Originally an artists' colony, Ajijic is still full of art galleries and studios. Artists and artisans, Mexican and non-Mexican, offer prints, oil paintings, water colors, sculpture in both metal and wood, and silver jewelry. Weavers, some of whom are Huichol Indian, make serapes, blankets, and wall hangings in bright colors.

The Canadian-American population has spurred an increase in cultural activities. Two organizations are currently very actively engaged in the art scene:

The non-profit Society of Arts (ASA) is dedicated to the promotion of artist and artesanal products in the area, such as weaving, pottery, music, painting, etc.

El Centro de Ajijic de Bellas Artes (CABA) is an art gallery created more than five years ago by American artists to promote the art of painters, sculptors and photographers.

The annual Ajijic International Film Festival is the most recent addition to the village's artistic events.

Stimulated by the creative atmosphere, a number of well known writers have worked here. During the late thirties, in Ajijic, W. Somerset Maugham finished The Razor's Edge. In the forties, Tennessee Williams lived here, hosting a nightly poker game that inspired a short story, The Poker Night, which he later expanded into A Streetcar Named Desire. In the last few years, four best-selling novels by Barbara Bickmore and several non-fiction books by Jim Tuck were written here. Presently, the Lakeside Writers Group serves as a venue for both established and budding writers to critique one another's efforts. A literary magazine, El Ojo del Lago, published monthly, gives aspiring authors a chance to see their words in print. Editor Alejandro Grattan, former movie director and screenwriter and now a successful novelist, sets high standards for the magazine.

 

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