SPAA

newsletter 2009 Spring/Summer 1 Fifth Avenue Apt.#2B, New York, NY 10003

Society of Phi l ippine Amer ican Art is ts , Inc .

The Society of Philippine-American Artists opens its 16th annual exhibition featuring the works of Francis Allan Bordeos, Cheryle Cranbourne, Mars Custodio MD, Angelito L. David, Oscar R Dizon, Joe Dureza, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Carlos L. Esguerra, Christine SC Jeanjaquet, Lewanda, Lenore RS Lim, Athena Santos Magcase Lopez, Cynthia Marfori, Emilina M. Mercado. Emilia A. Monroy, Chato Morando, Rene Ner, Julian Oteyza, Godfrey Pinder, Nelfa Querubin-Tompkins, Reynaldo Reyes MD, Manuel ‘Boy’ Rodriquez, Manuel A. Rodriquez, Sr., Teodoro Dela Santa, and Art Zamora. The exhibit is open Monday to Friday , 9-5 pm from June 22 to July 3rd, 2009 at the Philippine Cen-ter, 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036. Reception is Tuesday June 23, 6:30 –8:30 PM. SPAA thanks Cheryle Cranbourne for the invitation design.

The event also launches Manuel Rodri-guez, Sr. Into the Threshold, a book on the life and work of SPAA’s founder and President Emeritus. A tribute by art collec-tors to the “Father of Modern Philippine Printmaking, ” the book is published by the Lenore RS Lim Foundation for Arts, ed-ited by Imelda Cajipe Endaya, with es-says by Eva Florentino, Virgilio Aviado, and Clint White. 120 pp. hard & soft cover. Preview the book at http://www.blurb.com/books/689436

Let’s make the 16th ANNUAL ART EXHIBITION a success

Top to bottom: 1) Lewanda, “Makopa at Iba Pa”, 2007, acrylic, 16"x 20" ; 2) Cynthia Marfori, “Easter Parade NYC”, 1989, giclee printed from negative, 16" x 20"; 3) Teodoro Dela Santa, Page # 168, undated, mixed media on wood panel, 48" x 48"; and 4) Emi Mercado, “Look at the Tweety Bird”, 2009, oil on canvas, 32" x 40”

Left: Francis Allan Bordeos, Untitled, 2009, pen and ink ,18"x 24"

Right:

Christine SC Jeanjaquet, “Spring Bun-tings”, 2009, silver gelatin photogram print, 20” x 30”

PAGE 2 SPAA NEWSLETTER 2009 SPRING/ SUMMER

Getting to know: The Order of National Artists, Republic of the Philippines (part 4, # 6 & 7 )

Napoleon Abueva first excelled in academic sculpture as a student of the clas-sicist Guillermo Tolentino at the University of the Philippines (UP). He later es-tablished himself as a pioneering modernist when he created neo-realist pieces such as the Rice Planters, Kaganapan (Fulfillment) and Allegorical Har-poon. With his rich imagination and versatility, he carves, models, casts, sol-ders, and combines different methods to construct architectural sculpture, monuments, bas-relief, furniture, and functional pieces. He has used a wide vari-ety of materials such as iron, brass, bronze, steel, adobe, alabaster, and coral, although his favorite is hard wood. Abueva’s creativity is that of a restless spirit that traverses rustic contentment and complex technological achievement.

CESAR LEGASPI b.1917- d. 1994

NAPOLEON VELOSO ABUEVA b.1930

Cesar Legaspi was one of the Thirteen Moderns who advocated freedom from the dominance of academic conser-vatism in Philip-pine art. He painted disturbing

pictures of anguish such as Man and Woman (also known as Beggars) and the grim dehumanization of laborers in the city such as in Gadgets. His canvases progressed into emancipating his dreary, miserable figures into characters who empowered themselves. This he did by reconstituting cubism’s unfeeling, geometric order of figures into a social expressionism rendered with rhythmic movement. He portrayed man’s inner pathos and struggle against oppressive forces. He used clearly delineated individual figures that multiply and metamorphose into collective symbols of strength. In Legaspi’s work, human suffering transforms into valor.

