Artists try their hand at sketching two models during an on the spot sketching session at the Rizal Memorial Library Museum.
How does one keep a museum and library relevant to millennials these days?
For the people behind the Cebu City Museum, the answer came from a group of artists who suggested an activity that would spark the interest of the young, among others.
For quite sometime now, the museum which is located at the Rizal Memorial Library and museum buildin has been offering free portrait sketching lessons conducted by members of the Portrait Artists’ Society of the Philippines, Inc. (PASPI).
Museum administrator and curator Bryner Diaz told Cebu Daily News that it has not been easy to have people visit the museum on a regular basis.
But because of PASPI’s activity inside the museum, they are now able to attract more visitors especially the youth.
“Ang uban gani makaingon nga ‘naa diay museum dinhi diay?.” At least naka-contribute ang PASPI sa awareness ngadto sa residents sa city and
Cebu nga naa diay tay museum (Others were even surprised to see a museum here and asked about it. At least PASPI was able to contribute to the awareness of city and Cebu province residents that we have a museum here.),” he said.
This is a portrait sketch of a visitor of the museum by Efren Enolva, Portrait Artists’ Society of the
Philippines, Inc. (Cebu)
president.
Friday sketch day
An on-the-spot portrait sketching session is held by PASPI every Friday for anyone interested to try the art.
Depending on the availability of the artists, the 60 PASPI members take turns in facilitating the workshop from 2- 5 P.M.
Sketch pads and other drawing materials are provided to the participants by the artists.
A “model” or anyone who wants to have their portrait sketched will be asked to stay seated for at least 20 minutes to 30 minutes.
The weekly activity began last January and was initiated by PASPI itself.
PASPI-Cebu president Efren Enolva said that this was their way of giving back to the museum which has been their “home” for most of the group’s activities.
“At least related sa public among activity and at the same time makahimo mi og continuous training usab namo, kaming mga artists (At least our activity relates to the public and at the same time we are able to make a continuous training for us, artists),” said Enolva.
Enolva explained that in order to improve their skills, artists need to constantly practice sketching.
“Kani nga weekly sketching, is a nice experience not only sa amo nga mga artists but also sa mga tao usab (Having this weekly sketching is a nice experience not only for us artists but also for the people),” said Enolva as he called on the public to take advantage of the free art sessions.
Diaz said that the PASPI artists were all good at their craft and finished sketches could be brought home by the training participants, all for free.
“Way bayad even pagsulod sa museum. Ang venue gihatag libre nato sa PASPI kay usa sa atong mandate ang motabang ta sa pag-develop sa mga skills and talents sa arts sa atong mga artists dinhi sa Cebu (We don’t even charge an entrance fee for the museum. The venue is given for free to PASPI because one of our mandates is to help develop the skills and talents of our artists in Cebu), “ said Diaz.
Beyond books and art displays, Diaz said that the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum wants to break out from the norm by holding more activities that are not related to libraries and museums.
“We encourage human interaction and human discussions,” Diaz said.