Marina Pombar

Marina Pombar (born 1947 in Detroit, Michigan) is a former beauty queen noted for presenting the Beatles onstage.

She is currently a sculptor who has exhibited in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe.

She is also known for working to establish physiognomy as a field in Mexico.

Pombar was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Cuban parents who immigrated to the United States, Thomas A. Pombar and Olga Cabrera Guimera.

She has Spanish grandparents on her father's side.

She considers herself to be Cuban, Spanish and American by heritage, with her Cuban heritage evident still by making Cuban coffee the way her father taught her.

She graduated from Pershing High School in Detroit and worked as a receptionist for the North Detroit General Hospital along with part-time modeling and hostess jobs during her beauty pageant years.

Pombar's crowns include Miss Metropolitan Beach (1964), Miss Suburban Architectural Bowling League (1965), Miss Autorama 1966, Miss Detroit AMVET (1966), and a finalist for Miss Michigan Universe (1966).

Her aim was Miss Universe.

Her wins led to work in modeling and commercials.

Her participation in this field also allowed her to meet and work with various local celebrities such as Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, as well as international figures.

At a Detroit radio station, she met Mick Jagger as both were scheduled to be interviewed.

He asked her out, but her father would not permit it, concerned about drugs.

She introduced the Beatles at their first performance at Detroit in 1964 at the Olympic Arena.

In a later interview she stated, "It was strange at that time because the Motown sound was big then and the Beatles seemed just like any other group. At that time I didn’t realize who I was really with. During the performance girls started throwing things, then all of a sudden it got really wild, everything sort of went out of control and we were all literally carried off stage – and that was it. Everything was a mess. It wasn’t until later, looking back, that I completely understood the phenomena."

In several interviews she stated that she had an interest in beauty and its composition from a young age and had always worked with her hands.

However, it was not until later in life that she began an artistic career.

She was working as a translator for PEMEX in Mexico when she decided to study art.

Initially, she was interested in carving wood, and took a class.

The instructor asked the class to copy a piece, and Pombar was the only one who made an exact copy.

Despite this, she still did not realize she had talent.

She also took some classes for beginners with the Escuela de Artesanías Mexicanas and Academy of San Carlos.

At a sculpture workshop, she learned that there were names for the techniques that she was developing on her own.

Ultimately, she asked Mexican artist Gabriel Ponzanelli to teach her, but he refused, stating that she had her own style and should work on developing that.

He has supported her work in other ways, such as exhibitions.

She belongs to no group, gallery or movement, but feels accomplished for what she has created.

In an interview in 1966, she stated that she wanted to study psychology, but would settle for marriage.

In 1971, Pombar moved to Mexico and has lived in the country ever since.

This long residency, as well as her Mexican citizenship, gives her Mexican identity as well.

Her interest in beauty pageants began young.

She studied modeling at the Patricia Stevens Career College and Finishing School, and started doing modeling jobs by age 14.

Pombar began entering beauty pageants at age 15, entering any and all contests, becoming professional.

The rigor of this life left little time for socializing or dating.

Pombar has exhibited her work in collective and individual shows since 1977.

Main shows include: Centro Iberoamericano de Convenciones (1977) Escuela de Artesanias Mexicanas (1978) American Embassy in Mexico (1980) Centro Americano Ejecutivo de Idiomas y Murguia Garcia SA La Piramide Cultural Center (1984) Forma, Color y Movimiento in El Pedregal restaurant in Tamaulipas (1986).

Dos pinceles, dos cinceles at the Galeria Art Centrum in Polanco (1991) Sentimientos in Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Mexico City (1995), Temperamento y Bronce in Mexico City (1997) and Las Jaulas in Polanco, Mexico City.

She placed first at the Ventrina degli Artisti Latinoamericani Biennale in 2001 in Florence, Italy.

where she identified as a Mexican artist.

Pombar created a monumental work for the ASPCA of Missouri displayed in Memorial Park, and her work is promoted in Spain by the Grifé y Escoda Gallery in Barcelona.

Her apartment in Mexico City also serves as a gallery and workshop.