CSR Partnership in

Making Art Bankable

Mabel Gaire, director of the Center for Social

Responsibility for Human Development (CSRHD) of the
De La Salle Professional School (DLSPS), had just been
informed by her dean, Philip Juico, about Panibangong
Paraan 2006, a project funded by the World Bank and
other development agencies. The e-mailed competition
guidelines had Development with Equity as the years
theme.
The organizers of the competition were looking for new
ideas for reducing inequality in order to provide greater
opportunities to those with the least resources. Mabel has
been a Lasallian volunteer trying to help a group of talented
but struggling artists in her hometown. To her, the proposal
offered the chance that the artists have been hoping for.

The main target of the Panibagong Paraan were

indigenous people, women, men or youth in disadvantages
situations, the elderly, children, the disabled, people living
with HIV/AIDS, commercial sex workers, farmers and
fisher folk. Although visual artists were not on the list of
priorities, Mabel wasnt discouraged. This omission
confirmed her cognizance of the cultural sectors tendency
to be given low priority and policy support in the country.

AGOS
A community based association of visual artists from
Santa Maria, Bulacan. They later formed themselves into
cultural cooperative through the help of the De La Salle
Professional Schools. Santa Maria is a rich cradle of
historical & cultural heritage in the Philippines, home to
Francisco Santiago, the Father of Kundiman, as well as
Jose Corazon de Jesus or Huseng Batute, a prominent
figure in Philippine poetry. AGOS had 25 active members,
who had a common passion for painting. Most members
supplemented their earnings from painting.

Best Practices of the DLSPS &

AGOS in terms of CSR

SOCIAL

ECONOMIC

GOOD GOVERNANCE

EQUITABLE and INCLUSIVE

ISSUES

Earn from painting by doing some other job, often on a

seasonal basis.

Aesthetic Relationship between the Buyers and

Artists

ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION

Souvenir Item Shop

Recommendation

Conclusion

First, we need the arts to express feelings words

cannot express. Second, we need the arts to expand
the way of knowing and to bring creativity to our
country. Third, we need the arts to help people
participate their learning and discover the
connectedness of things. Fourth, we need the arts in
education to help children who are emotionally and
physically restricted. Above all, the arts can build
community not only within the organization but
beyond it as well: in neighborhoods, in different
cultures, and across the generations.