Artists of Negros Island

20/07/2025

The Association of Bacolod (AAB-Negros) celebrates its 50th year with an exhibit at the SM Bacolod North Atrium. Cutting the ribbon of the exhibit are AAB-N President Tey Ihvonie Maravilla Sevilleno, AAB founders Ana Feria and Rodney Martinez, Bacolod City Councilor Jason Villarosa, Mrs. Ligaya Lizares, who is the widow of AAB founder Edgardo "Budot" Lizares, Bacolod City Councilor Em Legaspi Ang, Julia Javellana, Mall Manager of SM Malls, and Bacolod City Councilor Wilson Jr Gamboa.

04/07/2025

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13/07/2024

The year 1975 was a monumental year for the art movement in Bacolod City for it was in that year that the Art Association of Bacolod was organized.

Jess Ayco, one of Negros Occidental’s and the country’s pioneers in modern-art, decided to hold a painting competition at La Consolacion College with the theme “Holy Week in the Philippines.” It was a gathering of Bacolod's finest artists to showcase their talents on canvas. There were 55 artists and 105 of their artworks were exhibited. Through this, Bacolod City became known as a cradle for visual art.

With a thriving art scene in the city, Edgardo “Budot” Lizares saw the opportunity of organizing an association of artists. Meeting with the province’s finest artists, Jess Ayco, Rafael Paderna, Rodney Martinez and Benildez Familiaran, Budot Lizares and the group endeavored to hold a series of workshops for local artists. With friends in the art circle like Dean Jose Joya of the UP Fine Arts College and sculptress Virginia Flor-Agbayani, the efforts of the association were enhanced.

It was on July 4, 1975 that the Art Association of Bacolod was formally organized. The first set of officers then were: Edgardo Lizares as president; Elsa Valenzuela, secretary; Susan Soberano, assistant secretary; and Rafael Paderna, Amador Capiral, Ramiro Esteban, Benildez Familiaran, and Rodney Martinez as directors. Dean Jose Joya of UP was an honorary member who came regularly to Bacolod.

Five years after, the AAB Articles of Incorporation was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Joining the original formators were Larry Tronco, Anita Feria, Juan Hagad, Ely Santiago, James Bilbao, and Jess Ayco.

The AAB over the years held numerous shows not only in Bacolod but in Manila as well. Many local artists have achieved prominence in prestigious art competitions in the country and in other parts of Asia.

AAB and the Masskara Festival

The history of the now famous Masskara Festival of Bacolod is very much intertwined with the AAB.

During a time of deep crisis in Bacolod City in 1980 when the price of sugar was down and when tragedy struck with the sinking of the M/S Don Juan, the AAB played a part in having to cheer the city out of its gloom. The idea of a Masskara Festival was born over a gathering of AAB artists led by Ely Santiago at Tita’s Restaurant, which was next door to the gallery of the Art Association of Bacolod at was known then as the Seawall fronting the public plaza. There, Ely Santiago, introduced the idea of a festival of painted masks made of paper mache.

AAB artists Maowi Palacios, Lor Sumagaysay, Orville Visitacion, George Macainan, Marcial Buelba, Rodney Martinez, Rafael Paderna, Jecky Alano, Fred Juson, Belding Familiaran, Fred Escaran, Roy Aguilar, Joemar Sanchez, and Nunelucio Alvarado gave lessons in mask-making to the different barangays for them to create as a seasonal source of income which also became entries in the Masskara Festival.

Beyond the merry making, the festival has brought artists together and constantly stokes the fire of a vibrant art scene in the city.

22/04/2023

Negrense Artists Larry Tronco and Jess Aiko at the residence of Jess Aiko in San Sebastian St., 1976.

Both Larry Ramos Tronco and Jess Ramos Aiko were artists of the Philippine Art Galley in Manila in the 1950s.

Jess Ayco (Jesus Ramos Ayco) was born on August 8, 1916 in Manila, and went to the Ateneo de Manila in his childhood and took up courses in painting at the School of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines. He also studied architecture at the University of Santo Tomas. His first exhibition was held at the Philippine Art Gallery in 1956, which was at that time the nerve center of modern art in the country. This was followed through by more forays into visual arts field with exhibitions in Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, and Dumaguete in the Visayas. Ayco traveled in Europe and stayed for a while in London and Paris. He pursued his practice more actively after the war, exhibiting frequently at the Art Association of the Philippines and marked his presence in the art circles in Bacolod. He was one of the founders of the Art Association of Bacolod.

Larry Tronco (Leandro Ramos Tronco) was a revered professor in the field of Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas int he 1960s. He was known among his students as "Mr. Ad Man" because while he taught at the UST, he was also working as an art director in known advertising agencies of the time.

Such an honor and privilege for someone who was well-loved in his hometown in Kabankalan. Larry Tronco graduated from Kabankalan Academy in 1948. He entered the University of the Philippines the next year but stayed only for a year and then moved to the University of Santo Tomas. While in UST, he was selected by the Spanish government to be a scholar and sent to Spain to study at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando with National Artists Cesar Legaspi and Arturo Luz.

After his studies, he began a colorful career in the world of advertising in Manila being employed by Admakers, Dentsu, J. Walter Thompson, and in 1979 started Tronco Advertising Co., Inc. in Bacolod City.

22/04/2023

Negrense Artist Larry Tronco Honored with Posthumous EDADES Award by UST

The Best of the Provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, Philippines.