art/music
Baja Mexico has a thriving cultural life. Everywhere you turn you will find wonderful little artesians in their shops. There are beautiful art museums, galleries and theaters, art/craft fairs, festivals, symphonic halls and concert series all up and down the peninsula.
Baja doesnt lack for talent. I have met some very gifted artists living in my own neighborhood. We have writers, musicians and painters, crafters, sculptors, dancers, jewelers and photographers right in my little corner of Baja. We even have a lady making felted wool hats for a living.
CEARTE: Ensenada State Center of the Arts. Opened in 2007, this modern, spacious facility ushers in a new era in public art and culture available at no cost to visitors and citizens. The center offers not only art and sculpture displays, but lectures by well known authors, puppet shows for the kids, concerts and more. Blvd. Lazaro Cardenas & Avenuda Club Rotario. Ensenada.
CECUT: Tijuana Cultural Center. This center is comprised of a theater, lecture rooms, video rooms, a library, exhibition hall, the Museum of California, a futuristic planetary movie theater that displays IMAX films, and a restaurant. CECUT recieves about a million visitors a year, making it Baja Californias most important cultural center. 9350 Ave Paseo do Los Heroes, Zona Rio, TJ.
Wander through the beautiful gardens landscaped with fountains, statuary and monuments detailing the history of Baja California. Tour the elegant Cathedral Ballroom and Casino Salon; explore the adjacent Museum of History with its creatively designed rupestrian pathway and exposition rooms; view an exhibition at the Galería de la Ciudad.
Riviera Del Pacifico
Riviera del Pacifico Cultural and Convention Center:
Ensenada. This building looks like an old casino… and it was!
Allegedly financed by Al Capone, and managed by Jack Dempsey. Inside, theres a little window high above the floor, where bosses could keep an eye on the gambling clientele. Regulars there were the likes of Myrna Loy, Johnny Weismuller, Ali Khan, Lana Turner and Delores Del Rio. Today it houses many genuine Mexican artifacts, artwork, and arts/crafts venues.
Then sip a cool drink in the Andaluz Bar while admiring the original mural painted by Alfredo Ramos Martínez. Families with small children may opt to visit the well-equipped playground at the Parque Infantil (Children’s Park) on the premises. The building is definitely worth a look-see. Free.
←Riviera Del Pacifico
- MATA ORTIZ pottery
Gallery de Perez Meillon
Located in Ensenada. In Centro Artesanal district, this is a gallery not to be missed. Since 1988, it showcases one of the finest selections of local Paipai and Kumiai Indian Arts and basketry, Mata Ortiz pottery, as well as Casas Grandes Pueblo pottery. The proprietor is a friend of a friend, although he caters to deep pockets. Mine are too shallow! In any event, the gallery is small but inviting and filled to the brim with only the finest works by talented Mexican indigenous potters. Considered by many to be the best gallery in Ensenada. Serious collectors of art are welcome.
