This weekend wrapped up the annual Madonnari Festival in downtown Puerto Vallarta with nearly 60 artists of all ages presenting their work Sunday to hundreds of spectators.
Madonnari, or street painters, each year transform Puerto Vallarta’s square into an over-sized street easel using pastels on pavement to create vibrant and colorful, large scale images in a 3-day artist contest.
Madonnari art, sometimes referred to as “I Madonnari” began in Italy, hence the use of the letter “I” in the name when done outside of Italy. Originally the artwork was done drawing the image of the Madonna on sidewalks but grew into an international art culture of sidewalk murals and 3D images.
The I Madonnari 2015 festival in Puerto Vallarta is organized in partnership with the Vallarta Institute of Culture, The Tourism Board, and the Sister City Committee of Puerto Vallarta – Santa Barbara, CA.
Sunday evening judges presented ten awards chosen as finalists by artists Kathy Koury, Ann Heffernam, Melody Ownens, and Julio Cesar Marinez. Judges from Puerto Vallarta’s sister city, Santa Barbra were also on hand to select winners in several categories.
Quetzal Reyes and his art work titled ‘Frida’ won first place at this year’s Madonnari Festival. Reyes will move on to represent Puerto Vallarta in the Madonnari Festival in Santa Barbra next year.
Eric Montanez walked away with a close second for his work titled ‘Bucket of Water’, while Monica Ibarra took home third for her painting ‘Pain of the World’.
Emanuel Montero won first prize in the junior category with his work ‘Siren’.
Photo by @mrcibriandez – Juan Cibrian
