Toronto, Ontario
Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Filipino-Canadian landscape artist Frank Cruzet is not only painting artworks but is making the life of others more colorful.
He is an active member of the Philippine Artists Group of Canada and teaches other Filipinos his knowledge and skills in painting at the Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) every Wednesday.
“Nag-start ako dito last year… Naaliw ka plus lumalabas din yung creativity mo based sa tinuturo ni Frank. So nagkakaroon ka rin ng skill,” Carlos Unas, one of Cruzet’s students at the FCT, told TFCNews.
The program is for senior citizens. Cruzet, himself, never thought he could still be a painter in his 70s.
He loved to paint when he was younger but he had to set aside his dreams to become a painter to serve the Philippines as cop in Makati. When he moved to Toronto, he continued to work as a policeman.
He said that he painted on the side and his works even reached Australia, Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York.
“I was an international artist but I wasn’t that confident yet at that time. But I was already showing (my paintings),” he shared.
When he retired from service, someone suggested to him to teach painting to other retirees.
And so he did.
“They didn’t even know how to hold the brush when they started and look at their works now. Unbelievable,” he said of his students.
More than doing something with their free time, the students said the classes have led them to discover their abilities even if they are already old.
“Parang gusto naming ma-discover yung sarili namin. Yung aming mga tinatagong talents,” said Angelina Berlin, another one of Cruzet’s student.
To encourage the students to hone their skills, the FCT will hold an exhibit of their artworks this summer.
“All their good paintings will be shown in this. So they will have the initiative to produce more good paintings,” Cruzet said of the art exhibition.
Cruzet’s class is just one of the programs of FCT.
FCT Board chairman Efren De Villa said that with the reopening of their center after two years of the pandemic, they want to be able to offer more programs and services not only to Filipinos but to all Canadians.
“Don’t get us wrong that we only cater to Filipinos. We don’t make them members, but we will also cater to them pertaining to what we can help them out (with),” De Villa also told TFCNEws.
FCT President and Chief Executive Officer Mary Ann San Juan, for her part, said they also aim to hold free dental clinics four times a year, a continuing basketball tournament and the annual Pistahan at their center’s new location.