A giant statue of the Virgin of Zapopan mounted at the Chapala waterfront for her July 12 visit to Lake Chapala has been given a permanent home on the boardwalk, just across the street from the San Francisco church.
Measuring a regal five meters in height, the bronze-colored fiber glass figure representing the Queen of Lake was set atop a cement pedestal this week to remain at the waterfront in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the revered religious icon’s first visit to Chapala on December 19, 1995.
The statue was created by Mario Andrade, the same artist who made the larger-than-life figures of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II that stand at either side of the entrance to the parish church. They made their debut when La Zapopana came to town last year.
Meanwhile, Chapala city hall is getting ready to dispatch a work crew to install the four stone sculptures produced during last January’s Encuentro de Escultores.
The abstract works forged from two-ton blocks of raw cantera by distinguished artists Estanislao Contreras, Dolores Ortiz, David Agredano and Estela Hidalgo express their respective visions of lake and water conservation themes. The figures will be fixed on large bases surrounded by floral planters that will be spaced at intervals along the western leg of the Malecón.