending on our resources from the province of Bohol.
My vision is to level up the art scene of Bohol. This means presenting more dignified exhibits done regularly, developing the taste for art among the well-heeled citizens, and improving the competitiveness of local artists.
To reach my vision, I come up with three priority agenda. First is establishing a credible gallery system. Second is having regular article-format advertisement in the Bohol Chronicle to leverage our exhibits or major programs. Third, I want to establish a mentoring program to produce more national awardees.
My approach to realize my vision is science-based. Authors in international peer-reviewed journals attest to the importance of galleries because they are the star-makers just like mother Lily in the Philippine cinema. They improve the cultural value of local artists and give them a better preparation to grow their careers. Without well-established gallery systems, we can end up wannabes forever who cannot attract attention, no matter how we think we have the talent.
More than a year ago, I proposed the establishment of a provincial gallery. Sad to say, it was turned down. This could be my chance to resurrect that idea.
We need to present our artworks with curators who also see that the presentations can connect to the audience by a well-presented curator’s notes.
An exhibit is more than just displaying our works. We should use proven strategies. We should not rely on mere luck to become more successful because success in visual art does not depend on it.
I also mentioned about having regular articles in the leading local newspaper. We need this because we cannot market our art without developing the awareness of the public, which leads to more engagement, more appreciation, and more patronage for local art. I learned this from my webinars on content marketing.
The mentoring program, my third priority agenda, is important because the world is getting more competitive. We need to upgrade our knowledge so that Boholanos can win more awards. We can do this by inviting external resource persons who are awardees to mentor local artists.
We can attain our goals by observing our core values in the visual arts sector. I commit to my core values, which are integrity, growth mindset and professionalism.
Integrity is essential to building trust and unity. To show integrity, we should have a yearly financial report and presentation of our accomplishments.
I also espouse the growth mindset because I believe it is not enough for us to just paint or sculpt. Nurturing and growing of artists should be our priority. We should aim high as achievers having a winning mindset.
Professionalism is my core value because without it, we might not earn respect. Without it, unhealthy motives of self-aggrandizement at the expense of our fellow men can derail us all. I do not want to show favoritism among art groups. I want to give everyone a chance.
You might wonder what I do. By God’s grace, I used to be an associate professor in business management in a level 3 program at a university for 17 years. When I worked in Iloilo City, I founded Hebron Artists which produced a national champion and another bank notes designer of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
By God’s mercy and grace, I mounted five solo shows in Iloilo City, Bacolod, Cebu City, and Manila. I am also blessed with two finalist awards in the International Artist Grand Prize Championship based in Taiwan.
I have written column articles for regional and provincial newspapers. I also produced 11 sole-authored academic researches in fine arts and business, many of which are published in peer-reviewed journals.
I don’t want a formal position as a leader. What I want is for a change to come to our province. But if this change can come by getting involved with the BACH organization, I welcome this opportunity and do my best.
I thank Governor Aris Aumentado for his support in the culture and art program of Bohol. Through him, the BACH organization can unite and become as dynamic as the governor or else it cannot align. The governor has allotted 26 million for the culture sector. This is great news. Compared to the past administrations, this is over five times?
Brilliant move. We don’t want to lag. Not again.
With the governor Aris at the helm of the province, the province can do away with non-functional BACH executive board officers who cannot think with a macro outlook to serve the public interest, which fits for a dynamic sector. Governor Aris can give these officers a pun if they just serve their own interest or only the interest of their own genre. The governor can also help restructure the BACH code by inspiring a legislative agenda because it has become obsolete in many aspects, just like Windows XP in the age of Windows 11 for PC computers.
May we develop a better environment where local visual artists can comfortably call their home.
