By Zonia Torres Saeb
San Miguel has been an “art town“ for a long time with distinguished writers, musicians, painters and sculptors attracted here by the beauty, history and general ambiance of the city. Seven years ago another expatriate artist was charmed by San Miguel and decided to leave Los Angeles after 32 years and move here with his wife and son. His dream from day one was to create and erect a work of public art. That dream came true when George Kalmar’s 6 meter sculpture entitled “Free at Last” was installed in front of the new City Market on November 6, 2021. George approached me a few years ago when I was the Director of Heritage and Culture (sorry Zonia I don’t remember your exact title) and I later introduced him to the new administration. After a few meetings with city officials at George’s studio and the ultimate approval of Francisco Garcia, the Director of Culture and Heritage and the mayor, plans were put into motion to install the sculpture.
Kalmar, who was born in Slovakia, but has lived in the United States most of his life, has had a long career as an artist and I asked him to tell us more about himself and his new sculpture.
ZT: This is a long way from Slovakia, how did you wind up here in Mexico?
GK: Believe me, if you would have told me 56 years ago when my family left Eastern Europe that I will move to Mexico one day, I would have laughed at you. As a young child I think I knew that Mexico was next to the United States, but honestly I didn’t really know where the US was either.
ZT: So when did you first discover Mexico?
GK: After my family moved to the US, I begun to have typical fantasies about Mexico prompted mostly by Hollywood westerns. After high school I had a dream to buy a couple of horses and ride a wagon from Tijuana to Mexico City. I made a trip to Los Angeles where I met a gringo whose father raised sheep in Mexico. He laughed at my ridiculous idea, assured me that I would lose everything including my life on such a journey and suggested that if I want to have fun I should buy a 3rd class ticket on the train from El Paso to Mexico City. I went to the Tijuana border anyway, but it was 1969 and the Mexican border guards turned me away because I had long hair.
ZT: So no Mexico?
GK: No, not until my college years when I went to see Ushmal and Chichen Itza. Next to Chichen Itza there was a hotel that seemed like a converted hacienda. It had beautiful manicured gardens and a very peaceful atmosphere. The owner was an older man who swept the walkways in a Zen-like contentment. It was so warm and beautiful and tropical compared to the snowy, icy winter in Indiana where I lived during my graduate studies. I think deep inside that was the moment that put Mexico on my life’s map.
ZT: And then why San Miguel after all those years?
GK: Later in life I had visited other places in Mexico but always on the coasts. Then a good artist friend of mine moved from Los Angeles to Melaque in Jalisco. I went to visit and I was amazed by the tranquility of the place, the bustling local life and the joy I saw in my friend Ed’s eyes when he talked about his life there. A few years later another good friend moved back to San Miguel and, honestly, that was the first time I ever heard about this town. That was about 13 years ago. Then about seven years ago, I really had enough of living in the US. I gave it 50 years of my life. I think it’s a great country, but I was ready to get out and above all I wanted my son of 11 to learn another language and live a more natural and real life. Living in the US can be a bit of a bubble. My friend Barry suggested we consider living here. We came, we fell in love with the place and the rest is history.
