Just outside the city of Querétaro lies Escolásticas, a town where the art of stone is still passed down like a school lesson, from master sculptors to apprentices.
On the recommendation of a friend, I visited Canteras Querétaro – one of more than 300 local workshops – and quickly saw what set it apart: amid the dust and the towering sculptures of archangels, columns, and fountains, I met Hugo Uribe, a young engineer, entrepreneur, and sculptor who combines tradition with technology.
Like the Cantera, or quarry stone, his team shapes, Hugo’s story is one of resilience, history, and a drive to innovate.
This is the third installment in a series celebrating the people behind Mexico’s vibrant creative traditions. From weavers and painters to enterprising stoneworkers like Hugo, we explore the traditions, challenges, and triumphs that drive Mexico’s artisans to share their talent while preserving Mexico’s rich artistic heritage.
From Engineer to Artisan Entrepreneur
From an early age, Hugo was destined to build more than stone sculptures.
While his father and uncle carved Cantera in Toluca, young Hugo played at being a businessman. In his uncle’s workshop, he would collect payments from real clients and pretend to invest the money, dreaming of profits and growth just for the fun of it.
Childhood games turned into a more technical path when, in college, he chose to study metrology, the engineering science of measurement. After graduation, he landed a well-paying job at Stellantis, one of the world’s largest car manufacturers.
“I didn’t know what I wanted,” Hugo admitted. “I was always good at math and physics, and I just knew I wanted something challenging. Easy things put me to sleep.”
Although short on experience, he landed a leadership role in the corporate world by promising discipline, responsibility, and honesty. But the so-called dream job didn’t satisfy his entrepreneurial spirit.
“I kept thinking, I have so many projects, so many dreams. I wanted to help my mom, my dad. It was a good salary, enough for me, but not enough to help others. I’ve always loved helping people, even since kindergarten.”
Hugo ended up staying at Stellantis for five years. Meanwhile, his parents moved back to their hometown of Escolásticas, a town of 3,000 where, since the 1950s, residents have mastered the art of Cantera sculpture at every stage, from local quarrying to carving to finishing. With over 60% of the population working in the artisanal trade, driving into Escolásticas feels like entering an open-air sculpture museum.
Hugo learned the Cantera trade from his father and uncle, sanding and polishing stone by the time he was six. The work was in his blood, and he pursued it as a hobby, even during his corporate years.
“When I work with Cantera, I never feel the passage of time. I love sculpture, but I love business more: meeting people, building relationships. That’s what drives me.”
Hugo followed his entrepreneurial calling and built a side hustle, selling Cantera online on behalf of workshops in Scholastics. Many of his deals were made in the middle of the night while sleepless customers browsed his products.
“My dreams kept me awake,” he said. “I would spend hours running numbers, testing ideas. At first, I kept it quiet. I didn’t want people to think I was doing it just for my dad.”
But the business grew. He tested workshops giving the same order to four and compared their quality, reliability, and turnaround times. He narrowed it down to a few he could trust and began placing consistent orders.
In 2020, when the pandemic hit and he was offered a severance package from Stellantis, the choice was clear: it was time to enter.
Combining tradition with technology
Taking a bold leap of faith, Hugo founded Canteras Querétaro, now one of the most respected workshops in the region. At first, he partnered with local sculptors while managing sales and marketing. But as the business grew, misaligned visions caused those early partnerships to dissolve.
So he turned to the two people he trusted most: his brother José, a systems engineer with a keen eye for automation, and his father, a master craftsman with decades of experience at Cantera. Together, they built something unique: a family workshop that combines tradition with innovation.
As demand increased during the pandemic, especially with more people investing in home renovations, the team needed to adapt.
“There was a shortage of labor, sales were high, and our processes were too slow,” Hugo explained. “And the truth is, fewer people want to do this type of work.”
Curious about CNC (computer-controlled cutting) technology, Hugo heard about a new machine arriving from China. When the owner wouldn’t let him use it, Hugo offered to fix a problem with the machine, something that even expert technicians in Monterrey couldn’t resolve.
Hugo Uribe (left) and his brother José Uribe (right) standing together in their Canteras Querétaro workshop, with sculptures and materials on the shelves.
“I’ll figure it out,’ I told the owner,” he said. “He was skeptical, but for me, there was never a hurdle. If you don’t take the leap, you don’t learn.”
So he and José got to work, studying manuals and rewriting code. Through trial and error, they finally got it working. Impressed, the owner let them use it and asked Hugo to train his team.
That experience sparked a bigger idea: with part of his severance pay, Hugo traveled to Guadalajara and ordered two CNC machines, despite having only enough money for one.
“We’ll figure it out,” he told his brother.
They sold two more machines to the manufacturer, used the commission toward their own, and secured a loan for the remainder they owed the manufacturer.
Today, those machines are essential tools in their workshop, along with newer additions like 3-D printers and digital modeling, thanks to José’s technological expertise. But, as Hugo says, the soul of the work remains human.
“CNC can take a design maybe 40–60% of the way there,” he explained. “The rest is craftsmanship: polishing, finishing, adding the details that bring a piece to life.”
For example, they are currently producing a five-meter mural of galloping horses and a series of sculptures of St. Michael the Archangel. Machines handle the initial form, but it is human hands (often those of his father) that complete the art.
“I am convinced that we should not lose the tradition of craftsmanship,” Hugo told me. “It is a beautiful thing, it is art. But if you want to grow and survive, you simply cannot do everything by hand.”
Hugo Uribe’s brother, José, working on a large computer screen with a small laptop inside their family workshop office.
The team’s work has not gone unnoticed. Canteras Querétaro is currently bidding on a luxury hotel project in Mexico City, poised to be one of the most exclusive in the country.
The team has also won top honors in local and regional competitions, including a recent Cantera sculpture competition that brought together workshops from across the state. Hugo presented a personal piece he carved in his spare time, a woman who symbolized freedom and abundance, qualities he sees reflected in his craft and his life.
But for Hugo, these milestones are just the beginning. His next major goal is to expand the workshop’s reach by opening dedicated Cantera supply stores in Mexico and abroad, offering not only carved pieces but also raw stone, tools, and materials like sealants and moldings.
“Cantera’s supply can be slow and fragmented,” he explained. “If someone urgently needs a specific molding for a construction project, I want them to be able to walk into a store and find it ready to go.”
Beyond business, Hugo is committed to creating opportunities. Canteras Querétaro partners with Jóvenes Construyendo El Futuro, a government program that connects unemployed youth (ages 18 to 29) with one-year apprenticeships and paid training.
Hugo also mentors many of the young people who attend the workshop, sharing not only the technique but also life lessons. He speaks openly about living without addictions, a challenge that affects many in the region, and emphasizes the importance of knowing what you want.
“If you don’t know what you want in life, life will give you whatever it is, and you won’t be satisfied or in the right place, with the right people, doing what truly matters.”
His advice: Start by asking yourself what you really want.
A Legacy in Manufacturing
Hugo attributes his business’s success to prioritizing quality, investing more time and money than competitors to perfect details, especially in realistic features like faces.
On a personal front, Hugo attributes his achievements to courage, a willingness to try anything, and, above all, the support of his family.
He speaks with deep respect for his parents: his father, from whom he learned the value of hard work, and his mother, who championed education. Together, they instilled values that now shape the family business: growth over jealousy, long-term impact over short-term profit.
“We don’t spend just to spend,” he said. “There’s a dream behind this. It’s a seed we planted. Right now, it’s a medium-sized tree, but the more we water it, the more people it will feed and shade. That’s the goal: to grow a team and, through that, be able to help others.”
Source: aconagua.lat
