by Peabod
Once upon a time, many, many years ago, a young couple walked along the beaches of San Juan, Puerto Rico with their infant daughter selling arrangements of beautiful multi-colored butterflies encased in plexiglass boxes. Every day this little family carried their large suitcase filled with their butterfly rainbows to the waterfront, hoping to earn enough money to merely eke out a living.
The tiny transparent boxes of butterfly art glistened in the sun, selling for just 20-dollars to anyone who wanted an unusual souvenir. Before long people were purchasing the delicate masterpieces from all over the world for the butterfly displays offered eternal beauty that anyone could afford; a moment in nature that had been suspended in time.
Soon the small boxes became portrait-sized displays that later gave way to murals of stunningly beautiful mosaics of butterflies. The beach was no longer suitable for the butterfly rainbows now began to cover entire walls. Museums and collectors began demanding even more spectacular displays.
So the butterfly people left the beach and found a shop in the bustling streets of Old San Juan; a place where they could showcase their arrangements; a museum of their own with colorful rooms filled with butterflies from every part of the spectrum.
But the butterfly people never lost sight of those early days on the beach when survival was so precious. Though they located their gallery in one of the most beautifully restored old mansions in the teaming heart of the city, they purposely located their museum on the second floor so that people would have to seek them out. Rather than have people stumble upon them while strolling the streets, the butterfly people wanted their works of art to be a much sought after prize.
Today, the main gallery is 70-feet long with an open air feeling that immediately puts you at ease with yourself and the world. There is a solitude and an optimism about the place that overtakes you the moment you walk into the second-floor atrium. Visitors are surrounded by walls of tranquility, while just below, looking down from the balcony, the streets are filled with the daily congestion of every day living. The Butterfly People is a place of discovery, a place that thousands have passed by and missed because they didn’t know it was there. But, if you ever happen to be in San Juan, Puerto Rico, you will find the Butterfly People on the upper floors at #152 Fortaleza Street.
The man and woman are old now. Their daughter is grown. Their butterflies no longer find their way to the beaches of Old San Juan, and the murals they create are sometimes valued at six figures. But the butterfly people never forgot. They still sell some of their boxes for just $20. And they always will. They can’t help it, because they are reminded daily of what their lives and their gifts are all about; the beauty of their art, and the simplicity of their beginnings.
Once upon a time, many, many years ago, a young couple walked along the beaches of San Juan, Puerto Rico with their infant daughter selling arrangements of beautiful multi-colored butterflies encased in plexiglass boxes. Every day this little family carried their large suitcase filled with their butterfly rainbows to the waterfront, hoping to earn enough money to merely eke out a living.
The tiny transparent boxes of butterfly art glistened in the sun, selling for just 20-dollars to anyone who wanted an unusual souvenir. Before long people were purchasing the delicate masterpieces from all over the world for the butterfly displays offered eternal beauty that anyone could afford; a moment in nature that had been suspended in time.
Soon the small boxes became portrait-sized displays that later gave way to murals of stunningly beautiful mosaics of butterflies. The beach was no longer suitable for the butterfly rainbows now began to cover entire walls. Museums and collectors began demanding even more spectacular displays.
So the butterfly people left the beach and found a shop in the bustling streets of Old San Juan; a place where they could showcase their arrangements; a museum of their own with colorful rooms filled with butterflies from every part of the spectrum.
But the butterfly people never lost sight of those early days on the beach when survival was so precious. Though they located their gallery in one of the most beautifully restored old mansions in the teaming heart of the city, they purposely located their museum on the second floor so that people would have to seek them out. Rather than have people stumble upon them while strolling the streets, the butterfly people wanted their works of art to be a much sought after prize.
Today, the main gallery is 70-feet long with an open air feeling that immediately puts you at ease with yourself and the world. There is a solitude and an optimism about the place that overtakes you the moment you walk into the second-floor atrium. Visitors are surrounded by walls of tranquility, while just below, looking down from the balcony, the streets are filled with the daily congestion of every day living. The Butterfly People is a place of discovery, a place that thousands have passed by and missed because they didn’t know it was there. But, if you ever happen to be in San Juan, Puerto Rico, you will find the Butterfly People on the upper floors at #152 Fortaleza Street.
The man and woman are old now. Their daughter is grown. Their butterflies no longer find their way to the beaches of Old San Juan, and the murals they create are sometimes valued at six figures. But the butterfly people never forgot. They still sell some of their boxes for just $20. And they always will. They can’t help it, because they are reminded daily of what their lives and their gifts are all about; the beauty of their art, and the simplicity of their beginnings.
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