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.

Our project is relatively new, you could say we are still giving some of our first steps. We are slowly but steadily, always treading.

We invite anyone interested in photography to take part in this next walk. Whether you are professional, amateur or simply want to learn, the only requirement is to want to take pictures, make friends and learn at the same time!

PhotoWalkPVR 3 meets at the Xiutla statue on the Malecon at 11 am, May 23. Please contact us if you wish to participate.

MORE INFORMATION:

• TEL: 322 170 O779
• EMAIL: info@photowalkpvr.com
• WEBSITE: www.photowalkpvr.com

RESULTS OF PHOTOWALK 2:

• Phixelle: http://picasaweb.google.com/phixel/2PhotoWalkPVR
• Shanti: http://picasaweb.google.com/shantic/Photowalkpvr2
• Sandora: http://picasaweb.google.com/shojomanga/FOTOROL20
• Mineylu: http://sombra-gris.blogspot.com/2010/03/segundo-foto-rol.html
• Yokann: http://sunshine-believe.blogspot.com/2010/03/segundo-photorol-pv.html
• Diablid: http://uuc.me/oW

Few times you can appreciate a Collective like this, a manifestation of the Plastic Arts without precedent in Puerto Vallarta.

The Festival Cuale “Culture in Motion” invites everyone Friday, January 15th, 2010, to the inauguration of this expo at the Naval Museum across from the Los Arcos Amphitheater at the Malecon.

The exhibition ends Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 10:00pm.

Ten International sculptors will converge upon Puerto Vallarta to participate in the First Puerto Vallarta International Sculpture Symposium (PVISS), which will take place January 31 – February 13, 2010.

What is a Sculpture Symposium? It’s a cultural exchange, in which sculptors from different countries come together to create work in a common environment. The City of Puerto Vallarta is a backdrop and an inspiration for the artists as they carve their forms in large blocks of stone.

This will be a unique educational experience for the community. Those who have a curiosity about sculpture and the process of carving stone in large scale are invited to visit the Symposium site to watch the sculptors work, and to exchange their curiosity and energy with the artists.

The Symposium Sculptors will also display smaller scale works during the two weeks of the Symposium at a special gallery Exhibition of International Sculptors.

The Grand Finale Exhibition of Symposium Sculptures will take place at the Peter Gray Museum of Art. All of the completed Symposium Sculptures will be installed on the Museum grounds and will be for sale, with a percentage of the proceeds to benefit the Peter Gray Museum. The Symposium Sculptors’ smaller scale sculptures will also be on exhibition at the Museum at this event.

An Educational Program will be held at Centro Universitario de la Costa Universidad de Guadalajara, in which students, faculty, and art enthusiasts are encouraged to interact with the Symposium Sculptors as they share their past, current, and Symposium works in progress via Power Point and individual presentations.

The PVISS 2010 Sculptors are:

• TOM ALLAN, Scotland
• JUAN CARLOS BEJARANO, Argentina
• MARTIN DISTANCIA, Mexico
• BIRGIT GRAPENTIN, Australia/Germany
• DAVID ALEJANDRO MARTINEZ BUCIO, Mexico
• WON LEE, Canada/Korea
• JOSE CARLOS CABELLO MILLAN, Spain
• DANA O’DONNELL, USA
• MANUEL PALOS, Mexico
• CAROLE TURNER, USA

Schedule of Events:

• Symposium site: Palos Talleres de Arte (January 31 – February 12, 2010), Calle Brasil 1039 in the 5 de diciembre neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta. The public isinvited to visit daily between the hours of 10-12 and 3-5
• Gallery Exhibition: Proyeto 512 Gallery, February 1 – 12, 2010). Exhibition of International Sculptors, 512 & 518 Venustiano in the zona romantica neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta.
• Symposium Sculptor Presentations: Centro Universitario de la Costa Universidad de Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta Campus (February 9, 2010 7-9 pm), No. 203 Av University, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
• Final Exhibition of Symposium Sculptures: The Peter Gray Museum of Art (February 13, 2010 4-8 pm), Centro Universitario de la Costa Universidad de Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta Campus

About the Organizers:

Dana O’Donnell has been creating art for more than thirty years. She is a part-time resident of Puerto Vallarta where she is represented by Galleria Dante. In Colorado, where she lived for twenty-six years, she organized the all-stone exhibitions, Stone Sculpture Showcase 2001 and 2003 at the Colorado History Museum. She has been participating in International Sculpture symposiums since 2005. She currently divides her time between Puerto Vallarta and Santa Monica California.

www.StoneSoulStudio.com

Carole Turner is a professional sculptor, commissioned and exhibited internationally. Based in Oregon, she is frequently invited to participate in International Sculpture Symposia and was recently honored to have her “Rhythmic Dancer” exhibited in Beijing during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She is the Executive Director of Columbia Sculpture Center, Northwest Stone Sculpture Association Board Member, and founding Board Member of Pacific Northwest Sculptors, Inc.

www.TurnerStudio.com

PVISS is a cross-cultural collaboration between Stone Soul Studio and Columbia Sculpture Center, in cooperation with Palos Talleres de Arte.