Puerto Vallarta Urban Art: Lázaro Cárdenas Park

Lázaro Cárdenas Park is a public space that has been both witness and protagonist of Puerto Vallarta’s development.

After the monument to Lázaro Cárdenas was placed in 1970, this area was projected to house the city hall, a construction that only included some pillars and walls. With the passage of time and many procedures, it was recovered to be left as a public space.

Its first remodeling took place in the early ‘90s, when the quiosco and planters were added. In 2005 it was renovated again, and an underground parking garage was installed to contribute to the improvement of urban mobility, preserving most of the large endemic trees that are still there today.

Natasha Moraga (photo courtesy of Dasan).

Starting in 2017, a new transformation began in this park located opposite Los Muertos Beach. After artist Natasha Moraga (@nat_moraga) carried out her mosaic project on the kindergarten wall kitty-corner to the park, she initiated the implementation of the same artistic technique on the park’s benches and planters. With major advances, the work is ongoing, leading to it being affectionately named “El Parque de los Azulejos” (The Park of Tiles).

At the same time, the walls of the small government offices there have been decorated with murals.

Mar Rodríguez.

While artist Mar Rodríguez (@rodriguezpalaciosmar) created a striking work in which the protagonist is a large iguana covered with mandalas and other Hindu symbols and where the caption “Vallarta is Full of Love” can be seen, artist Señor PV (@senor_pv) has installed three murals with his characteristic style. The first is a long red snake accompanied by colorful fish. The second is a superimposition of graffiti with fish and other marine elements, while the third, perhaps the most complex, shows a face immersed in a wide variety of colorful details.

Señor PV.