Thursday, June 08, 2006
Day eight!
Wow, wow and wow! When I met Stan Morgan by chance in Cosas, a folk art gallery on Broadway near Cambridge Elementary, I had no idea what a bonus our meeting would have for our Oaxaca Service-Learning program. Stan fell in love with Oaxaca about 15 years ago, and he travels there three or four times a year now that he's retired. (ACCD connection: He taught English at SAC for about 18 years.) Divine intervention strikes again! (As my father always used to say, "There are no accidents.")
After touring Stan's unbelievable home, you immediately realize that he never comes home empty-handed. I have never seen such a fabulous collection...and it is displayed to perfection. Truly, Stan's home and his folk art should be featured in a glossy magazine or a "coffee table" book! When we walked over his threshold, my jaw hit my chest. I didn't know where to look first. You are bombarded by color, and I love color. Every hue of the rainbow is represented. What a happy home!
Stan's collection is wide-ranging. He's got carved wooden figures from Arrazola, muted ceramics from Atzompa, whimsical clay figures---my favorites: a nun and a prostitute---from Ocotlan by the Aguilar sisters, multi-colored rugs, and on and on. Truly, too much to absorb in just one visit. (I've already invited myself back!) I was pained to discover that he recently gave away 15 nativities--a weakness of mine--but it gives me hope of finding one for my collection while I'm there.
I was also pleased to go over our schedule in Oaxaca with Stan, and he's given it his seal of approval! He also gave us restaurant suggestions (and restaurants to stay away from!), along with the best place to drink margaritas and the best places to shop (plus places to mention his name so we'll get 10 percent off). Yes! We'll be blogging about all of these experiences while we're in Oaxaca (using cibercafes...a.k.a. cybercafes), so stay tuned!
Stan also shared his photo album with us, and it looks like I'll be heading to Oaxaca some December 23 during the Radish Festival! The local citizens spend the entire day creating sculptures out of radishes. My favorite one was a crab. It reminded me of the gourd at the San Antonio Museum of Art that had been transformed into a crane. The artist found "'mutant" radishes that looked clawlike and took it from there. Amazing, amazing.
At the end of our two-hour visit, I asked the students to express one thing they'd learned. Everyone brought away something different it seems---read all about it on the student (contributor) blogs featured on the upper left of this page, but the one common denominator was our appreciation of Stan's generosity in opening his lovely home to our group. Without a doubt, he'll be with us in spirit on our trip. And, I can't wait to share photos and what we bring back when we return!
After touring Stan's unbelievable home, you immediately realize that he never comes home empty-handed. I have never seen such a fabulous collection...and it is displayed to perfection. Truly, Stan's home and his folk art should be featured in a glossy magazine or a "coffee table" book! When we walked over his threshold, my jaw hit my chest. I didn't know where to look first. You are bombarded by color, and I love color. Every hue of the rainbow is represented. What a happy home!
Stan's collection is wide-ranging. He's got carved wooden figures from Arrazola, muted ceramics from Atzompa, whimsical clay figures---my favorites: a nun and a prostitute---from Ocotlan by the Aguilar sisters, multi-colored rugs, and on and on. Truly, too much to absorb in just one visit. (I've already invited myself back!) I was pained to discover that he recently gave away 15 nativities--a weakness of mine--but it gives me hope of finding one for my collection while I'm there.
I was also pleased to go over our schedule in Oaxaca with Stan, and he's given it his seal of approval! He also gave us restaurant suggestions (and restaurants to stay away from!), along with the best place to drink margaritas and the best places to shop (plus places to mention his name so we'll get 10 percent off). Yes! We'll be blogging about all of these experiences while we're in Oaxaca (using cibercafes...a.k.a. cybercafes), so stay tuned!
Stan also shared his photo album with us, and it looks like I'll be heading to Oaxaca some December 23 during the Radish Festival! The local citizens spend the entire day creating sculptures out of radishes. My favorite one was a crab. It reminded me of the gourd at the San Antonio Museum of Art that had been transformed into a crane. The artist found "'mutant" radishes that looked clawlike and took it from there. Amazing, amazing.
At the end of our two-hour visit, I asked the students to express one thing they'd learned. Everyone brought away something different it seems---read all about it on the student (contributor) blogs featured on the upper left of this page, but the one common denominator was our appreciation of Stan's generosity in opening his lovely home to our group. Without a doubt, he'll be with us in spirit on our trip. And, I can't wait to share photos and what we bring back when we return!
