Mosa­ic Wall of Zacatlán
pho­tos by Howard Frank

Four years ago Mary Car­men Olvera Tre­jo of Zacatlán,Mexico and Dick W. Davis of Danville, Cal­i­for­nia began to orga­nize the “crew”of local vol­un­teers and col­lect the shards of tiles that would com­plete the Great Mosa­ic Wall along the drab retain­ing wall of the ceme­tery fol­low­ing the road along the great gorge or bar­ran­ca.

The dozen huge bril­liant­ly col­ored motifs form a sin­gle unit now the length of three foot­ball fields, illus­trat­ing the devel­op­ment of Zacatlán from the indige­nous Nahu­atl cul­ture with its bril­liant drag­ons and hum­ming­birds to the present com­mer­cial apple motifs.The town is Zacatlán de las Man­zanas, the largest apple pro­duc­er in Mex­i­co. Though Mex­i­co is sec­u­lar, Catholi­cism has influ­enced cul­ture and spir­it since the six­teenth cen­tu­ry, so the gor­geous pan­els of bib­li­cal sub­jects seems nec­es­sary and appro­pri­ate.

Con­text does change behav­ior. Sud­den­ly movie com­pa­nies are com­ing to film! Wed­ding pic­tures are being tak­en in front of the wall! Hous­es are being paint­ed! Increased tourism brings new restau­rants and hotels. In 2011 Zacatlán was des­ig­nat­ed a “Pueblo Mági­co” now it is a “Pueblo Increible!”

Quet­zal­coatl, Feath­ered Ser­pent or Pre­cious Twin, is the god of intel­li­gence
and self-reflec­tion, a patron of priests.

Panoram­ic view of the Mosa­ic Wall at the Tun­nel entrance.

Old man and the Apple Cart

Zacatlán de las Man­zanas

Zacatlán is locat­ed in the Sier­ra Norte de Puebla region in cen­tral Mex­i­co. The area is known for its pro­duc­tion of apples, cider and fruit wines, which are pro­mot­ed through the annu­al Apple Fes­ti­val and Cider Fes­ti­val. It is also home to the Relo­jes Cen­te­nario com­pa­ny, the first clock fac­to­ry in Latin Amer­i­ca and the builder of the city’s dou­ble sided flower clock in the main square. The his­toric cen­ter of the city is filled with tra­di­tion­al hous­es with red tile roofs and Zacat­lan was des­ig­nat­ed a “Pueblo Mági­co” in 2011. Out­side of the city prop­er, there is a sig­nif­i­cant indige­nous pop­u­la­tion, the Piedras Enci­madas Val­ley with its rock for­ma­tions and var­i­ous water­falls and ravines.

El Col­i­brí · Return­ing spir­it of the Nahu­atl War­rior

Tlaltic­pac

Angel Wings

Angel Gabriel, Pro­tec­tor of Zacatlán

Adam accepts the apple from Eve

In the Begin­ning — Mosa­ic pan­el 12′ x 10′