Why Rosalind Wee swung into action to support art
Carrageenan Queen” Rosalind Wee is vice chairperson of the W Group and the founder of Marine Resources Development Corp., which exports tons of carrageenan yearly.
This would not have been possible if she didn’t survive an operation 32 years ago to excise a tumor the size of a golf ball in her brain.
After 14 hours in surgery, during which the surgeons found out that the tumor had wrapped itself around her carotid artery, Rosalind opened her eyes. But — she couldn’t see clearly. She was legally blind.
“I don’t have peripheral vision. I can only see one half of you, very limited,” she shared with this writer. “But I’m a very good golfer. I scan my surroundings.” Still, her vision for how she wanted to live her life remained as clear as the blue seas in Sulu, where she grew up. While teaching math during the day, she established from their living room in Metro Manila a small handicraft business. That business now includes carrageenan products and six W buildings in BGC.
Being “legally blind” has also not diminished her appreciation for art. In fact, it has enhanced it. Aside from collecting paintings, Rosalind does calligraphy. She can wield a paintbrush as deftly as she can a golf club (the only thing she cannot do is drive, she once confessed).
“I have been doing Chinese calligraphy since I was in high school,” says Rosalind. “Hopefully, I will be able to contribute one (of my works) to Art Association of the Philippines” (AAP’s) Tahanan ng Sining one of these days.”
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Tahanan ng Sining is described by the AAP as “a visual manifesto rising on a 200-sq.-m. lot in Silang, Cavite, a tiny two story with big dreams, a forever home by artists for artists, a yearning incubated 75 years ago since the inception of the Art Association of the Philippines.”
AAP president Fidel M. Sarmiento calls it, “A dream come true.”
He remembers his early days as an artist, and “the hardship of being an artist. With this Tahanan, the budding artist will be guided on the rudiments of being a recognized artist.”
In aid of young artists’ dream, Rosalind and her fellow golfers swung into action — with their golf clubs, literally.
With powerful drives, smooth swings, and delicate putts, golfers collaborated with the country’s leading visual artists to finish the first “home” for Filipino artists, Tahanan ng Sining. They harnessed their network and resources to help construct the AAP Tahanan, an office/gallery/educational center. Founded 75 years ago by Purita Kalaw Ledesma, the AAP, the country’s umbrella organization for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao artists, has always been homeless. For a time, they were renting within the Rizal Park till they were asked to leave the premises.
First golfers to swing for AAP were the Cebuanos headed by former presidential assistant to the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino and his Sacred Heart School class ‘85. They sponsored the 2019 auction fundraiser of AAP members’ artworks, raising close to P4.5 million. This funded the purchase of the lot, the groundbreaking, the foundation and framing.
Metro Manila golfers then raised their clubs for the finishing stage: entrepreneur Rica Rosario Ong, Ambassador Cesar Wee, Rosalind, financial whiz and feng shui artist Lizanne Uychaco, industrial kitchen and factory builder Faye Celones, Agrikultura executives Gie and Gerry Bote, entrepreneur and artist Mathilda Sun, furniture exporter/art collector Margaret Tan, Filhome Builders Center Inc. director Jenny Bosch, telco boss Martin Leyeza, and businesswoman Gilda Medestomas. The day after Jenny Bosch donated to the AAP, she won a Toyota truck, the grand raffle prize of the 2023 Southwoods Invitational!
Then a foundation, plus Dino and his Sacred Heart alums delivered the unexpected clincher, the final brushstrokes on the AAP Tahanan.
In between the groundbreaking and the finishing stages, non-golfing art “angels” descended with unexpected donations, from P1,000 to P1 million.
The architectural design by Sarmiento is pro bono as well as the services of engineer/contractor John Morales. The sculpture to be executed on the façade in stainless steel by renowned artist Sam Penaso is gratis as well. Some artists even donated cement bags!
The two-story AAP Tahanan, with a roof deck, will be inaugurated October this year, Sarmiento said at a press conference at the Sunshine Place on Jupiter Street, where he teaches painting thrice weekly.
“It is our legacy for the Filipino people and the grassroots artists,” said Sarmiento, who together with the other officers including multi-awarded watercolorist Marge Lim, multimedia artist Monette Alvarez, and painter Lulu Olan are grateful for each donation.
“It is heartwarming not only for me, but for all artists, especially the young artists, to have this Tahanan ng Sining. I didn’t do this for me. I am a senior already. With the current officers of AAP, we are doing this for the young Filipino artists.”
And with this Tahanan built by artists for artists, there is no danger of being kicked out.
“We’re very eager to restart all the workshops we have been doing in the previous rented place in the Rizal Park. Busloads of school children and graduating students of art schools were joining our workshops then. We are connecting also with artists’ organizations, like in Korea, for art interchange. Truly, it’s a dream fulfilled.”
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