by Sandra Cesca

Learn Vallarta’s Malecón Sculpture Walks will be from 6:30 – 8 pm on Tuesdays beginning June 29 at The Millennia sculpture in downtown Puerto Vallarta.

Since the popular Tuesday morning Malecón Sculpture Walks begun by Gary Thompson of Galeria Pacifico four years ago are suspended from mid-April until mid-November, Learn Vallarta will offer a similar walking tour of the Malecón sculptures during the summer. The walks will be from 6:30-8:00 pm Tuesday evenings beginning June 29 at The Millennia sculpture in front of the half-a-century-old Hotel Rosita, Vallarta’s very first hotel located at the north end of the Malecon.

Enjoy historic commentary about the sculptures, the artists, and their creative inspirations. There is no fee or reservation necessary for this delightful and informative walk.

Puerto Vallarta has long been a city acclaimed for its many talented artists known nationally and internationally for their works in diverse mediums including clay, bronze, glass, ceramics, oils, watercolors, pastels, photography, gems and fabric. The community houses more galleries than any Mexican destination outside the capital. Puerto Vallarta’s picturesque boardwalk, the Malecón, which has become a promenade of monumental sculptures by world-renowned artists, gives one the feeling of being in an open-air gallery punctuated by the background of beautiful Banderas Bay.

Thirteen sculptures will be presented during this walk along with mention of other sculptures in the Vallarta area. First is Mathis Lidice’s The Millennium sculpture, one of the most photographed sites in Puerto Vallarta.

Continuing south, other more well-known sculptures include Nostalgia by Ramis Barquet, The Subtle-Stone Eater by Jonas Gutierrez, Rotunda of the Sea by Alejandro Colunga, In Search of the Reason by Sergio Bustamante, The Seahorse by Rafael Zamarripa, and the Xiutla Dancers by Jim Demetro, who is currently working on his next sculpture of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Learn Vallarta, a new educational service in town, is offering to continue these free walks as a way of introducing themselves to the greater community. They hope to capture both tourist and local attention to their complete “Passport Package” which is aimed at introducing the local people and culture to those who want to immerse themselves, especially anyone considering returning to or moving to the Banderas Bay area. For further information, please contact them at (322) 223-1566 in PV or 1-800-487-9471 toll free from the US & Canada, send an email to info(at)learnvallarta.com, or visit LearnVallarta.com.