Above left: Cesar Legaspi, “Gadgets” 1949, oil on canvas, 101 cm. x 70 cm. , Source: Department of Education, Portfolio of Sixty Philippine Arts Masterpieces

Above right: Cesar Legaspi, “Procession,” 1974, oil on canvas, 20” x 41,” Collection of the Philippine Center in New York Left: Napoleon V. Abueva, “Planting Rice,” 1952, wood, Kalaw-Ledema Collection. Dimensions unavailable. Source: Gatbonton , Art Philippines

Below left: Napoleon V. Abueva, “Allegorical Harpoon,” wood, undated, 4’ x 8’ x 8’ , Cultural Center of the Philippines Collection

Text was taken from Imelda Cajipe Endaya’s curatorial notes for the Luwas/Louas Exhibition on the Awardees of the Order of National Artists, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Philippines, 2003

Awards & HonorsAwards & Honors

PAGE 3 SPAA NEWSLETTER 2009 SPRING/SUMMER

Donna Eleinne Basa "Country Road Holtz Lake" re-cently won the Blue Watermedia award at the 2009 Paint North Carolina competition. She was also one of the art-ists selected for the 2009 Richard Schmid Art Auction.

Carlos Esguerra received a 2009 "Individual Artist Support" grant from the Queens Council on the Arts. This partly supports “Salamisim,” his fine arts photography

solo exhibit of Philip-pine scenes to be held at the Bayanihan Center in Woodside, Queens. Meanwhile his piece "Olmstead Point" won First Prize at the South Shore Art Center Annual National Juried Exhi-bition entitled

"White, Black & Shades of Gray," held in Cohasset, Massa-chusetts last April. The exhibition included sixty-two pieces selected from over a thousand entries.

Imelda Cajipe Endaya was awarded First Prize at the juried exhibition “Beautiful Aging,” sponsored by the Ro-tary Club of New Rochelle and United Hebrew Geriatric Center, ongoing at the UH-Lazarus Gallery in New Ro-chelle, NY. Jurors were Tracey Fitzpatrick from the Neuburger Museum, Lisa Robb from the Pelham Art Cen-ter and Jean-Paul Maitinsky from the Hudson River Mu-seum. The exhibit included thirty pieces chosen from over two hundred entries. Meanwhile in Manila, she was given the “Ani ng Dangal” Award by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) last February.

Antonio Valdez who now focuses on being an artist, after retiring from a career at Newsweek, graduated Cum Laude, Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines (UP) in 2008. He was also awarded Best Portfolio at the UP Amorsolo Hall.

Tessie Dichupa, ZNY Laygo, Athena Santos Magcase-Lopez, Lenore RS Lim, and Imelda Cajipe Endaya, were among the eight Filipina artists honored with an invitational exhibit and reception “From the Eyes of Women” at the Philippine Center last March 9-20. 2009, by the Phil-ippine Consulate General in new York in celebration of March as In-ternational Women’s Month. Also honored were Norma Belleza,

Lolita Valderrama Savage, and the late Pacita Abad.

Tessie Dichupa was featured artist at the 'Creative Endeavors' exhibition program of the False Creek Com-munity Center at Granville Is, Vancouver for the month of May. She also participated at the Finn Slough Art Show at the Richmond Art Center last March. Finn Slough is a quaint artistic village near the Vancouver air port, where the Finns first settled as fishermen.

Angelito David, bet-ter known as a master watercolorist, is busy restoring four murals that illustrate the town history of Cranford, New Jersey. Painted by local artist Everett S. Ward in 1942 . The restoration work was

opened to the public during the Cranford Artists’ Open Studio Tour last May. Note that David was part of the team who restored the masterpieces and books of Flor-ence, Italy, after the great floods of the 1960s. He was once chief restorer of Corcoran Studio in Manhattan. (from Leslie Murray, The Chronicle, Cranford NJ April 27, 2009)

Lenore RS Lim participated in the exhibitions: Philip-pine Association of Printmakers group show held at the Yuchengco Museum Makati, Philippines last March, the “Festival Exhibit of University of the Philippines (UP) Cen-tennial Artists, held at the Gateway Mall in Quezon City, and the Fine Prints: Multiple Originals, held at the Alab Art Space, in Makati last May. She has also become a publisher through the foundation that bears her name, having published Glad Tidings by Fr. Daniel Fitzpatrick and Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. Into the Threshold.

