Long ago in a land not so very away murals as street art were a rarity in San Miguel. Colonia Guadalupe was one of the first neighborhoods to promote having resident, national and international artists express themselves through public art, particularly along the creek’s bank across from the high school. Since that time murals and their popularity have spread far and wide throughout the city of varying styles and impact.
City-wide the most popular murals are to the town’s androgynous namesake, St. Michael, or the Mother of Mexico, the Virgin of Guadalupe. Often buildings feature both.
Schools tend to feature their namesake plus Independence heroes like Ignacio Allende, Josefa and Fr. Hidalgo. Other murals are more conceptual. Still others, like several in Colonia Santa Julia, feature a breathtaking use of perspective to feature paintings I didn’t think were possible with spray paint.
Two of my favorites are on the Aurora heading towards the Fabrica from Centro. One with the Mexican Maria doll in the center is a cultural history of town complete with the Catrina, stars for the Virgin of the Light and a rather clownish President Trump. Just down by the bridge is another Mexican Maria doll flying above the local cacti that is the town’s latest mural.
Part of what I enjoy so much about walking around town is that streets are constantly adding murals in every neighborhood. The murals, by their very nature, are ethereal so they decay and are replaced by others. How lucky are we to have changing art constantly on display and being added to nearly daily hither and yon!?!
Do yourself a favor and go exploring around town to view all the murals, or simply join me on a mural tour and enjoy the stories behind the images.
By Joseph Toone
Joseph Toone is the Historical Society’s short-story award winning author of the SMA Secrets book series. All books in the series are Amazon bestsellers in Mexican Travel and Holidays. Toone is SMA’s expert and TripAdvisor’s top ranked historical tour guide telling the stories behind what we do in today’s SMA. Visit HistoryAndCultureWalkin
