Audubon-El Charco Joint Gala Fundraiser Auction
Sun, Feb 14, 12–3 pm
Plaza de los Cuatro Vientos
El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden
350 pesos members, 500 pesos nonmembers

Art & Antiques Appraisal
Sat, Feb 13, 12-3 pm
Main terrace, Fabrica Aurora
100 pesos at the door for two items

You won’t want to miss the second annual joint fundraiser held by two of San Miguel de Allende's major ecological organizations, Sociedad Audubon de Mexico and El Charco del Ingenio. Under the shade of a spacious circular tent, you’ll enjoy the most beautiful view in San Miguel while helping ensure its survival. You’ll nibble delicious botanas (hors d'oeuvres) and sip drinks from an open bar as you bid for unique, nature-themed art pieces in a fast-paced live auction.

Last year’s event, a season highlight, was sold out well in advance. This year, Mark Vail, a professional auctioneer from New York, will wield the gavel for an array of art objects specially created by over 50 of San Miguel’s most talented artists, designers and architects. There will be bird houses, bird feeders, paintings, sculpture, jewelry—all with themes of birds, plants or nature in general. Artists include famed muralist David Leonardo, realist painters Keith Miller and Mary Brenaman, and sculptors Terra Mizwa and Ana Thiel, among many others.

The theme, “Aves y Agaves,” perfectly captures the occasion: birds are a key focus of Audubon’s activities, and agaves are one of the many families of succulent plants (including cacti) protected, propagated and grown in El Charco’s botanical garden. After expenses, all funds raised by the event will go to support the important work of these two organizations, which have formed a strategic alliance to further their shared goals of protecting the natural environment, educating people about it, providing nature and wildlife experiences for adults and children, and acting as advocates for the environment, working with government at all levels.

The auction will be held at the Plaza de los Cuatro Vientos (Plaza of the Four Winds), El Charco’s ceremonial and scenic gathering place, with views across the canyon, dam, reservoir and high desert landscape to the surrounding mountain ranges. All the art in the auction will be on display in the nearby circular, domed Bóveda. In addition, books, calendars, t-shirts and other nature-themed articles will be available for sale, as will live plants. Bobo Gourmet is providing a mouth-watering menu, with a full range of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages.

And that’s not all: on Saturday, Mark Vail and Mort Erlick, a well-known local resident knowledgeable about Mexican antiques and folk art, will appraise your heirlooms, tchotchkes and collectibles in an “Antiques Roadshow” style event at Fabrica Aurora.

Don’t wait—seating for the auction is limited! Only 300 tickets will be sold, at Border Crossings, El Tecolote Bookstore, Bobo Gourmet and El Charco del Ingenio Visitors’ Center. If you’re not a member of Audubon and/or El Charco, join now and get the member’s discount!

For more information or tickets, please contact:

Linda Whynman	Naomi Zerreffi
vellum1@mac.com • 152-2139	nzerriffi@yahoo.com • 154-9553

El Charco del Ingenio is an extraordinary natural monument in a unique scenic area of great biodiversity. The name comes from a spring-fed pool nestled in an impressive canyon, which popular legend has interwoven with spirits and myths dating from the Spanish conquest. Above, the Las Colonias reservoir receives water flowing down from the nearby mountains, which forms permanent wetlands where birds and other wildlife abound. During the rainy season, water overflows the dam, cascading into pools in the wooded depths of the ravine. Among the boulders of the canyon and in the reservoir and surrounding dry scrubland lie vestiges of waterworks and constructions from the past that also give the place special value as a historic site.

Sociedad Audubon de México, based in San Miguel de Allende, is the only Audubon organization in Mexico. Our mission is to experience, enjoy and protect the birds of the region and thereby enhance and promote our understanding of the local ecosystems; to educate and enlist the people of the community to restore and maintain the quality of our natural environment. Audubon, partnering with other NGO's and the Ecology Departments of the city and state, will work together to restore the Upper Rio Laja Watershed; develop and maintain a birding sanctuary and research center in Parque Landeta for the purpose of education and recreation, and in the future, assist in any other related ecological enhancement and protective projects.