MANILA, Philippines – He doesn’t have a lot of money but he has a lot of talent; thus, Tatay Edgardo Lam created a free art gallery of his beautiful artwork at a street in Ermita, Manila.
A couple of netizens shared photos of Tatay Edgardo, 65 years old, who lives at the sidewalk at Padre Faura St. corner M.H Del Pilar in Ermita. He doesn’t have a home to call his own, yet this sidewalk has become a makeshift home where he creates his artwork and display them for the public to enjoy for free.
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| Photo credit: Facebook / Matthew Gan |
Sometimes, there are students who would come visit Tatay Edgardo at his street gallery as they enjoy watching him transform ordinary things into works of art. These students would give Tatay Edgardo some art supplies, but because they don’t have a lot of money themselves, they could only give him a few items.
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| Photo credit: Facebook / Matthew Gan |
Tatay Edgardo estimates that he has been painting for about 20 years already. Aside from the gifts he received from the students, he would go to construction sites to ask for leftover plywood and paint. Some of the plywood he got from the construction sites he would use for his sidewalk home, but the rest would go to his art.
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| Photo credit: Facebook / Matthew Gan |
While Tatay Edgardo’s materials are very limited, it is quite impressive that he is able to transform these into incredible works of art.
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| Photo credit: Facebook / Matthew Gan |
“He said that his ideas for some of the artworks comes to him when his eyes are closed and sometimes he notices shapes and colors in his surroundings which inspire him to create a new artwork. Kuya Edgardo has personified the idea that art can come from anywhere and that art can be anything,” netizen Matthew Gan wrote as he shared some photos of Tatay Edgardo making his artwork and displaying them in his free art gallery at the sidewalk.
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| Photo credit: Facebook / Kel Navarro |
Impressive work, right?
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
