Hermes Arroyo

Hermes Arroyo (full name Hermes Arroyo Guerrero, born December 31, 1970) is a craftsman based in the small city of San Miguel de Allende in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. His is best known for his work in the making of giant papier-mâché and fabric “puppets” called “mojigangas” and their preservation as a cultural tradition of San Miguel. Arroyo's work has been commissioned and regularly exhibited in Mexico, especially in the states of Guanajuato and Querétaro.

Life Arroyo was born and raised in the town of San Miguel de Allende, in central Mexico. He was one of thirteen children, exactly in the middle, but his family did not make handcrafts of any kind. His interest in it came about in grade school, when a classmate name Antonio Almanza, brought nativity figures made by his father, a locally noted artisan named Genaro Almanza, who had a workshop nearby on Calle Jesus. Arroyo's fascination with the figures extended to all aspects of Almanza's work. This led to an apprenticeship with the master craftsman, as well as a familial, with Almanza becoming a godfather to Arroyo. From Almanza, Arroyo learned to work with wood, gold leaf, fabric, paint, molds, sparkles, plaster, resin and more, mostly related with the making and care of religious icons and other paraphernalia. He also worked with Almanza to mount art exhibits and creating props, costumes and scenery.

Today, Arroyo is the head of the family that produces various handcrafts, and who are still based in his childhood home on the steepest part of the Calle San Francisco in the historic center of San Miguel.

Arroyo did not invent mojigangas, but he has become the most important figure related to their making, preservation and popularity. In 2016, Arroyo won a contest out of twenty-four San Miguel artists to accompany a Mexican delegation to the Vatican as part of an exhibit on religious art.