THE world without art is dull. Art brings color to one's life. It's an expression of one's creative mind and imagination that is translated in the stroke of a paintbrush, the use of various kinds of sculpting tools which are driven by intricate and artful sculpting styles and designs and with the wonders of digital art.
Victorias Milling Company (VMC) stamped its commitment to expand the opportunity for the young artists to hone their creative skills in the field of visual arts, sculpture, and digital art.
VMC Foundation executive director Anne Tiongco and VMC chief administrative officer Eva Rodriguez led the 2nd VMC Art Summer Workshop culminating ceremony held at Gallery Orange in Art District Mandalagan, Bacolod City Friday, May 18.
They were joined by three known artists in Negros Occidental, namely visual artist/painter Guenivere Decena, sculptor Moreen Joy Austria, and digital artist Barry Cervantes.
Some 19 young artists participated in the summer workshop.
There was also an art exhibit by winners of the 5th VMC Inter-School Art competition (tertiary level) in the same venue.
Tiongco said: “it's good that we did it again and hopefully it will continue. We really plan to sustain this. The intention really is to strengthen our commitment and being part of the kid’s development, particularly the kids of Negros in arts and culture.”
"Here, the finalists and winners, we really want to call them back and again be part of their growth as artists by introducing tools and to different kinds of media for them to again further widen their perspective about art. In this particular workshop, even last year, we really made sure to pick our artists who will teach them. We call them as mentors,” she added.
This year’s mentors - Decena, Austria, and Cervantes – were the ones who designed the program for the kids.
“It's really all about the commitment in letting the kids pursue their interests in the field of arts and culture," Tiongco said.
She added: "we made sure that the kids pursue their interest in arts by being constantly present in the art workshop and art contest. We can make sure that they carry this on until they become bigger and they grow. The whole art contest still goes back to the son of the owner Alfonso Ossorio who is the painter of the Angry Christ mural within the midst of the Victorias people is the great masterpiece which is recognized in the world and he has the biggest work inside VMC compound for everyone to see and witness every day. So they are very blessed to have that there."
What is very special about the Angry Christ inside St. Joseph the Worker Chapel is the depth of theology and that mural, there is a lot of stories there, she said.
“I want to invite a lot of people to visit the church because of the collaboration that went into the building of the church. Antonin Raymond was the architect, Ade de Bethuene was the artist of the mosaic and the untrained but talented local artists, Benjamin Valenciano who did the wood artworks and made this artistic landmark," she said.
She further said there are a lot of art pieces inside the Chapel in the VMC compound.
“It was something that the company has embraced even in the early days. So we just want to continue that and of course the importance of arts which is the creative expression among the children is really important in their mental development,” she said.
The young artists visited the Angry Christ while the workshop was held at the VMC golf course.