Six original artworks entered the Sentro Rizal collection at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco on June 10, 2026, after two California-based Filipino artists turned over the pieces to diplomatic officials.
Butch Paje accounted for five of the donations — GOMBURZA, La Solidaridad, Mabini, Rizal Beyond Walls, and Supremo — while Catherine Bassig-Paje contributed Wings of the Nation. National heroes, historical movements, and collective memory run through Butch Paje’s five canvases. His wife’s piece takes a different approach, working with themes of hope, unity, and national pride rather than specific historical figures.
All six had already been seen by the public. They hung at Kalayaan Hall inside the Philippine Center for The Art of Belonging: Filipino Narratives in America, which ran from June 8 to June 19, 2026. The two-week program used contemporary visual art to examine Filipino identity, lived experience, and contributions within the United States.
Both artists co-founded Filipino Creatives International, an organization headquartered in the U.S. that connects Filipino artists, designers, and cultural practitioners with collaboration opportunities and exhibition venues. Its programming aims to raise the profile of Filipino artistry while building cultural understanding across national lines and reinforcing ties among creatives in the global Filipino community.
Consulate officials thanked the pair for the donation and for backing Philippine cultural diplomacy efforts. The works are meant to reach both Filipino communities and international audiences across the United States, in line with the Sentro Rizal program’s mandate to preserve and promote Philippine arts, history, and heritage.
Bassig-Paje’s involvement in the arts extends past her own studio practice. She works as an art educator and has pushed for inclusive, strengths-based approaches to art education that give young people creative agency.
