(Maestro Willy Tadeo Layug gives inspirational talk.)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Already famous for its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in the fields of education, health and agriculture, SM City Pampanga has put as much stake in local culture and arts, especially through its My City, My SM series.
The weekend past, SM City Pampanga went the distance with a clay sculpture workshop with no less than the Betis masters demonstrating the craft to senior high school students of Guagua town.
“We need more artists now more than ever. Art is part of the humanizing force that makes us understand who we are and what we can accomplish.” No less than the much-accomplished maestro Willy Tadeo Layug, presidential awarded in ecclesiastical art, said in his opening message.
With fine specimens of busts and statues in marble, wood, and clay for inspiration, the students were taken through the intricacies of moulding, kneading, and sculpting clay by Layug son and heir apparent Totek, and his brother Edwin.
(Totek Layug demonstrates proper handling of clay as medium. Edwin Layug (in blue cap) waits for his turn to teach. Photos by Bong Lacson)
Totek is on home vacation from his art studies in Barcelona, Spain, where he is ranked among the top in his class.
It is recalled that the elder Layug also undertook studies and apprenticeship with the old master craftsmen and artists in Spain to further his talents and skills born and nurtured in the ateliers of Betis.
He has since excelled in the field of ecclesiastical art with his obras finding their niche in Catholic churches and cathedrals – from the retablo at the Pontificio Collegio Filipino in Rome, the image of St. John Paul II in the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral in Guam, the Pope Pius X Priory retablo along Upper Thompson Road in Singapore, to just about everywhere in the Philippines.
At the last papal visit here, Layug made a very strong impression on Pope Francis with his image of Our Lady of Hope backdropped by the Yolanda tragedy. The image now stands at the Cathedral of Our Lord’s Transfiguration in Palo, Leyte.
Edwin, emerging from the umbra of his illustrious brother, has started to carve a name for himself, as much in the literal as in the figurative sense.
Guagua-born, he now resides in Pulilan, Bulacan where he has been bestowed the Gintong Pulilenyo Art Awards, incontrovertible proof of his worth as an artist of note. At the workshop, Guagua Mayor Dante Torres celebrated the artistry of Betis and paid paeans to the Layug family, as the town’s “foremost masters in sculpture.”
A fact, unlost to the young student-workshoppers thankful “for the blessings of craftsmanship the Lord showered upon the town and the Layugs’ selfless dedication in sharing (the blessings) with us.”
