Albay Arts Foundation is now on its second year. Now we need to ask ourselves if we are on track in relation to our mission, vision, and values.  What have we achieved?  We have recruited a lot of new members —  61 as of May 2023, much more than could have been foreseen a year ago, when we were 10, plus two founding members. 

It is of course the activities and participation of the members that count more than their number.  Last December we had a successful launch of Cynthia T. Buiza’s new poetry collection, The Future is a Country I Do Not Live in. This year, during the National Arts Month, our members Jan Aldrin Belisario and Jamesson Callos conceived and led two successful events, KORO plus Sirena x Upuan, an experimental choral activity, and Painting Workshop for Children and Youth, respectively.  Both events were supported by AAF together with other partners. 

For the  Magayon Festival 2023, AAF participated through an activity entitled Flesh, Spirit, Words: A morning of conversations and book launching co-hosted by the Bicol University College of Education MA program in Filipino and English Education, the Bicol University College of Arts and Letters, and the Albay Provincial Government through the Provincial Tourism, Cultural and Arts Office (PTCAO). Two award-winning Bicolano writers, Danton Remote (Riverrun, 2020) and Victor Dennis T. Nierva (An Dalan kan Peregrino, 2022) were invited for their book launch and gave lectures on their respective fields of writing.

One key project remains the building of an arts center in the AAF Campus in Salvacion, Sto. Domingo.  All members of the Board have provided inputs over several cycles to two Bicolano architects, Leo Dioneda and Mario Angelo Bes, who have been requested to propose designs for the main buildings. 

At the same time, Cynthia T. Buiza, indefatigable activist and co-founder of AAF, has led the Board in the preparation of a strategic plan, which takes into account stakeholder analyses, tracing our way forward towards short-term results and long-term sustainability. We need to multiply our events and activities and make ourselves seen and heard.  We must establish our brand in a way that demonstrates our commitment to working with communities and promoting the arts as something that can enrich the lives of everybody.  The strategic plan is and probably should remain a living document, but it already helps all of us to understand how we can ensure the long-term viability – artistic, social and financial – of our declared Vision: “A vibrant Center for visual, performing and literary arts in Albay Province, engaging local and global communities to discover, explore, learn and create.”

Albay Arts Foundation is here, alive and smiling. For the benefit of those in Albay who take an interest in the Arts.  And depending on the active contributions of the same through ideas, initiatives, and following through to fruition.