Why "Luceat Lux " is Important

For the many of the exclusive boys schools in Manila, their curriculums allow them to take Art electives  in high school - drafting, for instance.

As a wide eyed freshman taking Architecture, imagine the horror when you are asked to draft your first floor plan in the 1st semester of College. Predictably, that freshman did horribly, not even knowing how to handle straight edges, or T-squares. Only with his friends' intervention did he manage to produce what could generously be called a 'floor plan'.

And this is the reason for why "Luceat Lux", the first Xavier Art Show is important. It is to kick-start the Arts program in Xavier well into the student body's high school years. It is to teach him how to sculpt, how to handle paint, or even how to handle technical pens when or if he decides to go into the performing Arts in tertiary education.

XAG, or the Xavier Alumni Art Guild, isn't just about sculpting or painting. It reaches out into the deeper fringes of the performing Arts and attempts to educate every Xavierian willing to embrace and appreciate the Arts.

Let's be realistic. There are no shortages of naysayers who believe there is no money in Art. Parents of students in Xavier come from well-heeled families, or established entrepreneurs. Most of them expect their children to take over the reins of their businesses once their children graduate from College. And there lies the crux of the vicious cycle that will relegate the Arts into a career of "no monetary" benefit into the minds of these families.

This is what XAG is trying to change. If there is no support system, there can be few or no Artists emanating from the Xavier school system. Many of the XAG members have taken it upon themselves to reach out to a career in the Arts on their own. And just look across to Xavier's rival schools and their Art programs - they are the envy of many a Xavierian student's yearning for the Arts.

Would it be so far fetched to say that a National Artist will come from the ranks of this renowned Jesuit school  one day? Not so, if the mechanism is in place and supported.

Do we need more compelling reasons to say why XAG is needed? If it had been in place some odd 30 years ago, then that wide-eyed Architecture student wouldn't have had to rely on his fellow classmates from LaSalle for help drafting.

That student was none other than yours truly.