SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE  on November 26th – December 5th 2009

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico – Artists of the stature of David Sanchez Quartet played with special guest Antonio Sanchez, Eddie Gomez Trio, Hot Club of San Francisco, David Gilmore Quartet, Kathie Thiroux Trio, The North Sea Coyotes, Swing Fever with Denise Perrier, Tlaxcaltecatl Latin Jazz Band, San Miguel Cats Jazz, closing with the immortal rate of the Motown, who  decked this 15th edition of the Festival with energy helping it become one of the more important, if not the most important, Jazz & Blues fest in Mexico.

It was a special anniversary because the Festival turned 15 years.  A wonderful miracle that was met with great enthusisam in the magical city of San Miguel de Allende.

Concerts were held in historical places like the Property of Santa Maria del Obraje, the classic enclosure of Bellas Artes building, ex- convent of the concepcionistas, and the parish of San Miguel Arcángel.  There were dance & dinner and even gourmet barbecues in the “Jardin”; but mainly a lot of jazz & blues sounded in each corner of the city.

San Miguel de Allende has been declared by UNESCO, Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity. It is the reason why it offers a great supply of tourist services

Related Links

• Official Jazz Festival Web Site: http://sanmigueljazz.com/
• Tourist Council www.turismosanmiguel.com.mx

Many retirees who want to stay active during retirement choose to live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Workers are choosing to retire at younger ages than those of past generations. Retirees are not content to spend their golden years puttering around the house or watching television.

hey want to meet new people and experience new places. Many want to help others in some way. Retirees want to have active lives.San Miguel de Allende is an ideal retirement location for many people. The weather is mild year-round, which allows residents to swim, play golf or tennis, hike or horseback ride throughout the year.

The cost of living is less expensive than areas of the USA that have equivalent weather. San Miguel de Allende is less than an hour away from an international airport, making trips back home to visit friends and family easy and affordable. In addition, San Miguel de Allende has a well-established expat community with a myriad of clubs, activities, and charitable groups.The weekly, mostly English-language, newspaper, Atención San Miguel, has a section called “Que Pasa” that lists so many activities you might need to create a spreadsheet on your computer to keep track of all the possibilities.

No way could a retiree in San Miguel de Allende complain about being bored!San Miguel de Allende is said to celebrate more festivals than any other city in Mexico. For June, Atención San Miguel lists four religious feasts, a celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist, and the Summer Solstice.

There is also a celebration of the birth of Ignacio Ramírez (a San Miguel native who was a writer, poet, journalist, lawyer, defender of Indian rights, and a political libertarian) as well as an observance of the anniversary of the death of General José Ignacio María de Allende y Unzaga (a hero in Mexico’s war for independence from Spain.

After the war, the town’s name, San Miguel el Grande, was changed to San Miguel de Allende in his honor). Every day of the week has a variety of activities. Sundays and Mondays seem to be “slow” days with only seven scheduled activities while Saturdays are the busiest with twelve activities.

For art lovers, there are outdoor art shows, art openings (four on one Friday alone), art exhibitions, a tour of artists’ studios, art lectures, painting classes, drawing classes, and photography classes. Music lovers can participate in an amateur chamber group, sing in a choir, or attend a concert. Game lovers can participate in rubber bridge, backgammon, and bingo.For retirees who want to keep fit, there are walking tours, a botanical garden tour, Yoga in the Park, and Zumba fitness classes.

Every Sunday, a House and Garden tour of some of San Miguel de Allende’s most beautiful homes begins at the public library around noon and lasts for about two hours.Retirees can take cooking classes, or participate in candle-making workshops, literary groups, storytelling groups, or writers and readers forums. They can take part in Philosophy of Life dialogues, join the Rotary Club, or educate themselves about wine. For retirees who like to travel, Instituto Allende offers weekly trips to cities and archaeological sites around the area.If all these activities are not enough to keep you busy, you can go to the movies. The Movie Pocket Theater shows seven different movies each week, a different one each day. There are three showings per day.

The $50 peso-entry fee includes two beers, a margarita, a glass of wine, or a Cuba Libre. Cinemateca, at the Public library, shows two or three movies a day in addition to offering guitar classes, music workshops, theater workshops, concerts, choir practice, and lectures.For retirees who like to dance or just listen to music, several of San Miguel de Allende’s bars provide music to fit almost any taste.

