Dickinson, Fernandez Martinez and Nell Harris
By Natalie Taylor
After Jose Mojica, Felipe Cossio del Pomar, and Stirling Dickinson met in San Miguel, they quickly moved on with their vision of creating a school of art in the city. A series of favorable encounters, combined with the intelligence and persistence of these three men, resulted in the donation of the Las Monjas Convent to their cause. In 1938, the San Miguel de Allende School of Fine Art opened its doors to the first adult students, who began taking classes with some of the top artists from Mexico, and around the world.
All was going quite well until world events threw a curve—WWII moved from the European theater to the entire globe, when the US entered the war in December of 1941. Stirling Dickinson was called back, and served as intelligence officer in the OSS (the predecessor of the CIA), until 1945. Jose Mojica remained in San Miguel through most of that period, but his involvement with the school was minimal; he had moved on toward becoming a priest of the Franciscan order. The one who stayed behind, and was basically running the school, was Cossio del Pomar. But problems began to appear in the school structure, and its management by a lawyer named Campanella, whose only objective seemed to be making money, instead of pursuing the excellence of teaching art. When Pomar returned to Peru in 1945—ending his political exile—the school began a period of deterioration.
In 1946, with WWII over, both Cossio del Pomar and Stirling Dickison returned to San Miguel. They were determined to revive the school, and indeed to make it much better than what it had been. One of the major accomplishments was Dickinson’s arrangement with the US GI Bill. He promoted the school in San Miguel as a degree-granting university, with the US government agreeing to fund the studies of ex-servicemen here. This opened a floodgate of applicants who had heard about the idyllic weather, the beauty of the colonial city, and the inexpensive cost of living here. Thousands of US army veterans signed on, and began coming to San Miguel de Allende to study at the art school.
The original venue, the convent at Las Monjas, was no longer the right place for the school. It was practically in ruins because of the disinterest and inefficient management by the man who had been left in charge. Pomar and Dickinson negotiated a new location—the Instituto Allende. This wonderful building had once been the country estate, and orchards of the De la Canal family, and was privately owned. The two men embarked on an even more ambitious project than their original one—an art school with a connection to a major university, and the capacity to provide post-graduate degrees. They were able to get the help of the governor of Guanajuato. Enrique Fernández Martínez, and his American wife Nell Harris, who owned the Instituto building and were willing to have it become the new school. Instituto Allende became officially a part of the University of Guanajuato and began offering Masters degree in Fine Arts, aside from the previous Bachelors program. This elevated the school’s reputation, and brought many more students from the United States and Canada, many of whom married locals and became part of the history of San Miguel de Allende.
In the late 1950s and early 60s, San Miguel changed from a former nearly-forgotten colonial city, to an international community focused primarily on the arts. I always like to challenge anyone to name a city—anywhere in the world—which has a population of less than 200,000 and offers the myriad art, music, and intellectual smorgasbord we have here. I have yet to get a satisfactory answer. Perhaps the answer is: none.
Eventually, Cossio del Pomar returned to Peru. Jose Mojica, also moved to Peru as a Franciscan friar. He returned to San Miguel on several occasions to sing for fundraisers, and to promote the Guadalupana orphanage he had created in the neighborhood of Mexiquito. But Stirling Dickinson remained in San Miguel, becoming as “native” to the city as one born here. He continued to donate his time and money to the community, becoming a beloved member of San Miguel de Allende until his death in 1998, at the age of 89. The legacy of these three men remains in our midst—the resurrected beauty of our city, and the fine art school, which remains an intellectual and artistic asset to this day.
Natalie Taylor: BA in English Lit and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago, 1995. MFA in Creative Writing, Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, 1999. Published writer, editor, journalist. Spanish teacher in the US, English teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Translator. www.natalietaylor.org Contact: tangonata@gmail.com
