Joey Velasco (March 18, 1967 – July 20, 2010[1]) was a Filipino religious painter and sculptor known for his artwork Hapag ng Pag-asa which depicted Jesus Christ dining with street children.
[2] Joey Velasco began his artistic career when he saw an image of the Madonna in a dream after he had undergone an operation – leading to him making Mary, mother of Jesus as the subject of his first work.
Velasco also decided to make Jesus Christ as the main subject of many of his works attributing the Christian figure as the reason he lived.
[1] He had 30 major paintings, among them were Cast All Your Cares, Mga Munting Sireneo, That We May Live, Thy Will Be Done, and Gusto Kong Maging Bayani.
[1][4][3][5] After his death, the Joey Velasco Foundation was set up with the help of Gawad Kalinga to aid street children in select communities in Metro Manila.