Puerto Vallarta's not just for tourists, it's for artists too

A five-day festival hopes to enrich a contemporary art scene in the Mexican resort city.

By Reed Johnson
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 04, 2008

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico -- Strollers passing along the river that flows through downtown here were startled last week to encounter a pair of "Towel Swans" gliding atop the murky water. Crafted out of plastic foam by Chilean artist Cristián Silva, they resembled the decorative birds sculpted by chambermaids to be left on tourists' hotel beds, in hopes of earning a few extra pesos in tip money.

The "swans" briefly drifted on Saturday afternoon but were retrieved after a few urgent cellphone calls. As to how those stealthy avians got there in the first place, the answer was simple: Provocateurs were in town.

It's been 4 1/2 decades since director John Huston and company came here to shoot “The Night of the Iguana” and placed this former fishing village on the map. But Puerto Vallarta still conjures up Hollywood-style tropical fantasies that lure cruise ships and charter-jet tourists by the tens of thousands every year.

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