What remained was preserved as the new Mexican government, under the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), declared San Miguel a "Historic and Protected Town" in 1926, establishing guidelines and restrictions aimed at keeping its colonial appearance. Historian Lisa Pinley Covert denies that such an event occurred in 1926, yet acknowledges that a federal law of 1926 nationalized many Catholic properties in the city, even if historic preservation had not been the motivation. American artist and writer Stirling Dickinson arrived in 1937 and should be credited with creating the first wave of advertising abroad about San Miguel's virtues. Dickinson met Peruvian intellectual, author and painter, Felipe Cossio del Pomar who had the idea of establishing an art colony in the heart of Mexico. The first art school was established in 1938 in an old convent—still in use provisionally as a school, after having been soldiers' barracks—which Cossio del Pomar secured from then Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas. The school was called Bellas Artes, and continues to exist today, locally known as Bellas Artes or Centro Cultural El Nigromante. In the 1940s, Dickinson would also assist Cossio del Pomar and Enrique Fernández Martinez, the former governor of the state of Guanajuato, to establish what became the Instituto Allende. Despite their rural location, both schools would find success after the World War II. U.S. veterans studying under the G.I. Bill were permitted to study abroad, and these schools took advantage of that fact to attract former soldiers as students. Enrollment at the schools rose and this began the town's cultural reputation. This attracted more artists and writers, including José Chávez Morado and David Alfaro Siqueiros, who taught painting at the Escuela de Bellas Artes. This, in turn, spurred the opening of hotels, shops and restaurants to cater to the new visitors and residents. Many of the American veterans who came to study in San Miguel would later come back to retire, some marrying and raising international families such as the Vidargas, Andre, Maxwell, and Breck families. The town's cultural, foreign and cosmopolitan nature has continued since that time. The city took on a Bohemian quality starting in the 1950s with the party ambiance of many resident expats and artists. In the 1960s, Cantinflas promoted the area among his friends in the film industry.