Laguna-born artist behind new National Humanities Medal in US

For their outstanding work in using their craft to improve life in the United States, 22 deserving individuals have been conferred with the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama on Monday.

But for Filipinos, perhaps the most interesting part of the award is the person behind the new design of the National Humanities Medal.

Meet Paul Balan, a native of Paete in Laguna province whose design was picked by the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) for the new National Humanities Medal out of 131 submitted for the national competition.

A news release on the website of technology provider CDW said the design was inspired by Balan's fascination with the Statue of Liberty, the first tourist spot he wanted to see upon his migration to the US in 2001.

CDW said among the past recipients of National Humanities Medal were authors Toni Morrison and Philip Roth, historians Stephen Ambrose and Robert Caro, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.

A separate report on Coin Week, a coin and currency news site, said Balan's work was also inspired by the face side of the US Mint's 2015 commemorative $5 gold coin, which featured a bald eagle with the shield of US Marshals on its chest, its claws gripping the country's flag, with the words Justice, Integrity, and Service curved to its right.

Balan, according to an interview with Chicago Tribune, also designed two medals honoring Native American "code talkers" as part of the US Mint's Artistic Infusion Program.

He received $3,000 for his work on the National Humanities Medal, and $2,500 for each design assignment. Mike White, Mint spokesman, said Balan will receive $5,000 for every medal or coin design used by the Treasury Department.

The money Balan received, as well as the national recognition for his art, went a long way in empowering the Fine Arts graduate of the University of Santo Tomas.

In the interview with Chicago Tribune, Balan said he stopped creating art when he migrated to the US with neither job nor money in his pocket. Because he felt that husbands had to provide for their wives, he waited until he was earning a steady paycheck before going back to painting and sculpting.

Balan, who now has two children, told Chicago Tribune that he was excited and nervous for the NEH ceremony, as his "English is not that good, and different personalities, like the presidents and the recipients, are not ordinary people."

Balan plans on returning to the mailroom at CDW in August. —KBK, GMA News