E m i l i a M o n r o y , Lenore RS Lim, Athena Santos Mag-case-Lopez, and Julian Oteyza were among the participating artists in this year’s ‘Brown Strokes on a White Can-vas,’ on view from June 3 thru June 12, 2009, at the

Philippine Embassy in Washington DC. This annual show which started in 2002 at the World Bank, was conceived by Julian Oteyza as a traveling art exhibit for the Philippine-American Foundation for Charities, Inc., (PAFC), a nonprofit, organization which focuses on com-munity-based educational and cultural projects.

C

arlo

s Es

guer

ra, B

alin

sasa

yao-

3447

, 20

09

Tess

ie D

ichu

pa, “R

are

Beau

ty,”

200

1

Exhibits & Projects

Emilia Monroy “Highest Praise,” 2009

The meeting took place at 2 to 5 pm. at the residence of trustee Aida Bartolome in Woodside, Queens, New York.

Attendance: Present were : Lenore RS Lim, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Chato Morando, Christine Jeanjaquet, Athena San-tos Magcase- Lopez. Also present were: Aida Bartolome, trustee; Zeny Avila, supporting member, and Melvyn Lopez, the president’s spouse.

Matters Discussed/ Action Taken:

Call to Order With a quorum of 5/8, the president called the board meeting to order at 2:30 pm. 1. Book 2 1.1 Chato summarized that the book committee had earlier agreed to Lenore and Mars’ counter proposal to solicit sponsorship instead of Imelda’s proposal to solicit art collec-tors’ advertisements. Names of the sponsors and donors will be listed in one page of the book. Levels of dona-tion are: patron $50, sponsor $100, and benefac-tor $500. This fundraising opportunity is one of the smaller alternatives to the annual Christmas Din-ner Benefit which will not be held this year. 1.2 Personalized solicitation letters for spon-sorship have been prepared for distribution to members. Deadline to submit responses is July 31, 2009. Members will be asked to email in ad-vance to <[email protected]> the names of their sponsors. 1.3 Imelda who is editing and designing Book 2 reported that she is 80 % finished with the artists’ pages, arranged in alphabetical order. She worked on them as submissions came. The book has currently 138 pages. The cost-efficient num-ber of pages is 160 pages. Thus a section on SPAA art activi-ties and events, and members’ art awards will be added at the back pages. Members with high resolution/print–quality photos of these are requested to send them ASAP to [email protected]. 1.4 The book will be launched Fall 2009 at the Philip-pine Center. 2. 16th Annual Exhibit

2.1 Exhibit will be at the Philippine Center on June 22 -

July 3, 2009. Reception on Tuesday, June 23 at 6:30 PM will be by invitation only.

2.2 Invitation will indicate: “Suggested $5 donation.” Exhibit area will be cordoned off.

2.3 If members want their art to be printed in the invitation, they have to submit images earlier than the May 22 deadline. It is most advantageous for members to join the 16th Annual Exhibit since all one has to pay, once 2009 membership due is settled, is a $10 participation fee.

2.4 Committees: Over-all coordinator- Tenni SM Lopez; Curator- Angelito ‘Lito’ David; Invitation & poster design- Cheryle Cranbourne; Press release materials- Christine Jeanjaquet; Press release dissemination- Zeny Avila; Receiving- Oscar Dizon, Tenni, and Lito ; Set-up- Chato Morando, Nelfa Querubin, Francis Bordeos; Door- Cheryle, Joanna Martinez (Lenore’s contact); Photography- Lenore RS Lim; Reception, food & wine-Christine, Emi Mercado, Emilia Monroy, Cynthia Marfori/Thea, Teya David,

Raquel Dizon, Museum Shop- Chato, Cheryle; Take-down- Dr. Mars Custodio, Francis Bordeos; Pick-up– Tenni.

2.5 We may use a catering service for recep-tion night. Lenore and Christine will contact caterers and pick lowest bidder.

