Visualizing the Filipino soul

The breadth of Felice Prudente Sta. Maria’s interests is wide and deep. To sum them up would be an arduous exercise, but let’s try it anyway. She’s into writing, historical research, photography, art education, cultural management, culinary arts and this year, she’s serving as judge in the ArtPetron National Student Arts Competition hosted by Petron Corporation.

These are just her official professional concerns. As for her personal life, she turns her devotion to the details – almost bordering on the obsessive – of transforming an old house that she and her husband bought into a sleek, ultra-modern one, the plotting of a garden and the care of rotweillers.

Listening to her discuss the subject of ascendancy of the arts over politics and other temporal concerns confirms what other countries have always known: That the lack of emphasis on the arts in the school curriculum can be fatal to a developing nation.

She cites Japan and Hungary where the children always top science contests. Although these two countries are literally worlds apart, their common ground is that they have strong science and arts programs.

The author of A Cultural Worker’s First Manual for Appreciating the Everyday (Anvil), last year’s National Book Award winner for best reference material, Sta. Maria says the division between the arts and sciences dates back to the 1950s. This dichotomy is passé, she says and adds that "arts and sciences have to be a couple."

Art is far from being frivolous. She explains, "The usefulness of the arts must be seen from a bigger perspective. Even if you’re going to be a mason, a carpenter, or a seamstress, your eyes, heart and spirit must work together. You must have a connection – yourself and your senses, not just you and the machine."

She also says today’s scientists are no longer merely logical thinkers because the requirements of life in this new century demand "an ability to think out of a box." Biochemistry, cognitive science, physics and computer science are just some of the areas that team left and right brains.

This recipient of the 2001 SEA Write Award from the Thai King to writers in Southeast Asia stresses that to maximize democracy, "people need to think creatively and differently. Art education aids the full development of some forgotten aspects of a people. Without art, we can’t grow. Art helps you develop physically and spiritually. It is vital to the emotional character of a person, a family, a barrio, a nation and so on."

Sta. Maria cites a Harvard University study finding that the back-to-basics curriculum is inadequate. Art as a subject can neither be discarded nor relegated to a secondary stature because "it stimulates certain parts of the brain. Art is vital to competitiveness, to acquiring an awareness of one’s national heritage, to conserving natural resources and to putting the country on the map.

This year’s ArtPetron, for instance, which has Philippine landscapes for its subject, is commendable for making students "passionate about something to the point where they lose track of time, they don’t count the time spent to finish their entries. This willingness to find out more about the country will hopefully dominate the artists so they can make an excellent job of it." Each year, some 400 entries are submitted by students to the ArtPetron competition.

She says the subject in itself is a challenge. "To paint a landscape is very tricky during the 21st century. Where does a kid go to see a landscape, a seascape or a skyscape? The contest can lead them to hit the books, look at old photos, do research, maybe narrow their focus on the World Heritage Sites. The topic helps the artist discover these places and why they are special. It re-enforces the culture’s value of beauty and hopefully how to conserve it."

The first Dangal ng Haraya lifetime achievement awardee for cultural management, an honor conferred by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Sta. Maria says the right attitude is not just aiming to win a contest but "to compete with or outdo yourself. You’ve got to have the stamina to keep your work beautiful and at the same time say, ‘I’ve got to do better than that.‘"

She exhorts art teachers to help young talents and go out of their way to handle them with sensitivity. Australia’s cultural triumph is her favorite example. "It was based on a masterplan. The cultural managers chose areas to compete in areas where no one else was concentrating on so the country could become strong in doing documentation of nature. It also became known for its writer’s program. There was foresight, planning, and the tenacity to follow through."

Open to young people, ArtPetron is a step in the direction of putting competitive substance in what the country can offer to the world. Sta. Maria said the contest affirms "that wonderful age when the world opens up and a person says, ‘I can do any of those things!’" Winning reassures them that they have talent. After all, young artists are what she called "the next visualizers of the Filipino soul."