The Betis Galleria
The Betis Galleria Story
The story of Betis Galleria is further discussed in the book we launched last September 2017 upon the endorsement of Cardinal Tagle. This afternoon, I am going to share our story to you: the importance of work, family, and tradition.
In 1991, Betis Galleria was registered as the official name of our business. With increased clients that consisted of church commissions and individual referrals, more workers joined us.
Many livelihood ventures went bankrupt during the disastrous Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 but the projects that we secured sustained us. What came soon after were projects that included commissioned altars mostly from Tondo from 1991 to 1994. We were commissioned to work on the retablo, side altar, and chandeliers of Santo Niño de Tondo Parochial Church in 1994, a year before Pope John Paul II visited the Santo Niño de Tondo.
We did not yet have a carving machine in the 1990s and I often found my self pressed for time from all the deadlines. Nevertheless, the series of calamities that befell Betis in the 1990s came with a stream of projects that provided a stable source of livelihood not only for my immediately family but those who joined Betis Galleria.
Carving machines allow Betis Galleria to produce outputs with increased immediacy and precision. The machines were acquired all the way from Singapore sometime in 2004. At the time of their acquisition, we did not foresee the impact that carving machines will make. Since the year we started using machines, Betis Galleria has been implementing an efficient workflow that allows me to fully concentrate on rendering the desired nuances in each work.
Huge carving machines spanning several feet in length and height are now stationed inside Shop Two. One of these machines are used to render the initial form of a sculptural work but at a scale much larger than the initial model. Another carving machine is used for reproducing the florid undulating patterns that adorn columns and panels of altars. However, operators of carving machines must have a thorough and intimate understanding of manual woodcarving processes because the creative process of carving a piece of wood is still dependent on human skill and creativity. For the artisans of Betis Galleria, carving machines are merely tools that increase workflow efficiency and ease the difficult process of creating several images within a limited timeframe.
The family also acquired a lot along the Olongapo-Gapan Road and converted it into the Betis Galleria showroom. The showroom was strategically situated in the main thoroughfare linking the national capital to Pampanga, Bataan, and Subic. In 2008, local priests and luminaries from the academe graced the inauguration along with National Artist Napoleon Abueva. The inauguration was a showcase of a glorious decade filled with breakthrough after breakthrough. However, the doors of the Betis Galleria showroom are currently closed not because operations have ceased but because all energies are focused on creating works to fulfill the relentless outpour of commissions that we continue to receive.
Churches in several provinces also house large-scale and extensive works we produced. Our creations have reached as far North of the Philippines as Tuguegarao and Ilocos and as far South as Butuan. All artisans of Betis Galeria has been most productive since 2004 until the present. With greater workflow efficiency, I was also able to exponentially improve his techniques. From the first ecclesiastical works we created for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Concepcion in Marinduque way back in 1983, our body of works have exponentially grown, so that they can be seen inside Catholic churches spanning the archipelago.
The constant stream of projects sustains not only Willy’s family but the workers’ as well. We estimate around 40 employees in Betis Galleria, excluding those who bring work to finish in their homes. The home-based work structure of the enterprise allows flexibility for all.
Randy, one of the carvers, shared how at one time, he worked in Dubai just to earn the capital he needed to build a house and when it was finished, he came back to Betis Galleria. He maintained that workers stay in Betis Galleria because of the regularity of income and it is where they can ensure that the tables in the home and their children’s education are provided for. Like most of them, leaving has never crossed his mind. Because it is essentially a family business, workers are also treated like members of an extended family.
Even though we officially registered Betis Galleria as a business only in 1991, my good friend and master carver Rene Culala has been with me since the 1980s, a decade earlier than the year the creative enterprise was officially established. Rene’s loyalty extends beyond the official existence of Betis Galleria.
Sculpture is a practice that demands much of one’s soul to enable the artist to produce highly refined works. The success of Betis Galleria is also built on a good work ethic aside from his innate talent honed by formal training in the arts. I keep a precise daily schedule that ensures I can complete projects even if there are multiple deadlines.