2.6 New York Cultural Commissioner, Kate Levin, Philippine Consul General Cecilia Rebong, and Ambassador to the UN Hilarion Davide will be invited as special guests at the reception.

3. Spring/Summer Newsletter Distribution will be prior to the 16th Annual reception night. The president will make a call for art related news, and a call for anyone interested in the prepar-ing the newsletter.

4. “Displacement & Homing” Traveling Exhibit 4.1 First leg of the exhibit will be at the Les Malamut Gallery in Union, NJ, October 1-31, 2009, inclusive of installation and take down. Contract forms have been signed by the president on be-half of the participating artists and mailed to Les Malamut’s Bar-bara Wirkus. Very limited works can be exhibited because the gallery is small and has a low ceiling. The thirteen participating artists are allocated an average space of 5 linear feet each. 4.2 Proposal was sent to Queens Museum. A day will be scheduled to visit the Queens Museum and meet with its director

Minutes of the Board Meeting held April 25, 2009

PAGE 4 PAGE 5 SPAA NEWSLETTER 2009

16th Annual

Exhibit

Reception is on

Tuesday

6: 30 –8:30 pm

June 23, 2009.

By Invitation.

Tom Finkelpearl. Chato is coordinator. 4.3 A proposal kit was mailed to Metropolitan Museum Manila for another leg of the exhibit. Lenore is coordinator. 5. Lady Bug Market This is a summer activity by the youth group, headed by Christine Jeanjaquet. The idea is for the group to join a New York flea market and sell artists’ stuff, from old artist’s furniture to arts and crafts. SPAA gets a small per-centage from the sales. 6. Art Workshop 6.1 A summer teaching opportunity for SPAA member artists residing in Queens is open in partnership with Aida Bartolome’s Foundation for Filipino Artists, Inc. Aida speci-fied the dates July 6 to August 4 as available for workshops 2 x a week; with 2 hours per session. Students are in the 6 years to 21 years age group. FFAI can provide honorarium for teachers, as well as transportation, supplies, and lunch.

IMELDA CAJIPE ENDAYA stitching paint into collage

Foreword by Harriet FeBland. An anthology of critical essays by Patrick Flores, Flaudette May Datuin, Scott Koterbay, Ruben Defeo and

Elizabeth Lolarga. Features a folio of mixed media works 1998- 2008. Preview the book at:

http://www.blurb.com/books/705750

Revised. Soft and hard bound , 8” x 10”, 80 pages

BOOKS

7. A Tribute to Filipino Composers at the Lincoln Center 7.1 SPAA has been invited to hold a 1-night exhibit at Amor Ilaw -McGuinness’ concert on October 17, 2009, 7 PM at the Alice Tully Hall. The idea is to exhibit about 20 portable artworks during the concert. Possibly, SPAA museum shop items can be included. 7.2 In our efforts to maintain high standards in our exhibi-tions, SPAA will require the following: !" Include the SPAA Exhibit in the invitation text as part of

the program !" Have the Exhibit and Museum Shop mentioned on stage.

Have terms of agreement in the insurance and sale of artworks.

!" Clarify set up. If easels are needed, who will provide this? The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Prepared by: Approved by: Chato Morando Athena Santos Magcase-Lopez Acting Secretary President

PAGE 5 SPAA NEWSLETTER 2009 SPRING/ SUMMER

Minutes of the Board Meeting (Cont’d.)

A Visual Feast ! TEODORO DE LA SANTA 2001 - 2008 Butterfly Rows Abstract Art By Teodoro De La Santa " Inner Eye " 126 pages Preview the book at: http://www.blurb.com/books/351336

Preview the book at http://www.blurb.com/books/

113848

Features 20 artists , 87 pages

Edited and designed by

Christine SC Jeanjaquet

Soon off the press:

A STAR STORY

By Melvyn Lopez

Illustration by

Tenni Magcase

About sharing, friendship and companionship, told through the eyes of two

“star children”.

