BAGUIO CITY (PIA) - - The City Government of Baguio, in partnership with BAYO Foundation  recently opened  Creative Community Hub that aims not only to promote arts and creative products,  but also to help develop the creativity and artistry of Baguio folks through training and infusion of science, technology and innovations.

Dubbed as HARVEST (Heritage and Artisanship Re-imagined as a Vehicle for Economic growth, Sustainability and Technology) Creative CommUNITY Hub, it is situated in a City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) 2 – floor building inside the Baguio Botanical Garden. It currently houses arts and crafts exhibits, weaving equipment and a training area.

City officials headed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, BAYO Foundation Executive Director Anna Lagon and Directors of the Board Venus Marie Tan and Leo  Lagon and other partners and stakeholders led the cultural rites, blessing and launching of the HARVEST Creative CommUNITY Hub last September 8.

 Magalong said the Hub is in line with Baguio City’s mandate as a UNESCO Creative City and for now, it focuses on weaving but will soon also go into other crafts.

 He expressed the city’s gratitude to BAYO Foundation especially to   Tan and the Lagon couple for proposing such strategic, long term and sustainable project.

“In behalf of the City of Baguio, thank you very much. For our weavers, we will not only promote the product but also develop the product as we pursue what we call creative economy. Not only for the culture and the arts, not only in the field of creativity but also through technology and innovations,” Magalong stressed.

Under the Creative Hub project, BAYO Foundation will also  bring other donor partners for the project which include PLDT, Metrobank Foundation, BPI Foundation, Boysen, Hanabishi, AMTI and Henry & Sons, among others.

Department of Science and Technology CAR Regional Director Nancy Bantog, Dept.  of Trade and Industry OIC Assistant Regional Director Samuel Gallardo, officials from DOST Philippine Textile Research Institute and representative from the Dept.   of Social Welfare and Development and other private partners also expressed their statements of support during the Hub’s opening ceremony. (JDP/CCD-PIA CAR)