UP College of Fine Arts

MAY TO JUNE AT PAROLA 📚
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The UP Fine Arts Gallery is proud to highlight works by students of the UP College of Fine Arts from May to June 2026, presenting thesis and culminating exhibitions from different programs, departments, and courses of the College:
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📌 𝗠𝗔𝗬 𝗘𝗫𝗛𝗜𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦
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𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗜-𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗶
VC 136 (Advanced Photography) Culminating Exhibition
May 26 to 30
Opening Reception: May 26, 3:00 PM
Gallery Foyer
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𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗪𝗜𝗗
Department of Studio Arts (DSA) Thesis Exhibit 2026
Opening Reception: May 29
Gallery One
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📌 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗛𝗜𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦
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𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗛𝗜
Industrial Design Program Thesis Exhibition
Opening Reception: June 2
Gallery Two
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𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Opening Reception: June 6
Atrium
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More information about the exhibitions will be announced soon.
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FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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The UP Fine Arts Gallery is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM at the Arts and Design West Hall, College of Fine Arts, Diliman, Quezon City. For inquiries, you may message us at [email protected] or call us at +63-2-8981-8500 local 3988.
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VIBRANT MARKS
An Introduction to Soft Pastels

This 3-day workshop introduces the fundamentals of soft pastel, guiding participants from simple marks to fully developed images. Through hands-on exercises, participants will explore mark-making, layering, and blending while cultivating sensitivity to material, color, and the formation of image.

How to register?:
📲 Scan the QR Code to register

BASIC DRAWING WORKSHOP 2026

Enroll now! 🎨

Scan the QR Code to register

Extension of SET Answering Period for 2nd Semester A.Y. 2025-2026 until May 22, 2026

Please be informed that the Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) Answering Module in the Computerized Registration System (CRS) is extended until May 22, 2026. This applies to all units except the MBA and MS Finance programs of the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business, the Master of Management (MM), and Master in Governance and Innovative Leadership (MGIL) programs of UPDEPP/O, PM-TMEM, and UPSA.

To accomplish the SET, students may log in to their CRS accounts and click on the “SET Answering Module.” Those who fail to answer the SET will be tagged as "low priority" in the next term's pre-enlistment, while the students in the MBA calendar who fail to answer the SET will be delayed for 1 hour in the next term's real-time enlistment.

Evaluation of the teaching performance of teaching fellows and teaching associates (TFs/TAs) is also extended until the period stated above via CRS (if available) or via this Qualtrics Form: https://upsystemdiliman.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_czK5VMIoBFyGzS6

For assistance with online evaluation of TFs/TAs, kindly email the Office for the Advancement of Teaching at [email protected]

POIESIS, now on its 16th year, opens at 4pm today!

See you at 4pm, at the Arts & Design West Hall, UPCFA at E. Jacinto St, UP Diliman for the opening of POIESIS 16!

“Poiesis 16th extends beyond mere production; it becomes a lived experience of transformation, an ongoing dialogue between the self and the other, where art does not conclude the dialogue, art evolves it.”

Collaborating classes:
FA11-X Visual Communication under Prof. Mitzi Marie-Aguilar Reyes
VC 27-Z Design Workshop II under Prof. Annie Pacaña
Music Education 100 under Prof. Pat R. Carranza, Prof. Jesher Edrei Perez, and Prof. Joan Elgincolin

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Poiesis 16
The Continuous Dialogue Between Music, Art, Animation and Poetry

Art, in its most raw form, has always been an act of translation. A movement between what is felt and what is made visible. It exists not in isolation, but in dialogue, where meaning is continuously shaped and reshaped through interaction. The 16th year of Poiesis defines the space where creation is not bound to a single medium, it is bound through the continuous dialogue of art.

