All’s well in San Miguel
Story and photos by Bob Schulman
In a way, World War II put San Miguel de Allende on the map. Actually, it was the war veterans' educational benefits, which somehow covered studies at a couple of art schools hundreds of miles below the border in this remote spot up in the Sierra Madres – and the publicity about all this.
Uncle Sam's largess for going to school here was unveiled in 1948 in a feature article in Life Magazine headlined “G.I. Paradise: Veterans go to study art, live cheaply and have a good time.” The story mentioned that students could rent an apartment in San Miguel de Allende (better known as just San Miguel) for $10 a month, hire a maid for $8 a month and buy rum for 65 cents a quart.
Right after that, 6,000 applications poured in.
American painters, sculptors, writers, weavers, potters and poets have been coming to San Miguel to study, play and open galleries ever since. Thousands of ex-pat retirees moved in, too, many drawn by the ambiance of the art culture in an old-world colonial setting.
San Miguel's story goes back to 1542, when Spanish troops were building a road to carry silver ripped from the rich veins of the Sierra Madres to their capital in Mexico City. Along the way was a gentle hillside overlooking a strategic pass – a spot just crying out for a mission to convert the local folks to Christianity (and which could double as a fort in case the locals tried to get their silver back).
A Franciscan monk, Fray Juan de San Miguel, was called in to found the mission, which, as was the custom of the times, he named after himself. As a thriving town took shape, the site was renamed San Miguel el Grande (Saint Michael the Great) to distinguish it from lesser San Miguels popping up around the country.
Over the years, the little hillside city became a favored getaway for Mexico's silky set. Some came to stay, such as the fabulously wealthy Canal family and its numerous “counts” (a title that could be purchased for a hefty fee). Their palatial hacienda spotlighted San Miguel as the home of the Counts of Canal.
San Miguel made the headlines in 1821 when it became one of the first cities to be freed from Spanish rule in Mexico's war for independence. The liberator was General Ignacio Allende, a home-town boy for whom de Allende was tagged on to the town's name.
So who turned the city into a paradise for the arts set? Meet Stirling Dickinson, an American artist who came here in the late
1930s to become art director at the newly opened Escuela Universitaria de Bellas Artes, San Miguel's first art school. Dickinson was also a great pr man, and his stories about the school got a good play on both sides of the border, in turn helping to boost enrollments.
Fast-forward to 1945, when Dickinson cut a deal with the U.S. Government – some say in return for his having worked as an American secret agent ferreting out Nazi spies in Mexico during the war – to get the Bellas Artes approved for veterans' benefits. Later on he did likewise for the Instituto Allende, a school he founded on the site of the old-time palace of the Counts of Canal.
All this started the ball rolling, and it kept rolling and rolling. Today, besides being packed with artists and retirees (along with other ex-pats accounting for nearly one out of every 10 of the city's 80,000 residents), San Miguel is among Mexico's most-visited inland tourist destinations.
But don't even think about looking for an apartment for 10 bucks a month.
Getting there: Travelers from the U.S. typically fly to major hub
airports at Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth, then catch nonstop flights to Del Bajio International Airport, or DBX (also known as Leon International and Guanajuato International), the busiest terminal serving San Miguel. From there, visitors hop into ground shuttles for an hour-and-a-half ride to San Miguel.
Shuttle fares range from $24 to $28 each way per passenger in shared vehicles. Reservations can be booked at sites such as www.viajessanmiguel.com and www.sanmiguelsupershuttle.com.
Staying there: Tourists have their pick of over 70 hotels including such upscale properties as Orient Express' Casa de Sierra Nevada and the seven luxury boutiques of the Tesoros group. Twelve of San Miguel's most popular hotels are listed on www.Hotels.com.
On the drawing board is a $250 million resort complex including a swank 63-suite Rosewood hotel along with 138 Artesana Rosewood Residences (www.artesanasanmiguel.com) with price tags ranging from a little over $800,000 to $2.95 million. Also planned is the Ventanas de San Miguel Golf Resort (www.ventanasdesanmiguel.com) featuring a Nick Faldo signature course surrounded by a residential area with 700 lots.
More info: Click the city's official site, www.turismosanmiguel.com.mx.
