The Art Market

Along Calle 60, the main street in the historic center of Mérida, there is a pretty little park called "Parque de la Maternidad" (Motherhood Park).  It is tucked between the colonial Church of Jesús and Mérida's grand concert hall.

On weekends local artists display their work here for sale.  In an earlier post I wrote about purchasing a piece of artwork here many years ago.  It was done by a very talented painter by the name of Luis Coral.

It's been a long time since I have seen Luis display his art in the park.  I hope that means that he has gone on to bigger and better things.


Last Sunday as I passed through the park I had a very nice conversation with a photographer by the name of Jorge Luis Reyes.  He displays his work here each Sunday.

Luis takes beautiful black and white photographs of colonial architecture and archaeological sites in and around Mérida.  He uses a vintage camera from the 1950s (you can see it at the top of his display), and he develops his photos himself.  There was a photo of a colonial church in a small Yucatecan village which I found to be especially striking.  I don't know where I will hang, but I bought it.  I now have another high quality souvenir from the Yucatán.