SUBJECT: WNMU MUSEUM/ MRAC ARTS & CULTURE TOUR OF
NORTHERN CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO, OCTOBER 21-24, 2004
CONTACT: CYNTHIA ANN BETTISON, DIRECTOR/ARCHAEOLOGIST, WNMU MUSEUM, 538-6386
DATE: SEPTEMBER 2, 2004

Join Western New Mexico University Museum and the Mimbres Region Arts Council on their annual Arts & Culture Tour of Northern Chihuahua, scheduled for October 21-24, 2004. Spend 4 days and 3 nights visiting a variety of sites and attractions in northern Chihuahua, Mexico. The tour leaves from Western New Mexico University Museum on Thursday, October 21 for Nuevo Casas Grandes. Tour participants will partake of a delightful lunch in Palomas at the Pink Store. After lunch the tour will stop and enjoy the prehistory, the history, and the modern day culture of northern Chihuahua in Ascension with a visit to the main plaza and at a colonial church in Janos. On Friday, participants will spend the day exploring the Museo de las Culturas del Norte, the adjacent prehistoric site of Paquimé (Casas Grandes), and the colonial town of Casas Grandes. Tour participants will visit with the master potters of Mata Ortiz all day Saturday, October 23. Sunday, on our return to the U.S. we will make last minute shopping excursions to local shops specializing in Tarahumara pottery.

The tour will also feature the sabor (flavor) of Chihuahuan cuisine at local restaurants, including the unique blending of Chinese and Mexican spices and foods, and enjoy the friendliness of the potters of Mata Ortiz and the residents of northern Chihuahua. The tour will be lead by Dr. Cynthia Ann Bettison, WNMU Museum director and Southwestern archaeologist, and Faye McCalmont, executive director of the Mimbres Region Arts Council, who will share their knowledge of local culture, customs, art, and prehistory.

Documents required for travel into Mexico include a current passport or legible birth certificate and driver’s license with photograph. If you are a naturalized citizen, a green card is also required for reentry into the United States.

Tour cost is $750 per person double occupancy for WNMU Museum or MRAC members with a $120 single room supplement fee. Non-member fee is $850 per person double occupancy with a $120 single room supplement fee. The tour price includes transportation from WNMU in university vehicles, lodging, food, nonalcoholic beverages, site entrance fees, and tourist visa fee. Vegetarian meals—fish—can be provided upon request.

If you would like a brochure, please call the Mimbres Region Arts Council at 505-538-2505 or WNMU Museum at 505-538-6385. To make reservations to become a tour participant, please call MRAC. A $100 nonrefundable deposit is required upon reservation. Reserve your place early; the maximum is 25 participants!