Over these seemingly countless Covid-19 months, instead of frequently running into friends on the streets, these are the familiar faces that make me smile and help keep me feeling rooted to place.
They may not talk, but they do speak to me.
Posts Tagged ‘wall art’
Familiar faces
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged faces, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, stencils, street art, urban art, wall art on September 9, 2020| 14 Comments »
His creative spirit lives on
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged artists, Francisco Toledo, memorials, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, stencils, street art, wall art on September 5, 2020| 4 Comments »
This morning, the steps leading into the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO) were a reminder that it was one year ago today that Oaxaca and the world lost artist, philanthropist, and fighter for social justice and the environment, Francisco Toledo.
The Maestro can still be seen along the streets of Oaxaca — his creative spirit lives on.
Art of the maíz
Posted in Agriculture, Creativity, Culture, Flora, Food, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged @frontealcolor, corn stalk images, farmers' market, La Cosecha Oaxaca, maíz images, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, organic market, photos, popular travel destinations, Ulises Martinez, wall art on September 3, 2020| 8 Comments »
Entering La Cosecha Oaxaca farmer’s market, look to the left and you will see…
… murals by Ulises Martinez celebrating the gift of maíz.
Letting the walls do the talking
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health, tagged coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, stencils, street art, urban art, wall art on August 24, 2020| 10 Comments »
What can I say?
I am so…
With…
From yesterday’s walk, the walls seemed to read my mind.
Missing mezcal
Posted in Beverages, Creativity, Culture, Flora, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, Alvin Starkman, Berta Vásquez, ceramicist, maguey, Mexico, mezcal, mezcal cups, mezcaleros, Oaxaca, photos, stencil art, street art, urban art, Vicente Hernandez, wall art on August 14, 2020| 14 Comments »
Conventional wisdom in Oaxaca: “For everything bad, drink mezcal; for everything good, you also should.”
Lest we forget, the walls of Oaxaca are always there to remind us.
My copitas (little cups) by maestro Vicente Hernandez are always ready for a gotita (a little drop) or two on good days, bad days, and especially days when friends stop by.
Day trips to my favorite mezcal making villages and their mezcaleros, like Berta Vásquez (above) in San Baltazar Chichicapam, were frequent enough to keep the liquor cabinet stocked with a variety of artisanal mezcal made from one or more kinds of maguey (AKA, agave) — arroqueño, barril, cuixe, espadín, jabalí, tepeztate, tobalá, and tobasiche, to name a few!
Alas, since Covid-19 hit the scene, many of the villages are closed to outsiders and, even if they were open, I wouldn’t go — for their health and safety and mine.
However, mezcal aficionado and tour guide Alvin Starkman came to the rescue. Through him, I was able to buy five bottles of mezcal from several different villages and he delivered!
In the event you are trying to read the labels, left to right: Tobalá, Manuel Méndez, San Dionisio Ocotopec; Mezcal destilado con mota (yes, it’s a thing), Rodolfo López Sosa, San Juan del Río; Arroqueño, Fortunato Hernandez, San Baltazar, Chichicapam; Tepeztate, Manuel Méndez, San Dionisio Ocotepec; Espadín, Celso Martinez, Santiago Matatlán.
¡Para todo mal, mezcal; y para todo bien, tambíen!
(ps) This just in! Mezcal Tour Supports Advancement of Indigenous Women — an article about the wonderful ongoing work the above mentioned Alvin Starkman, his wife Arlene, and Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca are doing.
Flowers and serpents
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Barrio de Jalatlaco, flowers & serpents, mural, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on August 10, 2020| 24 Comments »
A mural in progress. Jorge kept working…
… while Javier paused to chat and pose.
Also seen August 4, 2020 in Barrio de Jalatlaco, this time on Alianza.
Song of water
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged Barrio de Jalatlaco, El Armadillo Negro, El Canto del Agua, Fabián Calderón Sánchez, mural, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, Sanez, street art, urban art, wall art on August 6, 2020| 6 Comments »
Oaxaca sings in the rainy season. Afternoon clouds gather, the sky darkens, wind picks up, thunder rumbles, heaven sinks closer to earth, and, if Cocijo is answering prayers, the sound of rain falling — El canto del agua; The song of water.
I knew the minute I saw this mural that it was the work of Fabián Calderón Sánchez (Sanez). Over the years, I’ve been captivated by and posted images of his thought provoking, creative, and powerful uses of indigenous imagery. The facade of El Armadillo Negro restaurant on Calle del 5 de mayo 307, Barrio de Jalatlaco, seen on August 4, 2020.
Ommm…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged meditating dog, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, stencil art, street art, urban art, wall art on August 3, 2020| 8 Comments »
Archiving the Pandemic
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health, Libraries, Travel & Tourism, tagged archiving the pandemic, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, libraries and archives, Mexico, Oaxaca, Oaxaca Lending Library, photos, stencil art, street art, urban art, wall art on July 30, 2020| 12 Comments »
Back in April, I received a message from my hometown library with the request, Help us tell the story of what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mill Valley. A light bulb turned on, my brain went into librarian/archivist mode, and I thought, we should do that here in Oaxaca. What better way to bring the Oaxaca Lending Library community, both here in Oaxaca and those currently scattered around the world, together and provide a venue to share thoughts and feelings, document daily life, and unleash creativity. And, when this nightmare is over, the OLL will have joined an international effort by public and academic libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums to preserve slices of life from this historic time for future community members and researchers to ponder.
