Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Every year on May 31st, as part of the city's anniversary celebrations, the Premio Vallarta awards are given to those citizens who have acted for the benefit of the community in one way or another. The awards are given to seven people in different categories: arts, culture, sports, education, social assistance, tourism and ecology.

This year, the award for Culture was presented to Pilar Perez, the Director of the Oficina de Proyectos Culturales, (OPC) an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting contemporary art through exhibitions, round tables, public art initiatives and educational services programs.

Pilar's commitment to developing cultural programming that is firmly rooted in Puerto Vallarta, yet international in scope, was deservedly recognized by Municipal authorities at this year's Premio Vallarta awards ceremony. After gratefully receiving the award, she made the following statement:

I was honored to receive the Premio Vallarta Teresa Barba Palomera for Culture and I dedicated it to my father Antonio Perez Briones, an early promoter of Puerto Vallarta, and to my first art history professor Phillip Leider, the founding editor of Artforum.

It has been a honor to have developed and created cultural projects over the last decade in this magnificent city. I have always believed in the potential of Puerto Vallarta as a great cultural destination. Now, with Fernando Sanchez Aceves leading the Instituto Vallartense de Cultura, appointed by our current mayor Arturo Davalos, we are that much closer to realizing all that is culturally and artistically possible in this city.

There are so many people who work tirelessly to promote the arts in Puerto Vallarta. We all work individually in our respective fields, we form a large team that is making advances, but no quite yet to the finals.

In the words of Hugo Gutierrez Vega, a poet I admired greatly, "Puerto Vallarta and the Nayarit coast have grown dramatically... We welcome the progress, but we must defend ourselves from its excesses with an intense cultural and artistic life." So let's not only build large towers in the name of progress, but also a world-class museum, a concert hall, and theater for the next generation. We need to invest in our community the way our forefathers did decades ago.

We also need to protect our cultural patrimony, our archeological treasures, our natural resources, our cultural heritage; we should think twice before we sell a street or a school or part of mountain. They cannot be reclaimed.

As 2018 nears, let us all work together to create an intense artistic and cultural life in Puerto Vallarta. Thank you. - Pilar Perez, Director, Oficina de Proyectos Culturales

OPC is definitely an effort that deserves everyone's support, it is a place for all people who love this beautiful corner of Mexico. Everyone here at Banderas News congratulates Pilar Perez, and thanks her for her efforts in creating, and maintaining, this wonderful place that enriches our daily lives.