Less than three years ago, coming to Massachusetts for a tattoo was like going to the Sahara for a swim — if you knew where to look, you could find an oasis here and there, palm trees and ponds in the form of a few people inking underground. But until February 2001, when tattooing became legal here, Boston’s tattoo landscape was barren at best, and many an 18th birthday was spent driving ’cross the border — to Rhode Island or New Hampshire — to obtain a tat legally.

O Boston! Ever repressed! Puritan city of clean-cut college kids and left-leaning liberals, you’ve come a long way. Once the zoning battles were won and the permits obtained, it didn’t take long for Boston to establish itself as a hub for body art. And the second annual Boston Tattoo Convention ($15/day; $35/three-day pass; $50/VIP pass) proves that. From June 20 through 22, hundreds of New England tattoo artists will descend on the Boston Center for the Arts for a weekend of all things skin ’n’ ink. The only body-art convention in New England this year, the event includes contests, vendors, galleries, performances, and tons of area artists setting up shop (including Fat Ram’s Pumpkin Tattoo of Jamaica Plain, and Cambridge’s Redemption Tattoo, among about 40 others), giving you the chance to get that koi on your calf or a rosebud on your shoulder. The cost of tattoos ranges from $50 to $5000, depending on size, color, location, and complexity.

Natan Lin, owner of Darkwave Tattoos and producer of the convention, says that Boston no longer lags in tattoo culture. "Boston’s always been an art center," he says, "and tattooing is a fine art. Last year, the convention proved that" to Boston. "It proved we’re not a bunch of rowdy bikers and criminals. We’re art lovers." Lin regards the event as an opportunity for tattoo artists and the public to see who’s doing what. "There’s a sense of cooperation," he says, "and also of competition, which is great, because it improves the art form."

And although tattoo technology hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years, the art form has "come leaps and bounds even in the last five years," says Rueben "Tattoo Rue" Kayden of Darkwave. Tattoo artists across the city have noticed a rise in intricate and ambitious tattoos. "It’s not uncommon for someone to come in and ask for a Dali painting," says Lin, who’s in the process of opening another shop, Lightwave Tattoos, in Saugus.

Then there’s Cambridge’s eight-month-old Pino Bros. Ink, where, on a recent Tuesday night, the Tom Hanks movie playing on the shop’s television — in place of the speed-death metal patrons might have expected to hear blaring from the stereo — was an indication of tattooing’s rise to mainstream status. This will be the first convention for the boys at Pino Bros. "It’s our hello, our introduction," says Frank Pino, who built the shop with his cousin Joey. John Rufo, an award-winning artist at Pino Bros., says having a tattoo these days doesn’t carry the same stigma it used to. "Not in this day and age," he insists. "We tattoo 18-year-old kids, housewives, college students. It’s becoming much more accepted."

"Last night we tattooed a mild-mannered, churchgoing 65-year-old woman," says Stephanie Almeida, who helps run Somerville’s Mongo’s Tattoo Madness. The six-week-old Mongo’s occupies a corner in a "pretty desolate" neighborhood near Sullivan Square. "We’ve brought life here," says Almeida. And in a field populated mostly by men, Mongo’s boasts the rare female tattoo artist, Mulysa Mayhem. "We’re a family establishment," says Almeida. "My children are often around. It’s a place you can come in, sit down, and relax. And we don’t do the same tattoo twice."

Where to find it:

• Boston Tattoo Convention, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, (617) 445-9090; www.bostontattooconvention.com.

• Darkwave Tattoos, 2129 Washington Street, Boston, (617) 445-9090; www.darkwavetattoos.com.

• Fat Ram’s Pumpkin Tattoo, 380 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, (617) 522-6444; www.fatramtattoo.com.

• Lightwave Tattoos, 880 Broadway, Saugus, (781) 233-1780.

• Mongo’s Tattoo Madness, 149 Washington Street, Somerville, (617) 666-4213; www.mongostattoomadness.com.

• Pino Bros. Ink, 1100 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, (617) 250-9903; www.pinobrosink.com.

• Redemption Tattoo, 2285 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 576-0097.