SPAA Book 1:

SELECTED WORKS

Featured Artist: Chato Morando

PAGE 6 SPAA NEWSLETTER 2009 SPRING/ SUMMER

Left: Prosperity, 2006, acrylic on arches, paper, 30” x 22” Right: Energy Flow, 2008, mixed media, 32” x 32”

Morando‘s introduction to art started in 1986 when she took art courses at the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan. She studied pencil drawing with Ernesto Rodri-guez and oil painting with his corpo-rate colleague Nick Mescia. She credits the SPAA for inspiring and motivating her to paint; and to SPAA, she is a precious and highly reliable asset. (from SPAA files)

“It’s a nice thought that I made that step of appreciating and learning art... art being defined as a human ability to create things

distinguished from the world of nature.” - Chato Morando

Featured Artist: Art Zamora

Left: Imperial Crown, 2009, oil on canvas, 10” x 8”

Right: Trailing Abutilon – Brazil, 2007, oil on canvas, 16” x 20”

Photo of the artist in his studio by Rene Ner

“Colorformism or forms through color is my art philoso-phy. I work on color and forms instinctively and rapidly . I spon-taneously apply touches of color to create different forms and images. ON MY CANVASS, these become subjects that my mind can freely and passionately visu-alize and transform into original compositions that depict order and harmony.” -Art Zamora

Zamora studied fine arts at the PWU College of Music and Fine Arts. His cousin Ibarra dela Rosa influenced him to become an artist. From 1986 to 1996, he traveled extensively as an artist and jewelry designer in Europe and the Middle East. Highly skilled in a wide range of techniques in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, and mixed media, he is as comfortable painting realism as well as abstraction. Keen at contemplating ancient eastern and western philosophies, he balances traditional and contemporary ideas in his art. Among his solo exhibitions were “Colorformism” at the Philippine Cen-ter, New York in 2000, and “Contrast” at the Lopez Memorial Museum in 1995. He won Grand Prize and First Place at the Philadelphia International Shell Association Exhibition. In 2006, he was Paccar Artist-in residence, with citation from the State of New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. (from SPAA files)

PAGE 7 SPAA NEWSLETTER 2009 SPRING/ SUMMER

The SPAA Board of Trustees is composed of highly achieved person-alities, and is practically an honorary ways and means committee. This issue’s featured trustee is Dr. Benny Jongco, a successful pediatric surgeon based in Northern New Jersey. He has been practic-ing in the USA since 1980. An artist at heart, and a collector of art, he readily accepted the invitation to join the first SPAA Board of Trus-tees in 2006. Since then, Benny has been a dependable supporter of SPAA’s activities, from its annual fundraising dinners, art exhibitions a n d b o o k p u b l i c a t i o n s . For his professional accomplish-ments, Benny was recognized in 2003 by his alma mater as an Out-standing Medical Alumnus. He has ably served as National President of University of the Philippines Medical Association in America (UPMASA).

Benny is married to Nanette, also a doctor. Both are active in their parish church and the San Lorenzo Ruiz Christian Life Community (CLC), which they helped found in 1988. They have three children: Melissa, a pediatrician, Kristen, a civil rights lawyer and Robert, a medical student. On his free time, Benny gardens, whips up gourmet dishes, and looks after his pet birds and fishes. Best of all, he enjoys caring for his three adorable grandchildren. - Lenore Lim

Meet Your SPAA Board of Trustees HONORARY MEMBERS

New member: Rene Ner, a leading name in photogra-phy and a long-time supporter of SPAA, is now a member. Welcome, Rene!

The Board of Directors recently bestowed honorary membership to two pioneering artists. Master Ben ‘Taal Mayon’ Gonzales is best known for his Horses of Mayon series of sculpture in metal, wood, and stone, and his Gupit-gupit one- piece paper sculp-tures. He was a regular member since SPAA’s early years. ZNY Laygo was cited by critic Leonidas V. Benesa as one of the important artists who asserted their modern aesthetics in the 50s-60s. As art director of the Manila Times’ Weekly Women's Magazine in the 60s, her art became a prominent influence at a time when art by women was little appreciated.

