It’s been called “an oasis of calm and culture” right in the heart of the city of San Miguel de Allende. Since its construction began in 1755, this architectural jewel has been many things – a Catholic convent (home to six dozen nuns), a public elementary school, an army cavalry garrison, a neglected ruin, and, finally, San Miguel’s first private art school.
Some two hundred years later, in 1967, this ex-convent became part of Mexico’s federal Fine Arts Institution and was renamed El Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez “El Nigromante,” after one of Mexico’s great intellectuals (sometimes called the Voltaire of Mexico), who was born just a block away. But this magnificent oasis is known to all simply as Bellas Artes (beautiful, or fine, arts). From its original purpose as a place of prayer and contemplation, Bellas Artes has become a sort of church of the arts.
Classes in drawing and painting, ceramics and weaving, photography, printmaking, music and dance, gallery exhibitions, a three-hundred-seat concert hall, and other arts-related activities go on year round. (Due to COVID, the Bellas Artes was closed in March 2020, but it reopened last December and now follows all current health protocols.) There is no entry fee, and their hours are 10 to 6 Tuesday through Saturday and 10 to 2 on Sundays (closed Mondays).
An impressive exhibit on the ground floor going on now is “Los Niños de Diego,” Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s depiction of children in his work. Among the permanent artworks in the Bellas Artes are the large murals at the end of each grand arched hallway. And a glitteringly new bookstore has been installed in the ground-floor space where small readings were once given.
This past Wednesday morning, some members of the San Miguel Urban Sketchers group gathered at Bellas Artes to do our thing – fan out and sketch whatever struck our fancy. Here we are, holding up our “beautiful” artwork, in front of the central fountain:
On Saturday morning, August 6th the IWSSMA (International Watercolor Society’s branch in San Miguel) will be doing plein air painting in the courtyard at Bellas Artes as well. Come and see our “beautiful” work if you can!
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- For more on Bellas Artes, go to El Centro Cultural “El Nigromante,” Hernandez Macias 75, Centro; info: 415-152-0289; talleres.nigromante@inba.edu.mx
- For more on San Miguel’s Urban Sketchers group, contact Judy Plummer at Judyplumj@gmail.com
- For more about San Miguel’s branch of IWS, contact Lindy Whynman at iwssma2022@gmail.com .
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Gracias for this post.
De nada! Glad you liked it.
Nice update on this important icon. Thank you.
Thanks, Lyn! Good to hear from you. Hope all is well.
You informed me of a few things I didn’t know, including the opening of a bookstore! I will have to check it out! I don’t want to create competition for another bookstore!
Yes, querida, you must go and check it out. It looks very impressive. I didn’t spend much time in it, though — just a quick query on whether they had any books on the history of Bellas Artes. (They didn’t.)
When I first started visiting San Miguel, there was a little cafe in the courtyard. I would order a coffee, sit there for hours reading and imaging the nuns silently making their way through the cloisters. It’s a magical place; thanks for writing about it.
And thank YOU, dear Alice, for your lovely memory! I look forward to your next SMA visit.
Lovely, dear Bonnie. Yes: Bellas Artes is one of my favorite havens in SMA, also. It’s so nice that you give it a boost here.
Thank you, dear Ana. Yes, it certainly is a haven (within this haven, which is SMA). I hope more people will come and enjoy it.
Dear Bon,
How wonderful to live in a country were the Arts are respected and made available to all to learn without cost. The building itself is an inspiration to creativity. It is truly a beautiful thing.
Love,
Paul
Yes, dear Paul, art is everywhere here. Such a joy! (Come and see…) — LU, BB xx
Hey Bonnie – I don’t think of you as being particularly tall, yet in this photo you look tall! And I love your painting. I continue to be amazed at your natural talent.
Hi, Barb! Maybe I’ve grown taller since you’ve been away! 🙂 Or maybe it’s just the silly hat I was wearing that day. Thanks for your kind words about my sketch, but I have a long, long way to go before I become any good at this art form. In the meantime, I’m just enjoying the process. Miss you! — xx
Nice little piece, Bonnie. Way to weave in your own artistic experiences in with the history and purpose of the current Belles Artes!
Thank you, BeDear! I’m finding that fewer words and more pictures translates to more “readers.” Reading seems to be going out of fashion, alas.
I love Bellas Artes! Que bonito, Bonnie! Your sketching is adorable.
Mil gracias, querida Te! Espero todo esta bien. — Abrazos, BB