As an artist, I keep a structured work flow. Even my meetings with people, whether I am travelling to other places or receiving guests in his workshop, are set in advance. Our days are always been productive. Even my sojourns outside the country are not luxurious vacations but opportunities to absorb new techniques and insights. There is hardly any idle moment for me. My routine usually starts at dawn, around 5:00 am. I work on a project until 8:00 am and move on to another project until 11:30 am. I take lunch then siesta until 2:00 pm, then work again until 5:00 pm. I then work on another project until 7:00 pm. On more leisurely occasions, I paint on canvas.
The success of Betis Galleria is anchored not only on the intrinsic excellence of their creations but the sound financial management of my wife. Now that my second son Gelo (Mark Angelo) is ready for management responsibilities, he is the point man for operations and deliveries. tends to require full concentration when he is completing a sculpture. Hence, I delegate the administrative responsibilities to them. The Layug home in its current state has stood for several years as an evidence of my wife Baby’s frugal lifestyle seen in the whole household.
At present my youngest son is studying sculpture in Barcelona. One of my daughters is being trained in painting techniques. The rest are not training in sculpture but there are young people who visit my studio to train in drawing and painting on weekends. Artists from Angeles also train in carving techniques on weekends.
I dream of one day establishing a woodcarving center to train out-of-school youths. At times I am worried about the possibility of more wood carvers in Betis transferring elsewhere. I still have high hopes that the woodcarving tradition in Betis will continue to flourish in the hands of the next generation so that it will not fade into oblivion.
Betis Galleria lacks young people among its roster of artisans. Most of the current workers in Betis Galleria are near middle age. Many artisans who joined from the year 2000 onwards, are involved in either carpentry or finishing. The more senior wood carvers who have been with me for many years all share the same sentiment: there are no young carvers in Betis Galleria in spite of the livelihood opportunity that the workshop can offer to them.
Viatarit is mylabor of love. It is a structure designed and constructed sometime in 2010 originally as a leisure place for the family. But the Museum idea came up sometime in 2012. I wanted to select some of my creations that are vested with sentimental value and artistic significance and feature them in the museum. Because the museum is built like a house, the interior furnishings include dining tables, chairs, staircases, and other creations from Betis Galleria.
At a distance from the house is a gazebo on a man-made pond. Natural fresh water used to flow from the adjacent river that seems to mark the property’s boundary. But following the cataclysmic Mount Pinatubo eruption, the lot area increased as sand and silt clogged river channels and estuaries.
At times I think I was destined to build his museum.
I was born on the 3rd of December 1959. Born in a family of very little means, my family gathered kangkong (water spinach) near a watery marsh. My father and I used to fish for dalag where the gazebo now stands.
Dukit
I established an organization called Mandukit Anluagi Santa Ursula (MASU) because I have always wanted to sustain the pamandukit (wood carving) tradition and introduce artistic innovations that will enrich the craft and the community of Santa Ursula. Since then, the MASU has been spearheading on-the-spot competitions in woodcarving.
More than enticing carvers with prizes, the initiatives that happened within the year, such as the on-the-spot woodcarving competitions, encouraged the creative community of Santa Ursula. It was an encouragement for the Betis mandukit to continue creating on wood and for the younger generation to be exposed to the tradition.
The on-the-spot woodcarving exhibition concept has been transported elsewhere. In September 2016, the MASU was invited by none other than Archbishop Socrates Villegas at the grounds of the Dagupan Cathedral. “Ukit Para Kay Ina” was a woodcarving exhibition and cultural exchange in honor of the Virgin Mary. After this, the members of MASU were overwhelmed upon receiving several invitations from malls in Pampanga. One such example is the exhibit in SM Pampanga attended by local politicians such as Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda. The Dukit Festival held in December 2016 was again held within the vicinity of the Betis Church, graced by the presence of politicians such as Pampanga Representative and former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The San Beda College Alabang Museum also featured the MASU during their celebration of the Feast of Santo Niño last January 2017.