Early photo at left is Taal Mayon with his sculpture Horse # 5 (courtesy of his son Guy Gonzales); Below is ZNY Laygo in the 80s (courtesy of Rene Ner and The Filipino Reporter)

ZNY Laygo, “Dollar and the Immigrants ”, 2008, oil & collage, 24” x 36”

The SPAA dinner benefit last December 5, 2008 at Jing Fong Restaurant, New York City successfully raised funds for SPAA projects. Upper left photo shows first row: Noni from the Met Museum in Manila, members Cynthia Marfori, Cheryle Cranbourne, Lenore RS Lim, Athena SM Lopez, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Manuel ‘Boy’ Rodriguez, and Chato Morando. At the back are Angelito David, Mars Custodio MD, Ted De la Santa, Art Zamora, and Anto-nio Valdez. Left photo shows Jose and Lenore Lim acknowledging SPAA friends John and Deirdre Dunn who gave a prize donation won by Noni.

!"#$%%&%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%SPAA NEWSLETTER 2009 SPRING/SUMMER

As spring rejuvenates life, summer looms in the horizon. Warm greetings to all!

I am happy to recount SPAA’s accomplishments through the years, and thank everyone for their concerted efforts: past presidents Jose Dureza and Lenore RS Lim, our hard-working Board Members, ac-tive pioneers, Angelito David and Oscar Dizon, and all members, old and new.

While adhering to the vision and goals of SPAA’s founding, we ad-dress the needs and sentiments of our current members. Majority have expressed that we focus on professional growth in the visual arts, and all our programs manifest this. To symbolize this new thrust, SPAA sports an updated logo that reflects a more energized, vibrant and spirited group. Thanks to Cheryle Cranbourne who de-signed it.

Our newsletter comes out twice a year, each time better than the previous. Thanks to Christine Jeanjaquet and Imelda Cajipe Endaya, who designed and edited past and present issues.

In August 2007, New York-Manila-New York, a juried exhibition of SPAA artists, as well as curator’s choice of Philippine-based artists, was held at the Ayala Museum. In June 2008, to commemorate the 110th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence,

SOCIETY OF PHILIPPINE AMERICAN ARTISTS, INC .

Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. Founder and President Emeritus

Board of Directors: Athena Santos Magcase Lopez, President; Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Vice-President; Chato Morando, Acting Secretary; Mars Custodio MD,

Treasurer; Christine Jeanjaquet, PRO ; Angelito David, Oscar Dizon and Lenore RS Lim

Board of Trustees Aida Bartolome, Ricky Enriquez, Benny Jongco,

Angie Ricafrente, Dean Suba, Bella Velo

website: http://www.spaa.netfirms.com http://spaanyc.multiply.com/

Imelda Cajipe Endaya

SPAA Newsletter Editor & Designer

Message from the President

Athena “Tenni” Santos Magcase Lopez

Also part of the 16th Annual SPAA Exhibition are:

Left: Julian Oteyza, “Expansion 2 - Eternal Love”, undated, acrylic on canvas, 16"x 20"

Below: Oscar Dizon, “ Late Summer at Zhouzhuang”, 2006 watercolor, 21” x 29”, an award winning piece.

We may not know your art news until you tell us! So send your information, images and updates

any time to: Email: [email protected]

“A Celebration in Art,” was presented at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC.

“Displacement and Homing,” a thematic traveling exhibit, is our latest effort in the pursuit of excellence in the visual arts. It at-tempts to expose our artists and their best art into mainstream and multi-cultural communities in America and the Philippines. Imelda will curate the works of thirteen members represented in this exhibi-tion.

The publication of our book series is another important accomplish-ment because a book is still the best way to promote our art. Book 1: Selected Works, digitally designed and edited by Christine, had a successful launching at the 15th Annual Exhibit in September 2008. It is still available on line. Book 2, which will be launched in the fall of this year, is designed and edited by Imelda.

Our 16th Annual Exhibit runs from June 22 to July 3 at the Philip-pine Center in New York. It also launches a book on our founder and President Emeritus, Mang Maning.

It is my hope that during my term as president, I will be able to con-tinue SPAA’s commitment to the artists, and to our dedication to excellence, professionalism and ethics. This will only be possible with your support. Thank you and Mabuhay!

SPAA sadly announces that our dear member

LITO BALLESTEROS

peacefully passed away on June 7, 2009. We will miss him but his colorful and vibrant canvases are around to keep on brightening our lives. We pray for him and extend our sympathy to his family.