Thus, we formed a small committee, met remotely, and issued our own call for submissions. Members and friends, be they here or there, have been asked to submit photographs, stories in prose or verse, and videos. The response has been beyond my wildest dreams and I invite you to view the most recent edition of Archiving the Pandemic in Oaxaca: How will this time be remembered? The contributions are revealing in a variety of happy, sad, challenging, generous, and talented ways.
July 30, 2020 – Calle de Adolfo Gurrión at 5 de mayo, Oaxaca de Juárez.
The project is ongoing; alas, the pandemic’s end is not in sight. However, my heart is lifted in seeing, reading, and sharing experiences with my Oaxaca Lending Library community and knowing we are part of an international effort to help shape the telling of a community story.
(ps) The QR codes on the image above link to the following articles exposing issues medical personnel are facing battling the virus in Oaxaca:
Back in the red
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health, Travel & Tourism, tagged coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, cubrebocas, masks, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, semáforo system, stencils, street art, urban art, wall art on July 21, 2020| 6 Comments »
After only two weeks of semáforo naranja (orange traffic light), as of yesterday, the federal government ordered the State of Oaxaca back to semáforo rojo (red traffic light) in the ongoing battle with Covid–19.
To tell the truth, the move to orange had many of us scratching our heads. Closely following the data released by the state health department, we wondered if Oaxaca really was experiencing a downward trend in the four metrics used to move from one traffic light to another: numbers of new cases, hospital occupancy trends, current hospital occupancy, and percentage of positive cases.
As for cubrebocas — a misnomer, if there ever was one for reasons to follow: Sunday’s stroll about town revealed 15% of people not wearing masks; 50% wearing them correctly; 35% wearing the “cubreboca” ONLY over their mouth, just like the name implies. In Cuba they are called “nasobuco,” indicating they need to cover both nose and mouth — a much better name, methinks!
By the way, according to Richard Grabman over at The Mex Files, “85% of Mexicans are wearing masks in public, compared to 67% of people in the US.”
These streets are made for walkin’
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on July 9, 2020| 15 Comments »
A sampling of sites seen from the streets that have saved my sanity while living in the age of Covid-19.
Barrio de Xochimilco
Marcos Pérez/Lic. José Vasconcelos neighborhood
Calle Independencia entrance to Mercado IV Centenario
Calle Santo Tomás at the corner of José Lopez Alavez
Calle Marcos Pérez
Casa de Barro, Av. Reforma
These streets are made for walkin’ and that’s just what I do!
Mood on the streets
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Tragedy, Travel & Tourism, Violence, tagged Benito Juárez image, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, George Floyd image, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, protest art, stencils, street art, urban art, URTARTE, wall art on June 22, 2020| 8 Comments »
From the streets of Oaxaca, Benito Juárez is masked and throwing hand sanitizer, as the Covid-19 denier-in-chief looks down from el norte.
Police violence and protests captured on cell phones and broadcast live on the internet fill our screens and walls.
George Floyd, plus countless others, are dead but not forgotten.
There is no joy in Oaxaca as the twin plagues of the virus and racism command our consciousness here, there, and everywhere.
Last Sunday’s scenes
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged Barrio de Xochimilco, bird images, bougainvillea, bugambilia, Colonia La Cascada, light and shadows, Mexico, murals, photos, popular travel destinations, rooftop decor, street art, tinaco, urban art, wall art on June 16, 2020| 4 Comments »
Last Sunday morning’s walk took us up and across Niños Heroes (aka, highway 190) into Barrio de Xochimilco and Colonia La Cascada. The (albeit sporadic) rains have begun, the field-burning has ended, and planting has begun. Thus, the air was fresh and the sky was varying shades of blue — depending on direction and hour. Humans and Mother Nature showed off their creativity. So, we kept walking…
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood!
Dancing on the walls
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Barrio de Jalatlaco, China Oaxaqueña dancer, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, Flor de piña dancer, Guelaguetza dancers, light and shadows, Mexico, murals, music, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, Uriel Barragán Bouler, wall art on June 13, 2020| 6 Comments »
There will be no dancing in the streets or up on Cerro del Fortín this year. Due to Covid-19, La Guelaguetza, Oaxaca’s “máxima fiesta” has been canceled. However, thanks to the artist Bouler (Uriel Barragán), a few of the dancers can be seen dancing on the walls of Barrio de Jalatlaco.
If his work looks familiar, it is because this image from two weeks ago is part of the above series. In addition, he also painted the mural honoring Macedonio Alcalá in Jardín Carbajal.
From blue to pink…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, tagged blue sky, bougainvilla, bougainvillea, building colors, graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, rock sculpture, stained glass doors, torito, urban art, wall art, wall colors on June 1, 2020| 8 Comments »
Sunday’s walk went from blue to pink — with a few colors in between.
The colors were kind of like my mood over the course of two hours of walking.
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