Art for the Coppertone crowd comes to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

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It’s been 4 1/2 decades since director John Huston put Puerto Vallarta on the map when he shot ‘The Night of the Iguana’ in the former fishing village. The Pacific Coast resort ‘still conjures up Hollywood-style tropical fantasies that lure cruise ships and charter-jet tourists by the tens of thousands every year,’ despite its current problems with pollution and traffic congestion.

But now Puerto Vallarta hopes to add another element to its identity, writes The Times’ Reed Johnson. Last week, a small but energetic group of artists, writers, curators and other cultural savants from Los Angeles, Guadalajara, Tijuana and Mexico City joined the locals in hopes of adding a new, positive attraction to the area. ‘Puerto Vallarta Arte Contemporáneo 08,’ a five-day marathon of art shows, panel discussions, walking tours and public art projects, was the inaugural edition of a contemporary art festival that organizers hope will become an annual event.