We visited Mineral de Pozos last Friday, February 19, 2010, accompanied by Cynthia Poole and Gary Schwartz. We first heard of Pozos last year when we enjoyed an exhibit: Mi Pueblo, in the Queretaro Regional Museum prepared by Geoff Winningham and Janice Freeman. They worked with children of Pozos to create an exhibit of monotypes and photographs displaying the charms of Pozos as seen by the children that live there. I was especially delighted because I knew Geoff as a classmate at Rice University in the 1960s. You can download the full catalog (as a PDF) from the site http://pozosartproject.com/ that describes the project Geoff and Janice created. See also this article in the Rice magazine. When we arrived in Queretaro this year, our landlord, Simon Schaap, suggested to us that Pozos is a great place to visit, and that the Posada de las Minas is a terrific place to stay there. We drove up to the "ghost town" of Pozos in an hour on Friday morning, arriving around 10am. There was not much action when we arrived so we just strolled around town. Lois noticed a tall gentleman walking two dogs in the street, and approached him to ask if he knew where Geoff lived. Turned out he is Dave Winslow, proprietor, with his wife Julie, of the Posada de las Minas! And, furthermore, his introduction to Pozos some years ago was provided by Geoff showing him around. Geoff and Janice were in Houston at the moment, so we couldn't greet them. But Dave invited us to tour the Posada de las Minas, which is spectacularly beautiful. He gave us a map of Pozos and annotated it with his recommendations. We visited the shops of craftsmen who make pre-Hispanic musical instruments, and found treasures we couldn't resist in the shop "La Sorpresa" that Julie runs. Other galleries, shops, and hotels were wonderful as well. Pozos is a real delight!

 

Back in Queretaro, we all enjoyed the excellent art exhibit"Historias, sueños y travesías" by Janice Freeman now on view in the Regional Art Museum, in the same galleries where we saw the Mi Pueblo show last year!

 

• View from Pozos street View from Pozos street
• Pozos street Pozos street
• View from Posada de las Minas (porch of the Buena Vista suite) View from Posada de las Minas (porch of the Buena Vista suite)
• Dave Winslow in Posada de las Minas Dave Winslow in Posada de las Minas
• Entrance, Posada de las Minas Entrance, Posada de las Minas
• Garden, Posada de las Minas Garden, Posada de las Minas
• Garden, Posada de las Minas Garden, Posada de las Minas
• Garden, Posada de las Minas Garden, Posada de las Minas
• Garden, Posada de las Minas Garden, Posada de las Minas
• Veranda, Posada de las Minas Veranda, Posada de las Minas
• Casa del Venado Azul, Pre-Hispanic Musical Instruments Casa del Venado Azul, Pre-Hispanic Musical Instruments
• Hacienda ruins, road leaving Pozos Hacienda ruins, road leaving Pozos
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Gary and Cynthia enjoying Pozos with us:

• Cynthia and Gary, in Jardin Juarez Cynthia and Gary, in Jardin Juarez
• Gary, Cynthia, and Don in Posada de las Minas Gary, Cynthia, and Don in Posada de las Minas
• Don, Cynthia, Gary enjoying coffee in Posada de las Minas Don, Cynthia, Gary enjoying coffee in Posada de las Minas
• Don and Gary in Posada de las Minas Don and Gary in Posada de las Minas
• Gary and saguaro cactus Gary and saguaro cactus
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