Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Over the last five years, Puerto Vallarta Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña has put a lot of effort into advancing the development of cultural and artistic education. In addition to improving cultural spaces throughout the municipality, he has tasked the municipal government with promoting, protecting and preserving the tangible and intangible elements that make up the city’s cultural identity and heritage.
In this sense, the City Council, through the Vallarta Institute of Culture (IVC), launched projects to improve the cultural spaces in the municipality, among which the comprehensive rehabilitation of the Martín Meza Sendis Public Library in Las Mojoneras, stands out. With an investment of 1.5 million pesos from the Contribution Fund for Municipal Social Infrastructure (FAIS), the library was transformed into an aesthetically pleasing space where educational and recreational activities coexist.
Literary collections, furniture and computer equipment for the new library were obtained with its own resources, but the Public Library of the State of Jalisco Juan José Arreola and the Puerto Vallarta- Highland Park Sister Cities Committee chipped in by donating books and a new computer, respectively.
Likewise, work is currently underway on the east side of La Isla del Río Cuale to make it a more attractive space for cultural and recreational diversion in harmony with nature. In addition, a remodeling project is about to start at El Pitillal Market, which will be transformed into a Cultural Center that will be part of a cultural corridor that is being developed in conjunction with the Centro Universitario de la Costa. An investment of around 4 million pesos is estimated for each project.
In July, the IVC undertook the preservation and maintenance of the municipality’s cultural heritage, with the restoration of public sculptures. As part of this project, identification cards were placed on the monumental sculptures that were created during the First and Second Puerto Vallarta International Forum of Sculptors, and donated to the municipality by the Centro Universitario de la Costa.
Two new initiatives, the ‘Promotion of Arts’ program and the ‘Cultural Brigades in Your Neighborhood’ campaign have also been created to bring children and teens who live in neighborhoods outside of the city’s tourist areas closer to the artistic initiation workshops and recreational activities offered at the Cuale Cultural Center.
Improvements have also been made at El Centro Cultural Cuale, which offers artistic training for children, teens and adults. In addition to rehabilitating the singing and theater rooms, permanent workshops in various disciplines were strengthened, with the support of the Jalisco Secretariat of Culture. Likewise, the program of free professional and academic workshops for the artistic community was consolidated.
In the same way, throughout the administration of Mayor Arturo Dávalos, artistic exhibitions and different cultural events have been promoted, among which are the Day of the Dead cultural program, the New Year’s Eve festival, the Reading Fair, the Damajuana Raicilla Festival, and the MayoFest Festival, among others.
This year, due to the current health contingency, it was not possible to carry out the massive events and face-to-face activities of the MayoFest Festival; however, the celebration was carried out virtually through the special program “Cántale a Vallarta,” which was broadcast online on May 31st.
With the participation of local, national and international artists, colorful murals and artistic intervention projects now decorate the walls and facades of roads, schools and buildings in different parts of the city. In addition, a project of artistic intervention and improvement of the public spaces at intersections in the Historic Center began, as well as the restoration of “Puerto Vallarta” mural that Puerto Vallarta artist Manuel Lepe Macedo painted on a stairwell inside the Municipal Presidency in the city’s center.
With Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña at the helm, there is sure to be more improvements and additions to Puerto Vallarta’s art and culture scene in the years to come.
“As a government, we will continue working to promote projects that promote art and culture in our municipality, as well as preserve our customs and traditions so that they are consolidated as one of the main tourist attractions in Puerto Vallarta,” the Mayor promised.
Source: Instituto Vallartense de Cultura