Years ago, before the drug wars, the steel fence, and the upswing in undocumented migrant crossings, going across the border between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico, was a simple, everyday fact of life. As violence and fear have risen, the cities now seem far apart even though it takes only minutes to walk from the U.S. to Mexico. Consequently, cross-cultural activities have slowed to a trickle, and the economy of the Mexican border town has suffered.
Which is one reason why the reception on January 15 at the Museo des Artes in Nogales, Mexico was so remarkable. On that Friday evening, a stream of U.S. citizens pushed through the old customs turnstiles at the border and walked two blocks south to attend the exhibit, which featured the work of Paula Wittner, an American artist who lives just 15 miles north of Nogales in Patagonia.
The Museo Des Artes was designed by the noted architect, Mario Pani in the late 1960s as part of a border development project that never came to fruition. After serving as a warehouse and a function hall, it was restored to the museum it was meant to be in 2012. The renovation, paid for with grants and private investment from Mexico, cost $2.3 million.
It is a dramatic building with a sweeping roof and well-lit exhibition space. When Wittner heard about the “museo” from a fellow artist last November, she and husband Bob went to have a look.
They took two postcards showing Wittner’s work, and after meeting with the director, Guadalupe Serrano Quinonez and a translator, they were offered a month in the schedule starting in mid-January. “I think they checked out my website while we were talking,” recalls Wittner, “but the only question they asked was whether I could fill the gallery, and of course, I said SI! Si!” She is the first foreign artist to have an exhibition there.
Paula Wittner’s paintings are most often populated by a surreal world of medieval court characters, Old Testament figures, and Tarot card symbols, whose faces gaze at the viewer with a range of droll expressions. They come alive on the spacious white walls of the museum like a colorful magic show. Wittner says she discovered that painting was the best way to express the images and emotions that inhabit her psyche. Her studio, in a remodeled garage in Patagonia is filled with these oil paintings. She has shown her work at various galleries in Tucson, and many people have visited her studio and purchased work, but this is her first museum exhibit. The opening outshone Wittner’s expectations.
She is still recovering from the wonder of the experience.
She was lauded at the opening by a line of dignitaries from Nogales. They praised her work, they hugged her, they served food and wine. It was a Mexican event, brimming with warmth and hospitality. The faces, the colors, the costumes and the slight ambiguity of the imagery seemed to enchant the Mexican audience, some of whom were children. Friends came from Patagonia, Tucson, and both coasts to be at this special event, all eager to see Wittner’s paintings displayed together in a museum setting. About 200 people munched on Mexican finger food and drank wine from plastic cups, adding their excitement and goodwill to the festive evening. The diminuitive Wittner, who is only five tall, could be seen wandering through the crowd, smiling happily, shaking hands, and getting hugs.
One of the group from Patagonia was the town’s librarian, Abbie Zeltzer. She was introduced to Alejandro Martinez, the Deputy Consul General of Nogales. Martinez is interested in cultural exchange and would like to bring dancers, musicians and other young artists from Sonora to Patagonia. The library has a large meeting hall. Zeltzer was delighted with the idea. The two plan to work together future to facilitate cultural border crossings.
A little before nine o’clock, the Americans started heading across railroad tracks to La Roca, Nogales’ elegant restaurant that has survived spite the economic downturn. There were margarita toasts, and lots of delicious food brought to the tables. One diner summed up the evening by pointing out, “We are so lucky to have amazing country at our doorstep. We need to do this more often.”