NY-based Eagle Eye Charities brings back art lessons to Mangyan village

Crispin Bobier, winner of EEC 500 Years of Christianity competition, gives basic drawing lessons to Talipanan Mangyan School children. CONTRIBUTED

New York-based Eagle Eye Charities Inc. (EEC) returned to poor villages in the Philippines to provide art education outreach with help from artists who won the Jose Rizal Portraiture and 500 Years of Christianity and Catholic Devotion art competition-exhibition at Manila Cathedral last February.

Last March 2023, past winners Evan Respeto from Manila and Artemio Anga from Cebu, together this winner Crispin Bobier, took turns mentoring Grade 6 students of the Talipanan Mangyan School in Oriental Mindoro. With their art teachers participating, the children had lessons in color-mixing and sketching techniques. Watch them on Youtube: https://youtu.be/277hglwt0OI

The project was started in 2019 with teacher Marita Acabado of Talipanan Mangyan Village who had requested financial support to keep the tribal children engaged in the arts and the preservation of their cultural tradition.

With the growing number of children in tribal communities, the private sector has played a major role in addressing educational needs.

2023 Mangyan Art Reach is back after a Covid restriction hiatus. Teachers led by Principal Marizel Axalan of Talipanan Mangyan School jointhe art classes organized by New York-based Eagle Eye Charities founder Carol Tanjutco. CONTRIBUTED

Just before the Covid lockdown in March 2020, Principal Marizel Axalan hosted the group led by EEC Founder Carol Tanjutco and EEC mentor Othoniel Neri, which held a successful art program teaching Grade 5 pupils in the use of acrylic paint.

The program included a school-wide mural painting of Talipanan Mangyan School with mentor Manny Garibay pitching in. Tamaraw Resort Hotel sponsored the snacks. In 2022, with partial reopening of the school, EEC donated school supplies, electric fans and children’s masks.

TMS Principal Axalan thanked EEC for this ongoing endeavor: “Pupils explored colors, discovered their hidden talents and enjoyed their creations under the help and support of the most talented artists of the country. It was an educational, artistic and fun-filled session!”

Christine, a student, and teacher Marita Acabado joined the artists the following day in repainting the faded murals originally painted by EEC founder Tanjutco. They also joined the landscape painting en plein air session at nearby Talipanan Falls.