Two Thomasian alumni were recognized in different categories at the Ateneo Art Awards 2025, held on Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Ateneo Art Gallery.

Bea Belen-Ferrer, an Advertising Arts alumna, won the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize – ArtAsiaPacific (English Category) for her essay “In Between Flight and Fallout: What Would Postwar Modernists Do?”

The piece explored how Cesar Legaspi’s “Stairway to Heaven” and HR Ocampo's “Mission Accomplished” paintings reflected postwar recovery, the search for national identity, and the weight of collective trauma.

“This essay also reflects on how Legaspi and Ocampo’s works from nearly 80 years ago continue to ask the right questions on current global conflicts, manipulative use of media, and present-day anxieties of both artists and critics,” Belen-Ferrer told TomasinoWeb.

As part of the prize, six of Belen-Ferrer’s works will be published by ArtAsiaPacific next year. She also received the Orange Project Naranja Residency and the Indeks Residency Grant.

For Belen-Ferrer, the award is an opportunity to deepen her understanding of art and revisit her beliefs about its role in shaping collective thinking and social consciousness.

Meanwhile, Jel Suarez, a College of Science alumnus, bagged the Fernando Zóbel Prize for Visual Art for her exhibit “As I Lift One Stone,” a personal work created from found materials such as wood scraps and nature cutouts.

“While working on this, I found [out] that my mom was seriously ill,” Suarez told TomasinoWeb, recalling the exhibit’s inspiration.

“The process of cutting and piecing together fragments, especially ones I couldn't fully understand, like Japanese calligraphy, became a way for me to process these emotions.”

Suarez also received six grants, including the CASA San Miguel Residency and the Koganecho Area Management Center Residency Grant.

“This recognition is meaningful as it came at a time when my family and I were in need of hope,” she added.

The Ateneo Art Awards, held annually, recognized outstanding contemporary artists and art writers while providing platforms for growth and opportunities.

Bellen-Ferrer hoped more students would pursue art and art criticism as both a passion and a profession, and to look beyond well-known names and movements.

“I encourage the youth to use art as a tool [for] social change,” she said.

For Suarez, aspiring artists should “stay close to their truth in order to create more space for others to see themselves in their works.”

The 2025 program reflected its expanding ambition for deeper international exchange, sustained critical dialogue, and long-term support for emerging creatives.

This year, three recipients were honored with the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize, while four were awarded the Fernando Zóbel Prize for Visual Art.