Donated by the Fauber family, this space is used for seasonal art exhibits.

Images of Mexico Art Show

Melinda Wheeler

Opens May 18

 

 

The first time I saw Mexico was on a family vacation when I was 9 years old. I saw things that shocked me: children begging in the streets for money ; coffins and eerie frescoes in churches. But I remember other sensations from that trip: the way fresh orange juice tasted so sweet, bright colors everywhere; the beauty of the people with their dark, striking eyes.

Because my job involves teaching English to students who speak a different first language, I was lucky enough to be able to work with Mexican migrant children in Nelson County, Virginia from 2001-2003. During that time I received a generous grant from the SAW Foundation of Nelson County to return to Mexico, the place that had made such an impression on me as a child, to study Spanish. I went to Oaxaca City, on the southeast coast, home of the Zapotec and Mixtec Indians. It was clear that everything and nothing in Mexico had changed since the 1950s. Walmart is there now, and so are internet cafes. But people still live in poverty, and the churches still have lots of eerie statues, but a kind of ancient magnificence too. In the villages of Oaxaca, I visited wood carvers, weavers, and the open markets where goods are sold, friends meet, and the visual beauty is a photographer’s dream. While visiting the wood carvers’ village of San Martin, I photographed a little Indian girl in a blue dress on the day of her birthday; also, a young girl who was walking in the mountains picking special flowers. In Oaxaca City I saw an annual festival called the ‘Guela Guetza’ that Indigenous girls from the surrounding areas come to, each representing her village.

In the summer of 2004 I returned with friends to visit San Miguel de Allende in the colonial heartland, and Patzcuaro where the small island of Janitzio is the home of the Tarascan Indians.I was very lucky and got to see a Feast of Corpus Christie celebration on Lake Patzcuaro. People were dressed in all their finery that day: fishermen carried their nets, women carried large bottles of wine, and musicians walked with them in a procession towards the church. A young boy wore a large white fish mask on his head as he walked in the procession, and later he let me take a photo of him. The open markets in Patzcuaro were especially colorful for the feast day, and while walking through one, some men selling corn let me photograph them too. I also visited Guanajuato, the birthplace of the artist Diego Rivera, and Mexico City where he painted his large murals.

The breath of the pre-Columbian world can still be felt in all these places, coexisting with Spanish Catholicism. As a new member of St. John’s, it’s my pleasure to share with you the spirit of Mexico that I’ve tried to capture in these images. However, there is nothing like seeing it firsthand.

Click here to see a list of Melinda Wheelers photographs.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. All exhibits are open to the public.