Four of Jalisco’s most accomplished sculptors gathered at the Chapala waterfront early Tuesday, January 6 to begin chiseling out giant blocks of cantera stone that will be transformed over two week´s time into monuments revolving around themes of Lake Chapala and water conservation.
The Encuentro de Escultores (sculptors encounter) is spearheaded by talented Ajijic resident artist Estela Hidalgo who is creating a piece entitled La Última Gota (the last drop). Working from the vision in her mind’s eye, she will represent the lake’s endangered status with a huge drop of water susp
ended from the heavens over a sere lakebed landscape.
Hidalgo’s selected companions in the open-air workshop are renowned Guadalajara sculptors David Agredano, Estanislao Contreras and Dolores Ortiz. Follo
wing scale models and sketches prepared in advance, they are forging stylized figures respectively named Movement, Emerge and Tribute to Chapala.
During a kick off ceremony held at the waterfront on Monday evening, each of the artists received a raw stone block weighing around two tons, along with a tool kit provided through a 200,000 peso grant from the Jalisco government. They have also been assigned volunteer assistants to help them accomplish their artistic tasks.
At the conclusion of the confab, the four sculptures will be moved to public venues, becoming permanent cultural patrimony of the people of Chapala.
Everyone is welcome to visit the workshop site to observe the artists laboring on their evolving creations. They are following a full-day schedule from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with occasional breaks to rest or catch an on-the-fly meal.
The sculpture workshop is the headline activity of the Lake Chapala Art and Culture Festival. The program also encompasses an appearance of the local ska band Charales-K set for Sunday,January 11, 5 p.m., at the Malecón and a conference on Lake Chapala to be presented by University of Guadalajara professor José Antonio Gómez Reyna, on Friday, January 16, 7 p.m., at Chapala City Hall. The closing celebration, to be held Sunday, January 18, 1 p.m., at the Malecón, will feature the formal unveiling of the finished sculptures and a performance by the Orquesta Típica de Chapala.