Platt Library Shows Gifts From Mexico

A statuette of an Aztec warrior, a set of sterling silver pitchers with colorful birds perched on the rims and a watercolor painting of the cathedral that is the centerpiece of the small city of Taxco, Mexico, are highlights of a monthlong exhibition at the Platt Library.

Sponsored by the Friends of Taxco--a sister-city partnership between the West Valley and the Mexican silver-mining town--the exhibition features a collection of gifts given over the years to the Friends of Taxco by the Amigos de Canoga, their Mexican counterpart.

The paintings, sculptures and silver pieces were presented to the program by artists in the city renowned for its art school and use of materials found in the local silver mines.

These pieces had been displayed in the West Hills gallery owned by the program’s founders but were taken out and stored after the store was rented to an antiques business.

There is also a small display of other Taxco art works at the Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce, but the library exhibit, open through August, has a wider range of work, said Jane Stauss, a 30-year member of the group.

“Our members love it because these pieces bring back many fond memories of our visits to Taxco,” she said as she arranged the more fragile works in a case at the library’s entrance.

“I thought this would be a good place to share our gifts with the whole community,” she said. “We’d like to share it with other libraries in the West Valley, if they’ll have us.”

The Friends of Taxco was founded in 1963 as part of the People to People Program that had been established during the Eisenhower administration. The program aims to create partnerships with other countries in an effort to foster peace.

The social club, which has provided funding to build two rural schools around Taxco, has survived over the years by word-of-mouth recruiting and the loyalty of its members, who visit the Mexican city annually and arrange visitor exchanges between the two cities every summer. Last week a group of Taxco schoolchildren spent the week in the West Valley.