Art is everywhere in Mérida
Koren and some strange guy
It’s one of the things I love about this city, the commitment to public art. One of the things we did while Dupre and Koren were here is walk around the Plaza Grande and go to the Macay museum. The pedestrian walkway in front of it, the one that runs alongside the Cathedral, has installations that change regularly. I particularly like this batch.
small boy, big jaguar
It seemed that many people liked it, the interactions between the public and the art were great. Kids were climbing on the jaguars, teenagers were taking pictures of each other in front of different pieces, moms were taking pictures of kids. To me, that is what public art is all about, involving the public, getting their attention, giving them a way to interact with it.
one of many
The jaguars are all over the city, mainly here and on the Paseo Montejo. They are a project somehow related to the Wild Nine conference that just occurred. It was a great honor to have this international wildlife conservation conference here this year. Presidente Calderon gave the opening welcome and Jane Goodall was the featured speaker.
a chalk line
I know I’ve been missing for a bit, Mimi is in the US and aside from missing her, I have more to do. Didn’t that sound good? Actually, I’ve been having a lot of fun with my friend Mary who was here for 3 weeks and another friend Sheila who just arrived for 4 months. It’s the season for the snowbirds to return and there are a lot more things going on. Pictures from the state fair soon, we went yesterday.
LOL – yeah, that did sound good! I almost believed you for a minute. Glad you’re enjoying your friends, the winter is starting to kick up, I think this might be a good tourist year for Mexico (based on our bookings).
The abundance of public art in Merida keeps my eyes happy. It’s always a pleasant surprise to turn a corner an see an unexpected piece of art. I really adore those chalk line kids, too. But, I think the half buried car has to be one of my all time favorites!
It is nice to see that the public art has not been vandalized like it would be in so many US cities. I really like the jaguar and the chalk line.
Love the jaguars and the line….hope they are still there when we get to Merida (January?). We had a great visit with Mimi in Cathedral City and are now in Teacapan.
That did sound good
I love the picture of the darling little boy in his guayabera posing with the jaguar!
Mexico has such a rich cultural heritage in almost every aspect of art that you can think of. One of the hardest things about living in Panamá is that there just isn’t that artistic heritage. Not that there aren’t painters, for example–there are–but not a lot and even those who exist are almost completely obscured from public awareness. Part of it is a small population as well as poverty, but that’s not the whole of it.
So–you’re extremely fortunate to live in such a country and in a city that is dedicated to showing off its artistic heritage.
I do feel grateful to live where there is not only support for art from the govt but involvement from the people of all classes who live here. In general, the public art is not vandalized here but there have been times when pieces were very unpopular or raised angry emotions that it has been. In a sense, that is important too, that the people get involved and express their opinions about it.
I think that having an old culture with a great appreciation for art and for public displays is valuable. Yes, extreme poverty deadens any interest in art or anything but survival but there is poverty here and yet there is an appreciation and demand for public art. Panama seems to have a confused identity, first defined as Colombia and now defined mostly as NOT Colombia. At least, that’s how it looks from here. I hope someday to visit and see it myself. It appears to be a fascinating country for many reasons and the diversity of the population is one.