By Martin Fletcher
Aldama 3, home to La Conexion—which after three decades is still the city’s go-to private mailbox service—is now hosting the work of the late Peter Leventhal, one of the city’s most famous artists.
Leventhal’s large oil on linen paintings fill the walls of La Conexion’s new Sargeant Gallery, spill into the corridor, and even hang from the ceilings a la Sistine Chapel. His rough-hewn wooden sculptures, with limbs carved separately and slotted together, are surprisingly powerful and imposing. It is an inspiring collection. And his is an inspiring story.
Parkinson’s disease threatened to destroy Leventhal’s career. His right hand shook so much the brushes left as much paint on the floor as on the canvas. He despaired.
Enter another San Miguel institution, his wife, Terra. She encouraged, pressured, prodded, until Leventhal emerged from the gloom and slowly overcame his genetic predisposition. He switched hands. In his seventies he became a leftie. His career took off—again.
Such defiance in the face of disease has few parallels in the history of art, and Susan Sargeant, the owner of both La Conexion and the Sargeant Gallery, delights in challenging the visitor: spot the difference! Which was painted with the right hand and which with the left?
Leventhal’s collection fills both rooms of the gallery, as did the Living Geometry exhibition of another San Miguel artist, Alberto Lenz. Group exhibitions have included the work of the Israeli artist and San Miguel resident, Hagar Shur, fresh from the Venice Arte Laguna. Full disclosure—my wife!
Sargeant’s art gallery reopened in August this year, but her mailbox service, La Conexion, dates back to 1991, when she first spotted the need for reliable and speedy delivery of mail and packages to the city’s North American inhabitants.
It’s a Tex-Mex business, with Sargeant being the only Texan. Her children, born in San Miguel, were educated here, first at Maria Refugio Aguilar and then at Victoria Robbins school. Today, son Patric is in charge of the package service, and daughter Leslie runs the mail service. All but one of the 14 employees here in San Miguel are Mexican, and many are natives of the city. She’s proud of that.
She is even proud of the fact that over the years, several of her earlier employees left La Conexion in order to start competing businesses. “I have to admit it hurt at first. But fair enough; they’re ambitious too. Anyway, competition is good. It benefits the customers,” Sargeant stated.
To stay ahead of the game, Sargeant today has five centers of operations, one in each corner of the city, as well as in the center. “I want everyone to be able to walk to get their mail,” she says, “and I want to help limit automobile traffic in Centro.” La Conexion can now be found in Plaza Real de Conde, Plaza Luna, Hacienda de Aurora 105, Libramiento de Dolores Hidalgo, and the mothership at Aldama 3, where Sargeant, like many devoted entrepreneurs, lives above the shop.
Most of her almost 1,500 regular clients are North Americans who have relied on her service for years, some for decades. Sometimes there are mix-ups. Betty Adams, who founded the San Miguel Education Foundation, swore she would leave La Conexion until they stopped mixing her mail up with another Betty Adams, from Alaska. But one Betty passed, and the problem was solved.
Sergeant was more concerned about another client. He complained bitterly and loudly when his letters weren’t neatly packaged for him when he arrived early in the morning. “I had to ask him not to use the service anymore. He would become so red with rage I was afraid he would have a heart attack,” she commented.
But the business continues to grow, especially among new expat arrivals and Mexicans who either shop in America or receive packages and mail from loved ones. “It’s quicker for them,” says Pat Harding, a client who analyzes mail deliveries, “and more reliable.”
La Conexion is as much a community service as a mailbox. Every day, clients gather for coffee and to use the Wi-Fi as well as the VOIP phone service that connects worldwide. The lending library has been upgraded to charter membership in the Free Little Library, which allows clients and community members, especially children, to own a book for free. “I love to see the kids playing with the books. Even if they can’t read them yet, it’s fun,” says Sargeant. “Messy! But fun.”
In fact, it’s been three decades of fun and service, she says, but challenging too. A single mom raising three children in a new country where she barely spoke the language, Sargeant founded an entire business sector. She is still an innovator and entrepreneur.
“What’s next?” I asked.
Art sales in the gallery, she says proudly, nodding at the rich display of Peter Leventhal’s paintings and sculptures. “It’s a bit more relaxing.” And she added, “I’m growing an orchard of moringa trees too. I’ll dry the leaves and powder them for herbs. So much to do. I’m not over yet.”
*Martin Fletcher’s new book, “Teachers—The Ones I Can’t Forget,” will be published in March 2023.
