THE ARTIST BEHIND THE AWARD

     Presenting the first set of ST. JOHN MARY VIANNEY AWARDS would not have been possible if not for the skillful hands that re-created for us a unique image of our patron and saint. The busts (or statuettes if you may call them as such) of our patron are themselves priceless works of art, meant as well to most meaningfully underscore the equally priceless contribution to the Church of Mindanao of our first set of awardees.

     We contemplate these sculptures and artwork and remember the mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation. The spirit had been ENFLESHED. Analogously, we say: the Spirit of our patron, St. John Mary Vianney had indeed been enfleshed and rightly so, in our own context … our own indigenous color, shape and feature and as magnificently crafted by our very own Filipino and Cagayan de Oro artist.
     Accordingly, we hear our friend-artist saying: “a certain level of understanding the inner persona (of St. John Mary Vianney) guided me to translate his character into form.” Doing so, he found himself moving beyond stereotypes, the common art interpretations of the saint. Our artist blurts out with much amazement: “I saw him coming alive in my medium, as a real and warm person… a beautiful face!”

Antonio "Jojo" Sescon, artist and scuptor

     The person behind this priceless symbol is himself a man recognized in his own field … as a sculptor, a photojournalist and an URIAN Awardee for Short Film. He partnered with internationally known sculptor Julie Lluch from 1990-2007 for works which include the monuments to Gen. Carlos P. Romulo, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., former Aklan Governor Evelio Javier, former Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson and former Vice President Salvador Laurel … all installed along Roxas Boulevard in Manila.     We are simply grateful for his saying “YES” to this project, more so as this entailed a lot of generosity on his part. We are glad enough to hear him saying that “the project for St. John Vianney had been personally a meaningful and fruitful journey” for him.

     We recognize the artist behind the symbol. We count him now as a good friend of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary.  We thank MR. ANTONIO “JOJO” SESCON, artist and sculptor for his creative rendition of our saint and patron, St. John Mary Vianney.