ART DECK

By JP Libo-on | September 2, 2015

Staying true to its brand as The Maritime Vanguard, JBLFMU spearheads another innovation in the maritime arena by kick starting a movement to promote maritime art, culture and craft with the launching of ART DECK.

ART DECK, A multi-functional art gallery of the JBLFMU for changing exhibitions, workshops and talks.

ART DECK is a multi-functional art gallery of the John B. Lacson Foundation Museum of Maritime Culture and Craft. The brainchild of Chairman of The Board and President Emeritus, Dr. Mary Lou Lacson, herself an art enthusiast, ART Deck is the museum’s space for changing exhibitions as well as workshops and art talks.

ART DECK shall be home to the following:

A Community and Extension Services Center (CES) where free classes in painting and drawing shall be offered to street children and young indigents with trained art teachers/ accomplished visual artists as guest instructors. The goal is to introduce art not only as a means of self-expression but also to mentor young artists in the craft that might eventually provide a means of extra income for them;
An art studio where painting and drawing classes will be held by Ilonggo visual artists;
An art hub where local visual artists can gather, exchange ideas, collaborate and exhibit;
A collaborative space for other artistic endeavors in the literary and performance genre.

ART DECK puts special emphasis on maritime art with themes that draw inspiration from the sea and marine ecology. Its goal is to feature seafarers and maritime industry professionals who are also visual artists and who have produced works inspired by their ocean voyages or by interactions with marine life.

At the same time, the gallery is also open to display works by artists who have a special affinity to maritime art, culture and craft.

For its first show, ART DECK is featuring the first solo exhibit of Engr. Joar Songcuya Unabia, a 2011 graduate of JBLFMU-Molo. He is a part-time employee of the university’s Center for Review and Competency Assessment (CRCA). Engr. Unabia’s sailing career spans four years, gaining experience onboard a chemical tanker, an oil tanker, bulk and container ships. A self-taught artist, his interest in art was rekindled while his ship traversed the famed “pirate zone” that is the African continent. Paintbrushes and canvasses became his solace and refuge to calm frayed nerves while onboard. His favorite themes are maritime life and marine ecology, preferring to capture the beauty and solitude of longings at sea, sentiments shared by every seafarer.