At 26 years old MVP has come a long way. Whereas it started with volunteer work only at the National Museum in 1981, three MVP members were involved in the publication of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Museum of Arts and Sciences 64-page brochure in 1991. Indira Sandilya did the design while Corinne Fraser contributed sketches. Allison Diem wrote an article on Ceramic Collection.

For 15 years MVP had a Docent Course at the Ayala Museum, training MVP members to be guides of the museum’s dioramas on Philippine History. The MVP docent group (started in 1989 by Anne Harrison and Linda Sharp) thereafter became the MVP EdCom (Education Committee), concentrating on the study of Philippine History, and has further evolved into the Philippines: Past & Present.

At the San Agustin Church Museum in Intramuros Father Pedro Galende was assisted by MVP members in preparing a catalogue of the museum’s vast collection.

This went on for several years, with Maureen Acox and Debra Parry-Burton during the early part before their departure, and completed by Sonia Krug and her team. Recently Sonia headed a small working group engaged in photographing and documenting the rich and varied indigenous textile collection at Silahis in preparation for a Textile Museum.

And like a full circle, at the Museum of Fine Arts of the National Museum, a cozy coffee shop was recently opened and is being run by MVP members who took the Docent Training Course on Philippine Visual Art, headed by Nell Ramos. Aside from coffee and pastries, these ladies offer guided tours of the museum’s art works done by Filipino masters.