Don’t pass up an awesome cultural activity when you’re in Bacolod City! Visit The Art District and the Orange Project for a local Bacolod City art experience.

The Art District in Bacolod City is the biggest space dedicated to art. The Art district is located on the corner of Lacson Street and Santa Clara Avenue, Barangay Mandalagan Bacolod City. This space spans half a block and contains restaurants, bars and more importantly – art galleries containing art by local artists living in the island of Negros occidental.

How to get to The Art district? Getting to the art district is easy. You can ride Jeepneys whose routes are Shopping – Northbound or Bata-Mandalagan. The jeepney routes will pass by the front of the Art District. The jeepney fare would cost you about 10 pesos. Alternatively, you can hail a taxi or use ride hailing company Grab to take you to your destination.

There’s so much to see here in the Art District. There’s not much activity during the day so the best time to visit would be in the late afternoon – around 4-5pm when it is cooler and when the restaurants and galleries open up.

The best way to enjoy The Art District is to just stroll around and take in the sights. There’s not much people in the afternoons so you can enjoy everything in silence. The few groups that you will encounter are young students and artists with an occasional photo taking tourist.

The largest and biggest structure in The Art District is the Orange Project building. The Orange Project is a collaborative undertaking between artist Charlie Co and businessman-artist Victor Benjamin Lopue III. The orange project aims to elevate the arts consciousness in Negros Island.

The Orange Project had several phases, starting from a small gallery named “Gallery Orange” in 2005. Gallery Orange then moved to a bigger space in 2014 in The Art District Main building and finally in 2018, The Orange Project moved to a two story building.

The ground floor of the Orange Project is a huge, wide open space filled with art from local Bacolod Artists and guest artists from other parts of the Philippines. There’s plenty of lighting and a help desk in case you are interested in asking questions or purchasing the art on display.

The art displayed changes frequently so check back and see their exhibits. This is a great place to stay and linger as the whole area is fully air conditioned. There is no entrance fee to enter the Orange Project art gallery.

These are the artworks that were on display when we visited. Take note that the displays change frequently and might not even be there when you visit. But hey, more new art to discover!

There’s an Antipas Delotavo painting on display! This artist is famous for his realistic scenes of Filipino People. This piece is entitled “Kasaysayan”. Its very highly detailed and extremely beautiful.

Here’s the official Facebook of Antipas Delotavo with a beautiful revolutionary painting.

Another art piece that we saw inside The Orange Project art gallery in Bacolod is this dynamic piece entitled ” Behind, Beneath, Beyond”.

The artist Guenivere Decena has put together a beautiful piece that literally leaps off the canvas – or should we say “sucks everything into the canvas”?

Here’s Guinevere with one of her art works. She’s an artist who doesn’t limit herself to the confines of the canvas.

Raymond Legaspi is an artist known for his curvaceous, plump women. Here he displays his version of Juan Luna’s Spoliarium – a piece depicting dead gladiators being hauled out of the arena. For his version, Raymond Legaspi painted gummy bears wading through a sea of red jelly.

The second floor of The Orange Project houses more artwork and a small multimedia room. Very interesting.

There is a hyper realistic artwork of a pile of construction sand. This piece is by Henrielle Baltazar Pagkaliwangan and it is entitled “On this Site will Rise.“

It is incredibly detailed. The artist notes that this construction sand art is made to look like a mountain range.

Here is the artist posing with her art.

A huge art display on the second floor of The Orange Project has a wall printed with the number of deaths from each country in Asia, Philippines included. There’s a huge abacus right in front of it with instructions how to use it.

This striking piece is “Demograpi” by UP Fine art professor Leo Abaya. This piece is meant to be touched and used by the public. It is very thought provoking and visceral.

Here is the artist at a show in Manila.

Another interesting piece that we saw was FOR SHAME!: A FILIPINO FAMILY ALBUM by artist Liv Vinluan. It’s on a circular piece of paper with people in strange situations. Is it a reference to the toxicity of a traditional Filipino Family? This piece got me wondering how many of my ancestors were toxic people.

The Orange Project has a small “hidden” garden. There are a couple of art installations in this area. Don’t miss the “golden pump”, the beautiful bench carved from a tree trunk and a thought provoking metal and terracotta sculpture.

We’re always thinking about food so we thought the metal trays look like pans for making leche flan. On top of these trays is a terra cotta sculpture of emaciated bodies.

There’s a massive, iron and steel figure that looks a bit like the animated character Totoro. This figure was made in 10 days by visiting Korean Artists who cobbled the piece together using scrap metal. It is one of the most impressive pieces in the Orange gallery.

If you’re hungry, there’s several places to eat in The Art District. You can have Chicken Inasal at Bacolod Chicken house or try the other quirky and fun restaurants in the area.

Fat Choi

Fat Choi is one of the famous Chinese Take outs in Bacolod City. Our favorite merienda is a bowl of their piping hot congee.

Tropicalia Pizza

Tropicalia Pizza is a pizzeria in the art district. It opens in the evening and one of our friends highly recommends them for a fun dining experience.

Miren

if you’re hankering for some sweets or some gelato to cool you down, check out Miren. They’ve got awesome cakes, frozen yogurt and different kinds of baked goodies.

Onsé Coffee + Art

This cafe is named Onsé because it was conceptualized by eleven local artists. This is a cafe that is run by local artists and it doubles as a gallery and display space for young and upcoming artists. The crowd here is mostly students and the food is simple. It’s more of a tambayan for artist students and you can snag souvenirs such as stickers, crafts and even paintings by the students themselves.

If you’re interested to get started collecting local art – this is the place to check out.

There are a lot of quirky things that you will find in the art section. Watch out because some of them are not kid friendly. They are pretty unique and will bring a chuckle to your adult guests. The merchandise changes depending on the artist displaying their wares so sometimes you will really get one of a kind local art souvenirs.

There are a lot of talented artists in Negros Island. If you’re redecorating your home, come to The Art District to pick out some paintings made by local artists.

There are several galleries in The Art District such as the AAB gallery, Onse and Block 17 Art space where you can purchase amazing art. Just go around in the evenings when the galleries are open and talk to the persons at the counters.

Block 17 Art Space

Don’t forget to check out this other mini gallery in the art district. go in, push open the doors and check out the artist’s work on display in this gallery.

Besides the paintings, there are also other multi media displays and art installations (depending on the artist displaying in Block 17 Art Space. When we visited we saw a display of an artists journals.

Very interesting! This display offers an intimate look into the artist’s life.

Depending on the artist displaying, there might be art and books for sale in Block 17 Art space. This is also a good place to pick up souvenirs.

We checked out this book named “Lord PLs” written by Alan Navarra. Pretty interesting!

It is highly recommended to visit The Art District and the Orange project when you are in Bacolod city. This is one of the best places to take visitors who are first timers to Bacolod. The best time to visit the art district and the Orange project is in the late afternoons but it is best to call ahead.

The Art District is generally open every day but some shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays .

Orange Project

Address: Orange Project Building, Art District, Lopue’s Annex Building, Mandalagan
6100 Bacolod City

Opening hours of the Orange Project is from 2pm – 10pm.

Orange Project Telephone number: (034) 431 3713

Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/orangeprojectbcd/

The Bacolod Food Hunters did not accept any freebies, incentives or money for this article. We paid for our own food. We practice ethical blogging.