ILOILO CITY — In the spirit of Christmas, a group of artists from Santa Barbara town, Iloilo province conducted a free art workshop for children recently.

“We wanted to bring back the workshop as our way of giving back to the community,” said Alex Ordoyo of Pintura Catmon.

Their workshop for more than 30 elementary and high school students was capped by an art exhibit in a restobar over the weekend.

Ordoyo, who won the grand prize for water-media on paper category of the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) in 2018, said that they wanted to find the next generation of artists who can bring pride to the town.

Ordoyo was joined by his mentor Alejandro Sillorar as well as Arnold Romero and Rommy Senibalo as instructors of the students from various schools.

Six students emerged as potential student-artists.

In elementary, the Top 3 emerging student-artists were Quelbert Digno, Adelinne Maris Lopez, and Juan Miguel Suplido.

In high school, they were Delle Dione Bruna, Sheine Lee Oberiano, and Kate Angeline Tillo.

Formerly the Santa Barbara Artists’ Guild, Pintura Catmon began as an art group in the mid-1990s.

Years later, the group would partner with the local government of Santa Barbara to hold art workshops for the Kahilwayan Festival which celebrates the town’s role in the country’s history.

Santa Barbara is widely believed to be where the first Philippine flag was flown outside of Luzon during the 1898 Revolution.

But this year’s workshop was purely a group initiative as they were able to raise funds from art collectors and philanthropists to enable the children to have free art materials.

Aside from the students and the instructors, the exhibition also featured the works of MJ Solitana, Rei Sollesta, Xyza Jane Hare, Mik Ryan Sendino, Jecko Magallon, Isidoro Sendino, and Gino Carlo Franco.