Tags: Arts Training and Workshops, Paintings, Visual arts
By KC Santos
BAGUIO CITY, METRO MANILA – Despite having devoted more than three decades of his life to teaching, Ben-Hur Villanueva never stops at sharing his art, which he considers his lifelong passion.
Along with Ben Cabrera and filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik (Eric de Guia), Ben-hur forms the triumvirate of accomplished contemporary Filipino artists who made Baguio their home. (Along with Santi Bose, they formed the Baguio Arts Guild in the late 1980s.)
Ben-hur settled down in Baguio after retiring from teaching at Ateneo de Manila.
“I had no plan that someone was going to benefit from my work. It was more like just trying to gauge my skills and competencies as an artist,” he recalls.
Having a family to feed, all the young Ben-hur was concerned about was getting a job that would give him a fixed source of income. Aside from teaching at Ateneo, he recalls doing art on the side and illustrating children’s books to earn more to sustain the needs of his family.
His works has earned him accolades both within the art community and the academe.
Among his most prominent works include “Kapit-Bisig”, a commemorative narra sculpture presented by the late President Corazon Aquino on the first year anniversary of the 1986 EDSA Revolution, and “Among Supremo”, a sculpture of Andres Bonifacio at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.
Ben-Hur explains how his art became instrumental to his realization of a higher calling.
“Through my art, I had the chance to travel. This hastened my skill since art gives you direction, not just the direction toward yourself but to others. You acquire discipline.”
“When I retired, I just felt that I needed to share it with others,” says Ben-Hur, who has lived his life abiding by the Ateneo “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam”, which means For the greater Glory of God and A Man for Others.
Ben-Hur started his new endeavor by giving free art workshops to students and librarians based in Quezon City. For roughly a year, he also served as art director for Ephpheta Foundation for the Blind, Inc., where he developed a sense of understanding for visually impaired children.
“For me, what you initiated to teach, to help them express what they feel through art is in itself a milestone. The blind ask me, “What is freedom of expression?”
“It’s so hard to explain to them that I have to close my eyes to go to their level, as you would with a baby or the mentally ill, in order to relate,” he says, adding he has learned about more from teaching the blind and not the other way around.
He continued his advocacy in Baguio after setting up Arko ni Apo Gallery, which also serves as his home and studio. Along with his sons Bumbo and Jiko, he conducts free art workshops to streetchildren with the support of benevolent organizations.
More than being familiar with their abilities, Ben-Hur Villanueva says young artists can better share their art if they work hard and later on appreciate the effort they poured in their art.
“As an artist, I’m more creative when I have less. Life is not like a computer that has a ‘HELP’ command that you can press on to get solutions to your problems.”
“When options are laid out for you, your creativity is put at a toll. Most of the time, having no access to these easy steps, improves your common sense and creativity,” he says.
He is no stranger to artists who are prone to complaints. Young artists, he says, should always be humbled by limited resources and time so they can truly share a part of the art and themselves to others.
“Avoid complaining. If all you think about is what you don’t have, negativity will surely surface. Whatever you do and wherever you go, learn to test your limits but keeping in mind that mediocrity never gets you to anywhere good in this life.”
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Mabuhay po kayu Sir Ben. dadalaw po ako sa arko ni apo pag uwi ko. kamusta nlang po kay bumbo at kay mommy. Mabuhay ang Filipino artists!