The word Poiesis (pɔɪˈiːsɪs) is derived from the Ancient Greek, meaning “the act of creation or making”. It defines the foundation of artistry; to visualize, to imagine, and to reflect humanity through creation. Poiesis is an annual collaborative tradition at University of the Philippines Diliman between the College of Music and the College of Fine Arts. Poiesis was founded in AY 2010-2011 by Prof. Joy Timbol-Guadalupe from the Department of Music Education, College of Music and Prof. Mitzi Marie Aguilar-Reyes, from the Department of Visual Communication, College of Fine Arts. Kinetic typography and animation was then included in AY 2012-2013 by collaborating with VC 27 Design Workshop II under Prof. Annie Pacaña.

On its 16th year, the first and second year Visual Communication students from FA11-X Visual Communication under Prof. Mitzi Marie-Aguilar Reyes and VC 27-Z Design Workshop II under Prof. Annie Pacaña, was tasked with translating the first-semester compositions of the first-year Music students from MuEd 100 under Prof. Pat R. Carranza, Prof. Jesher Edrei Perez, and Prof. Joan Elgincolin, into paintings and animations through artistic interpretation.

The visual works are then reinterpreted back into music by second semester music students, allowing each medium to continuously reshape and respond to one another, emphasizing that art is neither fixed nor confined to a single medium. The exhibit invites the audience to ask; how is sound rendered into visual form? How does rhythm become color? And how does melody take shape through texture?

The culmination of this exchange is further embodied during the live collaborative exercise, where music and fine arts students collectively create a visual work through their interpretation of Carnival of the Animal by Camille Saint-Saéns. In particular, they listened to the 5th movement, “The Elephant,” a tune played by a double bass that transforms the elegance of a waltz into something heavy, slow, and deliberate, such as the movement of the Elephant. The visual work was done on manila paper using available materials such as color pencils, acrylic markers, and popsicle sticks. This moment sparked spontaneity and shared ingenuity wherein art became immediate and instinctive, allowing the students to respond not only to the artwork but also to one another.

Poiesis 16th extends beyond mere production; it becomes a lived experience of transformation, an ongoing dialogue between the self and the other, where art does not conclude the dialogue, art evolves it.

-Written by Honeylyn Guingguing

Pagpupugay mga artista ng bayan!

Maalab na pagbati sa mga iskolar ng UP Diliman Visual Arts and Cultural Studies Scholarship Program (UPD VACSSP) para sa AY 2025-2026.

Mabuhay ang mga artista-iskolar ng bayan!

It is the birth centennial anniversary of National Artist Larry Alcala, who introduced the college degree course in Commercial Design and was the founder and first Chairperson of the UP CFA Department of Visual Communication. The logo of the Department of Visual Communication is designed by Larry Alcala himself.

𝑮𝑰𝑵𝑰𝑲𝑨𝑵𝑨𝑵 : 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒍𝒃𝒂𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆

🌋 Lauro “Larry” Zarate Alcala (1926 - 2002) is a cartoonist born in Daraga, Albay. He graduated in 1950 at the U.P. College of Fine Arts where he later taught as a professor for 30 years and introduced the first college degree course on Commercial Design in the Philippines.

🌋 Nicknamed the 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, Larry Alcala created over 500 cartoon characters including the Filipino everyman Mang Ambo, 6 movies, and 20 comic strips including 𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘨 𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘴𝘺𝘰, the longest-running comic strip made by a Filipino.

🌋 Alcala’s most popular work is the weekly comic series 𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 (1980 - 2002), which is known for depicting the art of Filipino humor in everyday life. One such depiction entitled 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯 (1984) lightheartedly captures the typical Albayano spirit during a Mayon Volcano eruption—something familiar to him while growing up in Albay.

🌋 Larry Alcala was declared a National Artist for Visual Arts in 2018. Under R.A. 10066 (amended by R.A. 11961), works of National Artists such as him are presumed Important Cultural Properties.

Let us continue to protect and promote our local treasures for the generations to come.

Source: Kurt Randy S. Zepeda (Local Historian)

“The UP Film Institute (UPFI), through its Film Archives and Library, moves to preserve the Cesar Hernando Collection of Philippine Cinema Memorabilia (Cesar Hernando Collection) using open and collaborative digital tools.”

Read the article at https://upd.edu.ph/upfi-launches-cesar-hernando-collection-preservation-project/.

[ANNOUNCEMENT]