Wender·Vista
Tacloban
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tilePhilippines
on San Pedro Bay, where eastern Leyte meets Samar

Tacloban

— — a harbour town the sea both gave and took.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A port city on the western shore of San Pedro Bay, the capital of Leyte province. The San Juanico Bridge, over two kilometres of curving concrete, connects it across the strait to Samar. American forces under General MacArthur waded ashore at Palo, just south of the city, in October 1944. The bay still folds in around the town the way it has for centuries, calm most mornings, with the fishing boats out before light.

from the studio
Tacloban
— bring it home

Tacloban, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Tacloban

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Tacloban is the capital of Leyte province and the regional centre of Eastern Visayas in the central Philippines. It sits on the northwestern shore of San Pedro Bay, an arm of the Leyte Gulf, with a population of roughly 250,000. The San Juanico Strait separates Leyte from Samar; the San Juanico Bridge, 2.16 kilometres long and completed in 1973, is the longest bridge in the country and the principal road link between the two islands. The city's natural harbour is sheltered from the Pacific by Samar's bulk.

— the water

The bay that shelters Tacloban is also what made the 2013 storm tragic. On 8 November Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, made landfall at category-five strength and pushed a storm surge of five to seven metres into San Pedro Bay. More than 6,300 people died across the country, with the worst losses in and around Tacloban. The city has rebuilt, with seawall and zoning changes along the foreshore. The same bay is calm on most mornings and the fishing boats go out before light.

— the year

The city marks several days through the year. The Leyte Landing on 20 October remembers General Douglas MacArthur and the Philippine and American forces who waded ashore at Red Beach in Palo on 20 October 1944, fulfilling his I shall return pledge; bronze figures stand in the shallows of the memorial park. The Pintados-Kasadyaan festival in late June fills the streets with painted dancers honouring the pre-colonial tattooed warriors of the Visayas, timed to the feast of the city's patron saints.

— where
Philippines · Tacloban, Leyte
— elevation
3 m · 10 ft
— position
11.2444° N · 125.0011° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
8 km NE
San Juanico Bridge
bridge
12 km S
Palo
MacArthur landing site
25 km E
Basey
Samar coastal town
N
Tacloban
San Juanico Bridge
Palo
Basey
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Tacloban — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

On the western shore of San Pedro Bay in the central Philippines, the capital of Leyte province. It sits across the San Juanico Strait from Samar and is the regional centre of Eastern Visayas.

The longest bridge in the Philippines, 2.16 kilometres of curving reinforced concrete across the San Juanico Strait between Leyte and Samar. Completed in 1973, it remains the principal road link between the two islands.

Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, made landfall on 8 November 2013 at category-five strength. A storm surge of five to seven metres came across San Pedro Bay; more than 6,300 people died across the country.

On 20 October 1944, General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore at Red Beach in Palo, just south of Tacloban, fulfilling his earlier pledge to return to the Philippines. The landing opened the Allied campaign to retake the country.

A Leyte cultural festival in late June, honouring the tattooed warriors of pre-colonial Visayan society. Dancers paint their bodies in traditional patterns and parade through the city, timed to the feast of the patron saints.

Yes. The MV Eva Jocelyn, a cargo ship lifted ashore by the surge, has been preserved on land as a marker of how far the water reached. Memorial markers also stand in the Holy Cross cemetery.

— about the piece in your home

It travels well to Taclobanons and to anyone whose family came through the city, those who remember before Yolanda and those who rebuilt after. A Medium with a short note from the studio carries the weight.

The blue-greens of the bay and the warm whites of the coastal light sit in coastal-modern, tropical-modern, and Filipino-modernist rooms with rattan, capiz, and bleached wood.

Yes. The piece reads as harbour light and pairs with the new wave of tropical-modern interiors: limewashed walls, pale woven textiles, blue ceramic. A Large above a console holds a coastal room.

The Large above a console, a four-tile Mural above a sofa, a nine-tile Mural for a long wall. The Medium suits a bedroom over the dresser or a hallway.

Yes. Order Dura Satin or Matte for those rooms. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface; humidity and steam do not change it, and the finish is scratch-resistant.

A microfibre cloth with clean water. No solvents, no abrasive scrub. The colour lives in the surface; nothing on the outside has to be polished or maintained.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in-house in Knoxville by Reid Wender and hand-finished in the studio. We do not license images or reproduce other artists' work.

— if this one stayed with you

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