The Verde Island Passage is inspired by, and inspires, the Philippine Coral Reef exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California.
Everything here traces back to the Verde Island Passage. My February 2026 trip and my work with ABS-CBN Foundation led to two community days at the Academy in April 2026, where I brought the Passage to families in San Francisco.
Where the event begins: Families gathering inside the Philippine Coral Reef, talking about the reef and its connection to the Verde Island Passage. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
The Academy's Philippine Coral Reef, one of the deepest living coral displays in the world, was inspired by the Verde Island Passage. Academy scientists have studied those waters since 1992, and the reefs they surveyed there shaped the exhibit families visit in San Francisco.
Introducing the sun-print project upstairs. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
I designed the sun prints art activity around a single idea: The same sun that warms the Verde Island Passage warms us here in San Francisco. When we make prints, we are not using the sun as a tool. We are asking it to create with us. The children and the sun become collaborators, and the art appears where the light falls.
Moments from the two community days at the Academy. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
Showing the children how to invite the sun into their art. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
Building a coral reef by hand, from cut shapes, gathered pieces, and/or their own drawings. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.