DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 17 -- As the country celebrates National Arts Month, a local art gallery in this capital of Negros Oriental province endeavors to provide space and a jump-off point for homegrown artists who have fewer opportunities in the highly competitive national art scene.

Arte Cafe/Gallery/Workshop, owned and managed by 30-year-old Sabrina Skye Diago Benito, has been an exhibit venue for more than a year now and caters to more than 50 local artists.

Benito, an artist herself, said a majority of them are from here, while others are from outside Negros Oriental.

Not all of them have had the chance to promote their artworks, much less be known in the local art scene, she said.

But some have been able to "spread their wings alre...