Makati Art Walks

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO CITY'S MUSEUMS, MURALS & MONUMENTS

They say that every walk you take in Makati is an art walk. And true enough, according to a recent article by Inquirer.net, the City That Makes It All Happen is fast becoming an arts capital in Mega Manila—one that’s best explored on foot.

With Ayala Land, Inc. at the helm when it comes to the city’s design, art goes hand-in-hand with walkability.

From hip murals to serene pocket gardens to avant-garde sculptures, Makati has them all. And thanks to the innovatively designed Dela Rosa Walkway acting as a spine that grants pedestrians access to the city’s many art destinations, every stroll fills pedestrians with color, shape and light. And what better access can you have to all the art in the city than through the use of your own two feet, right?

The Museums 
Makati is home to two top-of-mind museums: the Yuchengco Museum (north of Ayala Avenue) and the Ayala Museum (at the south-end of the Dela Rosa Walkway). One can get from one museum to the other through a 20-minute walk.

The Yuchengco Museum is a temple-shaped venue that houses the finest international and local shows, as well as cultural, historical and design exhibits.

Established in 1967, the Ayala Museum is a six-story museum that houses ethnographic and archaeological exhibits on Filipino culture, art, and history. The topmost level of the museum is also home to the Filipinas Heritage Library.

Aside from these, art galleries, auction houses and co-working spaces (that hold monthly exhibits) dot the city’s many neighborhoods. Chief amongst these are Tin-aw Art Gallery in Somerset Olympia, Silverlens in Chino Roces, and Leon Gallery in Legaspi Village.

Murals

Quickly becoming synonymous to the City That Makes It All Happen is street art—mostly comprised of city-commissioned murals, with acrylic on dry wall as the medium of choice amongst artists.

The handiwork of cult names such as Rai Cruz and Quatro greet pedestrians as they pass through the elevated walkway. Candy-colored murals supported by brands such as Nestle, RCBC, Security Bank, and Shell festoon the ceilings of the underground passageways.

If you’re still hankering for more street art, select streets in areas such as Bagtikan and Poblacion also has a number of rainbow-colored walls.

Monuments

When roaming the city streets on foot, you can’t miss its many monuments that commemorate the lives of Filipino heroes.

Chief amongst them is the Ninoy Aquino Memorial Monument on Ayala Avenue, which was sculpted in bronze by Peter de Guzman. There are also the statues of Gabriela Silang, Sultan Kudarat, General Pio del Pilar and Fernando Amorsolo that’s worth a gander.

Lest you forget, there are also sculptures of various animals that adorn the gardens of Greenbelt 5.

With all this access to such beautiful art, indeed, every walk you take in Makati is an art walk.