It is my goal that members of MASU will see that more than being a source of livelihood, sculpture is a calling. For me, this eventually translates to good work habits and the ideal attitude that clients look for.- Willy Layug
The story of Betis Galleria is further discussed in the book we launched last September 2017 upon the endorsement of Cardinal Tagle. This afternoon, I am going to share our story to you: the importance of work, family, and tradition.
In 1991, Betis Galleria was registered as the official name of our business. With increased clients that consisted of church commissions and individual referrals, more workers joined us.
Many livelihood ventures went bankrupt during the disastrous Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 but the projects that we secured sustained us. What came soon after were projects that included commissioned altars mostly from Tondo from 1991 to 1994. We were commissioned to work on the retablo, side altar, and chandeliers of Santo Niño de Tondo Parochial Church in 1994, a year before Pope John Paul II visited the Santo Niño de Tondo.
We did not yet have a carving machine in the 1990s and I often found my self pressed for time from all the deadlines. Nevertheless, the series of calamities that befell Betis in the 1990s came with a stream of projects that provided a stable source of livelihood not only for my immediately family but those who joined Betis Galleria.
Carving machines allow Betis Galleria to produce outputs with increased immediacy and precision. The machines were acquired all the way from Singapore sometime in 2004. At the time of their acquisition, we did not foresee the impact that carving machines will make. Since the year we started using machines, Betis Galleria has been implementing an efficient workflow that allows me to fully concentrate on rendering the desired nuances in each work.
Huge carving machines spanning several feet in length and height are now stationed inside Shop Two. One of these machines are used to render the initial form of a sculptural work but at a scale much larger than the initial model. Another carving machine is used for reproducing the florid undulating patterns that adorn columns and panels of altars. However, operators of carving machines must have a thorough and intimate understanding of manual woodcarving processes because the creative process of carving a piece of wood is still dependent on human skill and creativity. For the artisans of Betis Galleria, carving machines are merely tools that increase workflow efficiency and ease the difficult process of creating several images within a limited timeframe.
The family also acquired a lot along the Olongapo-Gapan Road and converted it into the Betis Galleria showroom. The showroom was strategically situated in the main thoroughfare linking the national capital to Pampanga, Bataan, and Subic. In 2008, local priests and luminaries from the academe graced the inauguration along with National Artist Napoleon Abueva. The inauguration was a showcase of a glorious decade filled with breakthrough after breakthrough. However, the doors of the Betis Galleria showroom are currently closed not because operations have ceased but because all energies are focused on creating works to fulfill the relentless outpour of commissions that we continue to receive.
Churches in several provinces also house large-scale and extensive works we produced. Our creations have reached as far North of the Philippines as Tuguegarao and Ilocos and as far South as Butuan. All artisans of Betis Galeria has been most productive since 2004 until the present. With greater workflow efficiency, I was also able to exponentially improve his techniques. From the first ecclesiastical works we created for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Concepcion in Marinduque way back in 1983, our body of works have exponentially grown, so that they can be seen inside Catholic churches spanning the archipelago.
The constant stream of projects sustains not only Willy’s family but the workers’ as well. We estimate around 40 employees in Betis Galleria, excluding those who bring work to finish in their homes. The home-based work structure of the enterprise allows flexibility for all.
Randy, one of the carvers, shared how at one time, he worked in Dubai just to earn the capital he needed to build a house and when it was finished, he came back to Betis Galleria. He maintained that workers stay in Betis Galleria because of the regularity of income and it is where they can ensure that the tables in the home and their children’s education are provided for. Like most of them, leaving has never crossed his mind. Because it is essentially a family business, workers are also treated like members of an extended family.
Even though we officially registered Betis Galleria as a business only in 1991, my good friend and master carver Rene Culala has been with me since the 1980s, a decade earlier than the year the creative enterprise was officially established. Rene’s loyalty extends beyond the official existence of Betis Galleria.
Sculpture is a practice that demands much of one’s soul to enable the artist to produce highly refined works. The success of Betis Galleria is also built on a good work ethic aside from his innate talent honed by formal training in the arts. I keep a precise daily schedule that ensures I can complete projects even if there are multiple deadlines.