There are Salsa Nights, Tango Nights, Cabaret, Live Jazz, Gypsy music, World music, Folk and Pop music, Spanish ballads, and Nostalgia Disco.For the spiritually-minded retirees, there are meditation groups, lectures and church services (Atención San Miguel lists 24 different religious and spiritual groups, some with several meetings per week). For those interested in 12-step groups, there are 22 meetings per week (16 Alcoholics Anonymous, some just for men, some just for women; as well as Alanon, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Overeaters Anonymous, Eating Disorders Anonymous, and Codependents Anonymous). There are also Weight Watcher meetings.

Many retirees want to give something back to the community. San Miguel de Allende offers many charitable pursuits such as Friends of Animals; Friends of the Park (care and maintenance of Parque Juárez); ALMA (Apoyo a los Sanmiguelenses Ancianos A.C.), which helps the elderly; Public Library; Casa Ayuda de Niños Internacional, A.C., which is a shelter and pre-school for street children and children from broken families; Casa Hogar Don Bosco, A.C., which provides room, board, and education for teenagers; and many other organizations.If you want your life after retirement to be an active one, San Miguel de Allende just may be the place for you!

More resources

• Atencion San Miguel
• Visit Original story posted at Associated Content

WITH its breezy blue skies and baroque architecture, San Miguel de Allende has been a tropical haven for expatriates and retirees since the 1930s. The recent housing boom drew an even larger flock of snowbirds (mostly American) to this city in central Mexico, and with it came a new perch for post-hippie boutiques, vegan organic cafes and uneven art galleries. Old-timers started grousing about its Disneyfication. Luckily, the colonial town — which dates back to the 16th century and still bears traces of Spanish, Creole and Native American cultures — was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 2008. While San Miguel doesn’t need any more attention, the designation helps ensure that the town’s candy-colored haciendas, romantic cobblestone lanes and rose-tinted turrets are around to survive another housing bubble.

Friday

4 p.m.
1) MOSS AND MARIACHI

Get a sense of San Miguel’s understated colonial grandeur with a stroll along the palm-lined paths of Parque Juárez, a sun-dappled garden with pocked stone pillars and archways and fountains tarnished with mildew or overrun with moss. Hushed streets and lush trees occupy this part of town — as well as artists and writers, like Michael Cristofer, the playwright and filmmaker, who owns a Spanish colonial home insulated by beautiful gardens. If you return to the park after dark, there’s a good chance you’ll catch an impromptu concert of one-man banjo bands and mariachi singers.

7 p.m.
2) DINE AND DANCE

The city’s food scene is less riveting than one would expect from a melting pot of Mexican and expat cultures, but one exception is Tio Lucas Restaurant & Bar (Calle Mesones 103; 52-415-152-4996). The steakhouse extends to a crowded patio for outside dining under strings of warmly lighted star-shaped lanterns. Toothsome steaks, strong margaritas and warmed beet root and goat cheese salads mixed tableside by the chef are what attract return customers. Dinner for two with drinks is about 600 pesos, or about $48 at 12.45 pesos to the dollar. The restaurant is decorated with Mexican crafts and stenciled cutouts of dancing skeletons. Tio Lucas doubles as a jazz joint, with nightly performances at 9 p.m.

10 p.m.
3) MITTE IN MEXICO

Night life in San Miguel tends to fall along two lines: you either scream over piercing club tracks or you don’t. On Calle Umaran, girls in flouncy skirts stand outside seedy sports bars teasing tousled-haired boys. Steps away, Mexican women sit in the bosky El Jardín with grandchildren on their laps listening to mariachi bands or watching fireworks bloom overhead. The mellow alternative nearby is Berlin Bar and Cafe (Calle Umaran 19; 52-415-154-9432). Run by expatriates from Germany, this chill and trendy bar draws a silver fox set who stop by for its strong drinks and artsy crowd. Couples chat and listen to jazz in candlelit nooks near a bar decorated with huge paintings of artists and intellectuals from Weimar Berlin and other periods in Germany’s history.

Saturday

9 a.m.
4) DESAYUNO TO GO

People stand in line for coffee at La Ventana Café Orgánico de Chiapas (Diez de Sollano y Dávalos 11; 52-415 154-7728) for a good reason. It’s not just because the organic coffee is dark and rich and the pastries fresh and flaky, but because you can’t actually go inside: La Ventana is a takeout window on the side of a faded yellow hacienda. Order an espresso and a warm croissant for 59 pesos. Take your breakfast two blocks down the road to El Jardín and sit on a bench beneath the lollypop-shaped laurel trees, where you’ll have a moment without the crowds to appreciate streaks of early-morning sunlight on La Parroquia church.

