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Lot Essay
Born in Key West, Florida, Mario Sanchez (1908-2005) was the son of a cigar maker and lived in the community dedicated to the trade known as Gatoville. Beginning in the 1930s, Sanchez began capturing his familiar surroundings in bas-relief carvings. His vibrant work is imbued with a sense of humor and nostalgia as he records the real characters and places that he knew so well. In a handwritten letter, Mario Sanchez discusses this work:
"The synagogue was on Simonton and Southard Sts. The yellow house next to it was Dr. Armona's home. He had a cage with a few parrots in the front yard and every morning a bunch of us kids stopped there on our way to Harris Elementary School and from the sidewalk, which was paved with red bricks (the bricks are still there on the sidewalk) we taught the parrots bad words. Dr. Armona came out and told us if that was the only thing we knew and chased us from the sidewalk. It has rained a lot since then. The ice cream man had a boat-like cart with chimney and the portholes were ice cream cones. It was very attractive to the children. The family on the sidewalk had two sets of twins (a very enjoyable passtime) and did not need an automobile to visit friends. The synagogue was sold and a new one was built on United St. The new one looks like a modern square box."
The pictured synagogue is the old Congregation B’nai Zion in Key West and shows a bearded rabbi sitting on its porch. When the Congregation was first established in 1887, it held services in members’ homes until it bought the office of Dr. John Maloney in 1907 at the corner of Simonton and Southward Streets. This is the building depicted in the present work. The Congregation moved to a new building in 1969.
"The synagogue was on Simonton and Southard Sts. The yellow house next to it was Dr. Armona's home. He had a cage with a few parrots in the front yard and every morning a bunch of us kids stopped there on our way to Harris Elementary School and from the sidewalk, which was paved with red bricks (the bricks are still there on the sidewalk) we taught the parrots bad words. Dr. Armona came out and told us if that was the only thing we knew and chased us from the sidewalk. It has rained a lot since then. The ice cream man had a boat-like cart with chimney and the portholes were ice cream cones. It was very attractive to the children. The family on the sidewalk had two sets of twins (a very enjoyable passtime) and did not need an automobile to visit friends. The synagogue was sold and a new one was built on United St. The new one looks like a modern square box."
The pictured synagogue is the old Congregation B’nai Zion in Key West and shows a bearded rabbi sitting on its porch. When the Congregation was first established in 1887, it held services in members’ homes until it bought the office of Dr. John Maloney in 1907 at the corner of Simonton and Southward Streets. This is the building depicted in the present work. The Congregation moved to a new building in 1969.