By Alice Kupcik
Alice, the founder of Salsa Retreat and a software engineer at Microsoft leads one-week dance and yoga workshops in Oaxaca, Mexico three times per year. In this guest post, she shares her discovery of a hidden treasure on the outskirts of Oaxaca.
Having traveled extensively throughout my life, it was only recently that I found my must-see place of all time. But I didn’t use a guidebook or a map to find it.
When I was in Oaxaca for the Salsa Retreat in January, I logged onto Facebook and welcomed a new member of our Facebook group. He lived in Oaxaca and said he really liked Salsa Retreat’s mission of bringing people and cultures together through dance. He said he works at a recently renovated and re-opened historical building that is now used as an art center.
Valley of Etla. This was my introduction to the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín. He invited the Salsa Retreat group to come and take a tour of the art center, which is located outside the city of Oaxaca in the valley of Etla.
To prepare for the trip, I tried to learn more about the art center in a guide book and locate it on a map. But not a single book or map mentioned the place. While this wouldn’t make finding the place any easier, I realized that we were about to see one of Oaxaca’s hidden secrets.
On the drive there I worried that we might not find it. But when we arrived, the breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful location left no doubt that we had found the place we were searching for.
Hand-made Paper. Exploring the buildings, the outdoor and indoor architecture was a pure pleasure. The first floor of the main building displays long sheets of hand-made paper. Each one showing intricate patterns and soothing colors.
As inspiring as the art was inside the building, it was the outdoor architecture and landscaping that took my breath away.
As the only visitors there, we were keenly aware of the sense of serenity that the place evokes.
As word gets out, it’s only a matter of time before the art center draws crowds. Go and see the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín before the crowds show up.
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