artph EVENT
PATRONS OF THE ARTS
Patrons of the Arts (PotA) is a dynamic Philippine event organizer founded around 2023 that has quickly become a key player in the local indie art market by empowering Filipino artists through accessible weekend art fairs and themed markets. It connects creators of illustrations, prints, stickers, and original works with buyers via community-focused events held in Metro Manila venues like Centris Elements and expanding to regional cities such as Clark, Cebu, Davao, and Iloilo, often featuring workshops, AR exhibits, and themed editions (e.g., Nostalgia, Halloween/Potaween, Summer). Starting with modest beginnings, PotA now hosts frequent events that boost visibility for emerging artists
It’s been a while since Iloilo had some creator-centered events; the last one was Komiket Iloilo 2023. Since then, we had to settle with local Cosplay Events where we are lumped in with bootleg sellers and watch them suck the money of the attendees with limited purchasing power. For Manila-based bootleg sellers, provincial cosplay events are a gold mine. Event organizers don’t give a shit about it since it’s purely business. When artists brings that up, they will shrug it off and tell us to play nice. Hell, they will even gaslight us into thinking that maybe our merch isn’t good enough to sell.
When Patrons of the Arts Bacolod was announced, we didn’t sign up since we got pretty bad experience with previous Bacolod cosplay events that are happy to accommodate the bootleggers. According to friends who travelled all the way to Bacolod, they had a positive experience with the event, and they even begged POTA to go to Iloilo. Fast forward to 2026, we definitely signed up to Patrons of the Arts Regional events. We were so hyped for the event that my partner even went the extra mile to make our booth looksmax. I didn’t have much expectation on the event since the venue is at ICC and we all know SM is the best venue for creator events.
Day 1
I had the most unfortunate day when I was down with the flu and was coughing like crazy. We just set up the booth and oriented our assistant, Jeb, to mind the booth. The day was a bit of a blur since I took a long nap until I was well enough to go back to the booth. I was surprised that my anthology comic “Bagat” was selling well. My historical and mythology comic didn’t sell well, though, so there’s that. The usual Iloilo-centric stickers consistently sell well. Isabel of POTA asked me to join the comic panel for day 2, and I happily obliged. I enjoyed the atmosphere of POTA despite it being in ICC or Iloilo Convention Center. Finally, an event that showcases independent creators. Based on my personal experience, ICC is the least desirable place to sell art unless if it’s a huge event like Conquest (May it rest in peace) given that it is a bit out of the way. I was pleasantly surprised that the event was able to attract patrons given that the promotion wasn’t on full blast, but word of mouth did reach the art enthusiasts. We went home, fully satisfied with how the event went.
Day 2
I was still feverish, but thankfully I was able to control my coughing since I got a comic panel to attend to at 1 pm. After lunch, it was show time. So fellow comic artists got on stage: Hunghang Flashbacks, Alden Sorongon, JP Palmes of Litlife. It was a fun panel where everyone got to talk about their comics journey. Then I went around to buy some merch and took some video. It was then that my comic finally sold out. It was a good day; the crowd turnout was decent. And I got my ROI for the table, although I think if the venue was at SM City, the sales would have been stonks. After the traditional exchange of stickers with some artists, we all had our group picture. The event was a success.
Final Thoughts
We really appreciate Patrons of the Arts for taking a chance with Iloilo City, and despite some minor kinks, there was nothing really to complain about. It was starting to build good momentum into Regional events. In fact, we were looking forward to joining POTA originals, but we weren’t prepared to join this year. Cracks started showing when creators were complaining about the table arrangement in POTA Regionals Cebu. It all started to go downhill when the POTA Baguio event venue was changed at the last minute, and creators were given one day for the event. POTA Legaspi was cancelled, and POTA Clark was cancelled and ended up pushing through at the last minute. Creators started clamoring for refunds, and a lot did not get their money back. Our decision not to join any Manila events for 2026 really saved us from potential financial setbacks. I guess this makes the first and last POTA event in Iloilo that we have attended.
Check out my other blog entry for the deep dive on the Patrons of the Art debacle.