11:30 a.m.
5) FEW GOOD FINDS

Souvenir shops selling Day of the Dead skeleton dolls are everywhere, which means shopping here can quickly become dull. For quirkier finds, walk east away from the center of town to Mixta (Calle Pila Seca 16A, Centro; 52-415-152-7343), a new shop that sells fine silver bangles and earrings, homemade cards and aprons stitched by local women. Farther north is Fábrica La Aurora (Calzada de la Aurora, Colonia Aurora; 52-415-152-1012; www.fabricalaaurora.com), a former turn-of-the-century textile mill turned into a design and art center. One highlight is Galería Manuel Chacon, which carries contemporary art.

1:30 p.m.
6) BURRITOVILLE

When Rodrigo Pak Sautto wasn’t in upstate New York selling burritos out of an aluminum camper outside Bard College, he was building his business in San Miguel making yogurt smoothies and granola at his now popular Café Media Naranja (Calle Hidalgo 83). Housed in a tiny shoebox of a cafe, it attracts crunchy Anglos and earthy vegans who stop in for organic coffees and a quick lunch of vegetarian burritos and curried lentil soup (37 to 90 pesos) and to surf its free Wi-Fi.

4 p.m.
7) CRAFTY CURIOSITIES

Down a narrow alley behind the city’s main fruit and vegetable market is the Mercado de Artesanias (between Calle Colegio and Calle Loreto), a vibrant mash of artists’ stalls where you’ll find everything from flossy fringed piñatas and punched-tin lanterns dangling overhead to baskets of cobalt blue glass beads and silver necklaces. Its offerings are more authentic than the trinkets and curios sold in the historic district, and possibly half the price.

8 p.m.
WORLD SPICES

Follow the well-heeled expats to the flagstone courtyard at The Restaurant (Sollano 16, Centro; 52-415-154-7862; www.therestaurantsanmiguel.com), an elegant and candlelit restaurant that serves international comfort dishes using organic ingredients from local ranchers, growers and dairy farmers. Donnie Masterton, the chef, changes the menu frequently. Recent dishes included a miso-marinated and broiled Pacific salmon with soy, ginger green beans, and grilled pork chops with white bean and cherry tomato ragout (each 200 pesos).

10:30 p.m.
9) LUCKY GAUCHOS

For a festive nightcap, make your way to Limrick (Calle Umaran 2), a busy bar in a soaring hacienda that takes its design cue from an Irish pub. Mexicans and Americans of every ilk, from the landed elite to the louche locals, chat in cozy booths, throw darts and watch soccer on the television. If the night still feels young, head to La Cucaracha (Calle Zacateros 22; 52-415-152-0196), an after-hours bar decorated with faded pinup posters and yellowing maps of the area. The crowd might include D-list actors in hiding and old gauchos parked permanently at the bar.

Sunday

10 a.m.
10) HOT BATH

Near the outskirts of San Miguel, underground hot springs percolate to the surface and form pools. A five-minute cab ride out of town takes you to La Gruta (six miles outside San Miguel), a slightly shabby water park and picnic spot favored by locals. Two small mineral hot springs and a grotto are bordered by stone retaining walls, palm trees, wildflowers and sprays of bougainvillea.

1 p.m.
11) CACTOPHILE’S PARADISE

Bird-watchers, outdoorsmen and city slickers will all appreciate the brambly valleys of El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden (El Charco del Ingenio; 52-415-154-8838; www.elcharco.org.mx), a 167-acre ecological reserve spanning cactus-lined canyons and spring-fed pools. A 40-peso fee gives you access to easy hiking trails festooned with giant agaves and nopal cactus where egrets and swallows roost and peck at spiny fruits. The greenhouse, which resembles a small airplane hangar, shelters hundreds of rare and endangered plants. It’s the kind of place locals come to take in the natural surrounding beauty, perhaps when things feel a little too Disney.

THE BASICS

The nearest commercial airports are Querétaro (about 45 miles away) and León-Guanajuato (about 70 miles). A recent Web search found a Continental Airlines flight from Newark to Querétaro, with a stopover in Houston, starting at about $550 for travel next month. The sometimes cheaper alternative is to fly into Mexico City, which offers more flights, and make the four-hour drive.

There is a wealth of hotels in San Miguel de Allende. The Casa de Sierra Nevada (Hospicio 42; 52-415-152-7040; www.casadesierranevada.com) occupies six renovated Spanish colonial mansions dating from the 16th century that were converted into 37 large rooms and suites. Deluxe rooms start at 2,695 pesos, or about $217 at 12.45 pesos to the dollar. The property features elaborately landscaped gardens and ornately colonnaded courtyards with fountains, swimming pools and lounges.

