USk-Philippines Tacloban Sets Up Local Month-long Exhibit

Solo Galura joined USk Philippines sketching session exactly a year ago with the visit of the National Museum Gallery and former Philippine Congress Assembly Hall. He has since set up a group in his home city province of Tacloban, in Leyte. Last September 30^th saw the opening of the USk-Philippines Tacloban group’s sketches exhibit entitled “Tacloban, Tacloban…”. Held at Café Lucia in Tacloban City, in the island of Leyte (where General Douglas MacArthur landed to liberate the Philippines from the Japanese) the opening was attended by my wife & yours truly over that weekend with some 15 or so other sketchers and guests. The exhibit will run throughout October. This gives a much needed awareness for people visiting the café of the small city to appreciate on-location sketching of their place and culture.

Solo reports that they are some 5 regular members who attend their weekly sketch walks here. The day before the exhibit opening, my wife and I got a chance to sketch with the local group. We sketched the Hotel Alejandro where my wife and I stayed for two nights. What’s interesting about the hotel was that the ancestral house was retained and made into a museum and main entrance for the newly built hotel. You can see the plan of that in the sketch I drew.

On our last day there, Solo had tour-guided us in the neighboring island of Samar and sketched a church there.

Future coordination with Manila and Tacloban groups are underway for bigger and more ambitious exhibits and activities.

Under the shade sketching Hotel Alejandro

A refurbished Filipino ancestral house converted as the main entrance of a new hotel

Sketch of Hotel Alejandro showing the old ancestral house turned museum and main entrance

The gang after sketching that Saturday morning

Cafe Lucia was the place of the exhibit

Solo, Dan, Ed and Janeil

Opening remarks

Ribbon Cutting

Some of the sketches

Ed's Sketch

Ed's sketch

Solo & Janeil

Tacloban Sketchers hang out

Group Picture

Sketching at Samar on the last day