of Mexico City. The city is located at a nexus of four arroyos: El Atascadero, Las Cachinches, La Cañadita, and El Obraje. The last of these, El Obraje, collects in a dam of the same name. Several dams are located in the municipality to control the flow of rivers and manage the water supply. The most of important of these is the Ignacio Allende Dam. Climate Culture Foreign influence According to biographer John Virtue, "Stirling Dickinson is without doubt the person most responsible for San Miguel de Allende becoming an international art center". Although only an amateur painter himself, Dickinson became co-founder and director of the Escuela Universitaria de Bellas Artes, an art institute that he opened in a former convent only a few months after his arrival. Due to its growth as a tourist destination, some of the most obvious culture seen on the streets of the town relates to visitors, both foreign and Mexican. To cater to these visitors, the town contains cafes, boutiques, art galleries, upscale restaurants and hotels, and a wide variety of bars and nightclubs. Bars and nightclubs range from DJs or loud bands catering to young people, to jazz clubs, sports bars and even those that specialize in traditional Mexican music such as mariachi. Some were founded by foreigners and reflect that ownership, for example the Berlin Bar & Bistro. Just outside Centro, the avant-garde 'black box', Shelter Theater offers Open Mic, live concerts, films and intimate theater shows, mostly in English. Shops around the Jardin Principal sell art, handcrafts, furniture and decorative items. The Fabrica La Aurora is an old textile mill that has been converted into galleries and shops selling art, furnishings and antiques; it has a lot of open space along with a café and restaurant. San Miguel has several schools for learning Spanish, most catering to foreign visitors. These include the Instituto Allende (with credits transferable to U.S. or Canadian colleges), Language Point and Warren Hardy Spanish. Some universities such as the University of Texas-Pan American offer study abroad programs in the city, not only in Spanish but also in arts and literature, and creative writing. Festivals Many of the festivals here are purely Mexican, combining social activity with religious expression. Throughout the year there are pilgrimages, all-night vigils, ringing church bells, processions and fireworks. The largest celebration of the year is that of the town's patron saint, the Archangel