Casa del Parque (Calle Santa Elena 2; 52-415-152-7040), once a 17th-century fort and silver trade outpost, is now a rambling rent-by-the-room Spanish colonial villa facing the Parque Benito Juarez. Suites start at 4,140 Mexican pesos.

She is a self-taught multimedia artist, a published poet, author, and art critic, a lecturer and independent scholar, as well as a stage performer.

She now lives and works in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Aaronson has exhibited her work in France, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, South Africa, and the USA. She was the official Piccolo Spoleto poster artist, in 1989, 2001, and 2005, and also created posters for The Alliance Française and the Jewish Cultural Center of Charleston, SC.

She holds a BA in History of Art, an MA in French Literature and a PhD in Philosophy and Comparative Literature.

Her creative journey is an adventure of the senses, a synaesthesia of energies and media…beyond frames, beyond categories. Oils, acrylics, canvas, wood, paper, found objects, watercolor, charcoal, monotype, etchings, collage, photography, ceramic, bronze casting, clay… Aaronson touches and transforms everything.

“Whatever I do, the image is the heartbeat of my identity. Multiple and “polypetal,” the image is dug within the core of being, harnessed within the energies of becoming. Images breathe life because the image is skin… and sap…at the same time…

Art is a walking memory… A memory of the senses…A memory of the soul….within and out of time…



Mitzi Bidner owned the “Soho Mercer Gallery” in New York city, and Ottawa in the 1970’s and 80’s. Mitzi Bidner’s paintings have been exhibited Internationally since the early 1970’s until today, in Museums, Galleries and Private Collections.

Recently she began directing visual art films, when she realized that there was a lack of quality art films on living artists, being shown on Television and Internet. The recent theatrical debut of “Art Today’s” series on “The Artists of San Miguel” was an overwhelming success. Sixteen films in this series have been filmed and are in post production.

She is pleased to announce her next series “The Artists of New York City” which will begin production on May 15th, 2008.

His powerful lines and defined colors stand out in works of an original format, full of imagery and energy. Bürkey, who lives and works in both Chile and New York, has now also set up shop here in San Miguel de Allende. As the son of a prominent Chilean art dealer/filmmaker/news correspondent mother and a US truck/taxi driver father, Bürkey has journeyed to a point where his paintings tell their own unique story.

His art schooling began at the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts, but he has also studied automotive mechanics and worked at nuclear power plants in both the U.S. and Spain. In a way, he is a walking contradiction. His work is also heavily influenced by the inheritance and influences of both ends of America, where he has researched the ancestral and cultural roots of the continent.

The myths and tales of the South Pacific, including that of Lemuria, are also constant inspirations which fuel Tomas’s imagination, his powerful lines, and his energy. Through the loose applications of a very tight color palette, his evocative movement and brush- strokes provide a tone and content reminiscent of Dante’s poetry. Corporal gestures and contortion push the limits of the human figure and imagination while evoking pathos for the searching of the artist in his ever-changing conscience.

He began with paintings and paper mache figures, inaugurating the first exhibit of his works at the Galeria Misracha in Mexico City in 1966. In the early 1970′s, he traveled to Amsterdam, where he further developed his talents. After his return to Guadalajara, he established in 1975, along with other artists, the “Family Workshop Studio” in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico.

While Bustamante’s works initially focused on painting and paper mache, his talents inevitably led, in the mid-1970′s, to the creation of sculptures in wood and bronze, many reflecting animal themes. 1979 marked the inauguration of innovative furniture designs in wood and glass with bronze accents, currently available in distinctive patterns and motifs. The creation of ceramic sculptures in the mid-1980′s provided avenues for the use of color and form in ways not previously explored.

In 1992, the initiation of an extensive line of exquisite jewelry in bronze, gold and silver, many set with precious and semi-precious stones and, again, often reflecting animal themes, marked a new and expansive direction for his creations. In this same year, a new series of paper mache sculptures was introduced. In the new millennium, Bustamante continues to explore uncharted paths for the further expression of his uniquely imaginative and gifted talents.

Each piece belongs to a limited edition and is created by hand, therefore unique. A certificate of authenticity duly signed by the artists itself is attributed to each sculpture. All works are of very good quality, and pieces of small and big size up to four (4) meters high are available. It is amazing how Sergio Bustamante can project all that magic and fascination to each one of his works.

The art collection of many private residences, public buildings, and museums in every part of the planet has been enriched by Sergio Bustamante’s works. The Mexican government even elected them for official gifts to state governors and to high personalities.

His works are more and more wanted around the globe (Mexico, United States, Japan, Europe, and recently Russia); therefore they will probably increase in value over the next years.