Museums

This week we visited two different museums which both turned out to have been established and run by people from the United States.

The first was the museum of clothing. We were out for a walk and stopped in a park in the San Juan neighborhood. A gentleman told us about the museum and talked us into going in. The first person we met greeting people by the door was a man from the eastern part of Pennsylvania, Dennis. He moved here roughly 20 years ago and long story short, he donated the property for the museum. The director of the museum, Tay, is from Pittsburgh and used to work at the Carnegie Museum of Art. She retired here for 8 years and then started the museum. It was fun just talking to the two of them and learning about their journeys that brought them here. The museum has traditional clothing from the various areas of Mexico and one room of embroidered panels depicting the life and beliefs of the Yucatan people. In the courtyard you could buy desserts and coffee. The young man serving had a desire to open a bakery and Dennis and Tay are letting him get practice here at the museum. This is an example of the kinds of fun things you just happen to stumble upon when exploring.

The second museum was on our list of things to do though we weren't expecting it to be that exciting. Boy, were we wrong. The Casa de los Venados is very near to the central park. It is a house of mostly original Mexican art of all kinds. The couple who own the house are from the United States and also live and entertain there. The house was in disrepair when they bought it and they took 8 years to fix it up. It has something like 23 rooms, bathrooms equipped with mini frig and coffee makers, and a swimming pool. It encouraged over 18,000 square feet and includes some beautiful open air space. There is art everywhere you look (over 3000 pieces). They are major collectors addng 50 pieces to their collection last year. The owner described his collecting as a lifelong "addiction" . Unfortunately the wife died last July. The house is open for 5 tours a day for a donation. All of the money collected is given to charities.

http://www.casadelosvenados.com/history-t.phpLeia mais