Vallarta PRIDE 2025: Celebration of Art and Culture PV Everything

As the music fades, the glitter settles, and the last parade float rolls down the cobblestone streets, Vallarta PRIDE 2025 will close not with a final dance party—but with something far more enduring: art.

This year, Puerto Vallarta’s LGBTQ+ community and allies are ending Pride Week with the FUTURAMAR Art Auction and Closing Ceremony—a visionary event hosted in collaboration between Vallarta PRIDE and the city’s thriving Art District. It’s not only a nod to Vallarta’s artistic evolution but a bold statement that cultural expression is integral to queer liberation and citywide progress.

The Power of Art to Define a City’s Soul

Too often, Puerto Vallarta is celebrated solely for its party culture, beautiful beaches, and mountainous horizons. But beneath the surface lies an expanding creative force—one driven by Mexican artists, queer expression, and collectors, curators, and cultural producers who understand that real transformation starts with imagination.

The FUTURAMAR initiative, led by Ron Valdez (noted art consultant and auctioneer with experience in NYC and LA markets) and Héctor Belloc, artist and founder of Tierra Física, repositions Puerto Vallarta as a place where intellectual curiosity and aesthetic bravery meet. The closing ceremony is not an afterthought—it’s a declaration.

Why An Auction? Why Now?

Art and queerness have always shared a sacred space. From Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits to today’s multidisciplinary creators, the LGBTQ+ community uses art to challenge norms, demand empathy, and reflect the raw beauty of nonconformity. It’s fitting, then, that PRIDE concludes not with fireworks but with an invitation to invest in the future of expression.

So, the event will showcase an extraordinary lineup of over 50 established and emerging artists across Mexico and Latin America. Artists like Gabriel Macotela, Paulina Boca, Sharo García, and Vallarta’s own Héctor Belloc will be joined by collectives and global voices in a curated selection known as the FUTURAMAR Collection.

For weeks leading up to the auction, an ArtWalk map and digital QR tour guided guests through participating galleries like Corsica, Galería Uno, and Omar Alonso, allowing viewers to preview the works, place early bids, and engage deeply with the artists’ messages.

A Cause Bigger Than Canvas

Additionally, proceeds from the auction will be shared with the non-profit Centro Cultural Vallartense (CCV) and its arts and environmental programming on Cuale Island. For over 30 years, this community-led center has empowered youth and families with cultural education and ecological stewardship. Patrons directly sustain programs rooted in heritage, diversity, and green consciousness by bidding and taking home what moves you.

In a global climate of rising conservatism and cultural censorship, the Pride Art Auction does something radical—it insists that art is not a luxury, but a right. Surely, it asks the question: How can we build cities that are as complex, expressive, and inclusive as the people who live in them?

A Celebration of Empathy, Not Ego

This closing night, May 25th, at the Art District, is more than a farewell to PRIDE week. It’s a turning point—where collectors, creators, allies, and activists gather to invest in the kind of city we want Puerto Vallarta to become—one that lifts artists, funds education and equity, and sees art as a future, not just a festival ornament.

As art consultant Ron Valdez shared in an upcoming interview, “Pride is about visibility. And collecting art is one way to ensure our stories and struggles aren’t just told—but preserved.”