The city of Cebu moves fast and lives online, The Arc Project offers something slower. Founded by Jaclyn Abregana‑Gleen, the Cebu-based creative-wellness initiative invites people to pause, play and create without pressure — and it channels proceeds to art outreach for children in underserved Cebu communities.
Abregana‑Gleen launched the project after severe burnout convinced her there was a need for a space where creativity and mindfulness could coexist. A lull in her branding work and an offer to run summer workshops at The Mall at NUSTAR turned a small experiment into a three-month residency of intimate art and wellness gatherings.
The Arc Project’s purpose deepened during ART-Reach trips to San Remigio and Medellin, where volunteers brought supplies and hands-on sessions to remote children.
Watching adults and kids step away from routine stress to simply confirm what she suspected: people crave quiet, tactile moments of rest.
Creativity without pressure
The Arc Project is the community and philanthropic arm of Abregana Branding Consultancy (ABC). ABC provides the operational backbone — curating gatherings, partnering with facilitators and booking venues — while the Arc focuses on creating thoughtful, low-pressure experiences.
The name nods to a character arc — the idea that people are always changing — and to the project’s pop-up format: temporary sanctuaries where strangers can connect and slow down together.
“You don’t need to call yourself an artist,” said Abregana‑Gleen. “If you haven’t touched a paintbrush since primary school, you belong here.”
Tactile wellness in a digital age
Tactile wellness — using hands-on making to counter screen fatigue — is central to the Arc. Workshops include watercolor, embroidery, crocheting, journaling, paper crafts, chair yoga and beginner-friendly magic tricks.
Abregana‑Gleen argues modern burnout keeps people trapped in their heads and on screens. Somatic activities break that loop by asking people to move, touch and focus in real time.
The sessions emphasize process over product and presence over performance; perfectionism is explicitly discouraged.
A space that feels human
As a pop-up, the Arc can’t always control lighting or layout, so facilitators shape the atmosphere through warmth, pacing and flexibility.
Participants settle where they like; session flows adapt to the room’s energy. Mistakes are normalized and the “messy middle” is treated as part of the experience, not a failure.
For Abregana‑Gleen, creativity should feel like a return to something human — not a test.
Giving built into the model
Every Arc session directly supports ART‑Reach, which supplies art materials and workshops for underserved children across Cebu. Embedding the social mission into the business model was deliberate.
“We didn’t want our social mission to be a side project or a marketing line,” she said. Her earlier advocacy work, Go Grow Glow CEBU, taught her the impact of community arts and the need for sustainable funding.
ART‑Reach aims to reach 150–300 children by the end of 2026 with coloring books, pencils, markers, paints, crochet kits and beadwork; outreach often includes snacks and guided art sessions.
“So when you hold a seat at any Arc session,” Abregana‑Gleen said, “you’re directly putting creative tools and an afternoon of play into a child’s hands.”
Growing the circle
Impact shows in how participants become collaborators. One attendee, Rose Anne Buenaventura (Osean), parlayed her handcrafted paper flowers into leading her own Arc workshop last May 31.
The Arc is moving toward curated exhibits and themed workshops, with a presence planned at Tops ArtFest 2026 (Oct. 22 to 25). The Arc Collective — including Van and Aia, Papers & Tschai, Osean Crafts, Golda King Studios, the Watercolor Society of Cebu, Terrarium Tales & More and volunteers — signals a growing creative ecosystem around the initiative.
“If there is one thing I hope people carry home, it’s that life is a continuous, beautiful draft, not a finished product,” added Abregana‑Gleen. (BKA)