I'd walk a mile...for art

MANILA, Philippines – The downpour made the grass muddy and the track slippery, but it didn’t matter – the race must go on. And it did, as artists and arts supporters and family and friends of all shapes, sizes and ages ran, jogged, trotted and walked the 300-some meters of the La Salle Greenhills track oval last Sunday afternoon. The rains stopped just in time for the race to begin, and left it cool and overcast – perfect weather for the 50-minute run/walk.

The Artists Welfare Project Inc. (AWPI), together with De La Salle Greenhills, staged the AWPI Fun Run & Walk for Life to raise much-needed funds for AWPI’s work, which is principally to make available to artists and cultural workers basic social services like health insurance and enrollment in the Social Security System (SSS).

AWPI came about as a result of the realization that artists are an underserved sector of society. Most of them do not have health or other forms of insurance; they are not members of the SSS, Pag-Ibig or other government welfare agencies, thus they do not have pensions when they grow old and can no longer work or practice their craft.

When a medical emergency arises, they use up whatever savings they have, or rely on family to help pay the bills, or – as happens rather frequently – friends from the arts and culture community pass the hat or stage impromptu fund-raising concerts or exhibits to help out a fellow artist in need. Artists rarely, if ever, approach a bank or official financial institution for a loan to buy a house or start a business; they probably wouldn’t qualify for a loan anyway, since a work in progress, a composition or choreography, hardly qualifies as collateral.

AWPI has taken steps to help artists deal with such mundane concerns. Admittedly, what have been achieved so far are only baby steps and there is still much to be done, but – as AWPI board member Edna Vida-Froilan likes to say – we have a dream: for an artists’ village where threats of eviction are kept at bay, where health care is provided and emergencies are attended to, where artists in their later years are taken care of and can spend their time mentoring and nurturing younger artists.

To fund those dreams, AWPI fattens its kitty through donations from members, patrons and friends, and from activities like the fun run.

Artists in shape, like Lisa Macuja (who did 13 laps, hardly breaking into a sweat) and her dancers, and artists of varied shapes gamely took to the track. Lou Gopez and the artists of GMA-7 Artist Center provided star quality and much energy, and many of them signed up to run, with Marvin Agustin pledging to fund all the laps that they ran. Marvin missed the run because he was qualifying for the national archery team for the upcoming SEA Games.

Mang Enriquez came appropriately dressed in a suit, and urged the runners/walkers on with constant banter. A sponsor offered to pay for La Diva in their skyscraper heels to make a lap around the track, but they prudently declined.

Those of us wise enough to know our limitations leisurely walked around the track, logging an impressive number of laps. Juana Change, a.k.a. Mae Paner, inspired all of us by completing seven laps. Most of us surprised ourselves by going on longer than we thought we could. CCP president Nes Jardin’s four pledged laps turned into eight; Susan Macuja (Lisa’ energetic mom) completed a dozen laps, and I earned my seven rubber bands – you get one for each lap – of different colors.

All in all, a good time was had by all, but next time we should remember to give away not just water but also Bengay.