A new passport guide focuses on the city’s lesser-known artists and art studios; a cow-sorting benefit event is coming up; an athletic challenge will help feed local schoolchildren, and a celebrity sighting is reported at a local bar and restaurant. Read on about some of the community activities going on in and around San Miguel de Allende.
Art passport draws attention to SMA’s ‘hidden studios’
San Miguel jewelry maker Mariana Díaz started thinking about her Hidden Studios Art Passport project in January after a period of feeling invisible as an artist and realizing others were in a similar situation.
“I just thought about everybody having so much talent, but no one knows about it,” she said. “People keep on the same route in Centro, and they really don’t walk around and see all the good stuff that’s out there.”
Her idea led to a Sept. 12 launch of the initial project, which included 14 local artists plus members of the public who can use her printed passport guide to find artists, studios and creative spaces around the city and collect stamps for each one they visit.
“The event was great,” Díaz said. “There were 70 people there. It was wonderful to see everybody. My family was there, all the artists were there and they brought a little piece of themselves — a sample of their art, a painting or a sculpture or something.”
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How it works
Artists pay her a fee to participate and send in pictures of their work to be put in the passport guide. She then gives them stamps that she designed to hand out to people who visit their studios. It works like a treasure hunt and can be done year-round, she said.
Since the art passport project just started, Díaz is currently highlighting the opportunity for participation for artists and local businesses such as hotels, cafes and restaurants.
“There are two options that help,” she said. “People can carry the passport in their restaurant or cafe or appear in the guide or put their business in the guide.”
Seven artists have already signed up for the second edition of the passport, she noted, and more hotels and other businesses may join in.
“There are some big names interested, and I feel it could become really big at some point,” Díaz said. “I’m waiting to have the guide with me and go deliver it everywhere. The majority are really interested in it. It’s something for their guests to do.”
For more information, she can be reached on Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Upcoming cow-sorting event will benefit local NGO
The Billy Boots Cup cow-sorting event will be held Saturday, Oct. 10, at Rancho Sol Dorado, a 120-acre private ranch community and club about 6 miles north of San Miguel at Km 5.5, Marroquín de Abajo. Doors open at 10 a.m., and the action starts at 11 a.m. Admission is free.
Cow sorting (also known as ranch sorting) involves teams of riders separating numbered cows from a herd and putting them in pens in numerical order within specific time limits. The event will benefit Feed the Hungry San Miguel, a nonprofit organization that distributes meals to local schoolchildren.
Besides the equestrian action, there will be food and drinks, a raffle and 20 local vendors on hand.
Walk, Run, Bike challenge to help feed local schoolchildren
Feed the Hungry San Miguel will hold its seventh Walk, Run, Bike for Food Challenge on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 8:30 a.m. to noon to benefit its food and nutrition programs. The goal is to provide more than 5,000 nutritious school lunches every day to local and rural communities.
The nonprofit organization, formed in 1984, invites participants to sign up now to walk, run or bike through the Viñedo Dos Búhos countryside east of San Miguel and stay afterward for live music, food and community spirit.
Another benefit for Feed the Hungry San Miguel is coming Sunday, Nov. 15. The annual Fashion Feeds runway brunch is scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. at Live Aqua, located at Calzada de la Presa 85 in Centro.
Another celebrity sighting reported
Spotting famous people in and around San Miguel isn’t uncommon to anyone who spends time out and about. Diego Luna, Karol G, Lorde and Bill Murray have recently been seen in the city, along with others who likely slipped in and out without being recognized.
The most recent celebrity sighting was Sept. 18, when Canadian actor and musician Ryan Gosling was spotted enjoying the ambiance at Sala de Despecho at Umarán 14 in El Centro. The venue offers a bar, restaurant and karaoke featuring Spanish-language “pop and heartbreak ballads.” No word yet on whether he joined in.
Gosling is known for his breakout role in “The Notebook” (2004), followed by starring roles in “La La Land” (2016) and “Barbie” (2023), among others. His latest project, “Star Wars: Starfighter,” has reportedly finished filming and is in post-production, with release scheduled for May 2027.
Cathy Siegner is an independent journalist based in San Miguel and Montana. She has journalism degrees from the University of Oregon and Northwestern University.