As an artist, I keep a structured work flow. Even my meetings with people, whether I am travelling to other places or receiving guests in his workshop, are set in advance. Our days are always been productive. Even my sojourns outside the country are not luxurious vacations but opportunities to absorb new techniques and insights. There is hardly any idle moment for me. My routine usually starts at dawn, around 5:00 am. I work on a project until 8:00 am and move on to another project until 11:30 am. I take lunch then siesta until 2:00 pm, then work again until 5:00 pm. I then work on another project until 7:00 pm. On more leisurely occasions, I paint on canvas.
The success of Betis Galleria is anchored not only on the intrinsic excellence of their creations but the sound financial management of my wife. Now that my second son Gelo (Mark Angelo) is ready for management responsibilities, he is the point man for operations and deliveries. tends to require full concentration when he is completing a sculpture. Hence, I delegate the administrative responsibilities to them. The Layug home in its current state has stood for several years as an evidence of my wife Baby’s frugal lifestyle seen in the whole household.
At present my youngest son is studying sculpture in Barcelona. One of my daughters is being trained in painting techniques. The rest are not training in sculpture but there are young people who visit my studio to train in drawing and painting on weekends. Artists from Angeles also train in carving techniques on weekends.
I dream of one day establishing a woodcarving center to train out-of-school youths. At times I am worried about the possibility of more wood carvers in Betis transferring elsewhere. I still have high hopes that the woodcarving tradition in Betis will continue to flourish in the hands of the next generation so that it will not fade into oblivion.
Betis Galleria lacks young people among its roster of artisans. Most of the current workers in Betis Galleria are near middle age. Many artisans who joined from the year 2000 onwards, are involved in either carpentry or finishing. The more senior wood carvers who have been with me for many years all share the same sentiment: there are no young carvers in Betis Galleria in spite of the livelihood opportunity that the workshop can offer to them.
Viatarit is mylabor of love. It is a structure designed and constructed sometime in 2010 originally as a leisure place for the family. But the Museum idea came up sometime in 2012. I wanted to select some of my creations that are vested with sentimental value and artistic significance and feature them in the museum. Because the museum is built like a house, the interior furnishings include dining tables, chairs, staircases, and other creations from Betis Galleria.
At a distance from the house is a gazebo on a man-made pond. Natural fresh water used to flow from the adjacent river that seems to mark the property’s boundary. But following the cataclysmic Mount Pinatubo eruption, the lot area increased as sand and silt clogged river channels and estuaries.
At times I think I was destined to build his museum.
I was born on the 3rd of December 1959. Born in a family of very little means, my family gathered kangkong (water spinach) near a watery marsh. My father and I used to fish for dalag where the gazebo now stands.
Dukit
I established an organization called Mandukit Anluagi Santa Ursula (MASU) because I have always wanted to sustain the pamandukit (wood carving) tradition and introduce artistic innovations that will enrich the craft and the community of Santa Ursula. Since then, the MASU has been spearheading on-the-spot competitions in woodcarving.
More than enticing carvers with prizes, the initiatives that happened within the year, such as the on-the-spot woodcarving competitions, encouraged the creative community of Santa Ursula. It was an encouragement for the Betis mandukit to continue creating on wood and for the younger generation to be exposed to the tradition.
The on-the-spot woodcarving exhibition concept has been transported elsewhere. In September 2016, the MASU was invited by none other than Archbishop Socrates Villegas at the grounds of the Dagupan Cathedral. “Ukit Para Kay Ina” was a woodcarving exhibition and cultural exchange in honor of the Virgin Mary. After this, the members of MASU were overwhelmed upon receiving several invitations from malls in Pampanga. One such example is the exhibit in SM Pampanga attended by local politicians such as Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda. The Dukit Festival held in December 2016 was again held within the vicinity of the Betis Church, graced by the presence of politicians such as Pampanga Representative and former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The San Beda College Alabang Museum also featured the MASU during their celebration of the Feast of Santo Niño last January 2017.
It is my goal that members of MASU will see that more than being a source of livelihood, sculpture is a calling. For me, this eventually translates to good work habits and the ideal attitude that clients look for.- Willy Layug
