The times are a-changin’ in El Paso; decrepit buildings are being knocked down or renovated, City Hall has been imploded to make way for a new AAA Baseball stadium, ASARCO has been knocked down and new businesses are cropping up everywhere you look. Despite this change in the Sun City’s skyline, a constant remains and its gaining momentum – the rise of the Creative Class. They’re taking over and making their presence well known within the city streets, galleries and large scale art crawls such as the astonishingly successful ‘Last Thursdays’ event produced by mARTket and the Museum & Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD).
This current renaissance in art is astounding and refreshing to experience. Like the medieval art renaissance, the rebirth of art in El Paso is a testament to the transformation the city is undergoing on a superficial and spiritual level. As the city undergoes the transition to a more contemporary mindset – releasing the old ways and bringing in a new perspective – public art is borrowing from the muralist masters that have helped spread art in El Paso for over a hundred years.
EXIST 1981 is the moniker of one prolific street artist who now resides in San Diego, California but returns to El Paso from time to time to work on large scale murals. Some of his work can be currently found taking up entire building walls in Downtown, Union Plaza and the new Montecillo smart growth community. Schiani Ledo, a man who wears many hats nowadays, is a guitarist & vocalist for local band ‘Kids of Castro’, a freelance illustrator and lead graphic designer for a web design and marketing company in Orlando, Florida.
“I noticed that there’s a really strong sense of pride in El Paso art,” Schiani says. “The city has gone through it’s tough times and a lot of people have gotten discouraged and move away. However, El Paso just seems to have that quality to it that brings people back; you’ll always have a longing for El Paso.”
Though the art scene has been enjoying profound exposure and growth lately, Chuco has always had a creative spirit that has made history and is still clearly evident if you know where to look. There are over one hundred documented murals around the city; some of the most popular and visible are in the Segundo Barrio, Lincoln Park and Lower Valley of which most are Chicano, Meztizo and Azteca themed. Often political in nature, public art has always been an avenue to express a desire for change, a hunger to tell a story and sometimes even a form of protest.
Having grown up in El Paso, EXIST 1981 has a special connection to the murals spotted around town. “I’ve always been very influenced by the murals. There’s a boxing mural Downtown that I like a lot.”
This mural he is referring to was painted by Jesus De Mendoza Pano, who has painted 7 other murals in El Paso. This Boxing Hall of Fame mural can be seen on the exterior wall of the DeSoto Hotel, a historic, some believe haunted, building on 309 E. Mills.
Public art has been embraced in the city for a long time and has enjoyed several moments of peaked activity in its past. In the 1930’s the government sponsored the painting of historically themed paintings, such as Tom Lea’s ‘Pass of the North’ painted in 1937. Then the 1970’s came along and with it, the Chicano Movement and the age of war protests. During this time, El Paso saw a boom in public art creation, heralded in part by the Junior League who paid muralists to paint ‘Los Murales’ and help restore old paintings that had fought the test of time.
“It seems as if the city is broadening its horizons,” Schiani adds. “A lot of the art I would see growing up was Mexican & El Paso Pride type art. Now I see a whole new flavor in the scene, still keeping the pride, but bringing an element of graphic design to it. I really like Maintain’s stuff and Zeque Pena’s work.”
This new genesis of artistic communities popping up around town may be organic or might also be a residual effect of an important initiative that helped launch the creative communities of other cities. Called the ‘New Texico Creative Cities Leadership Project’, the initiative was spearheaded by Dr. Richard Florida, author of ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’ who came to El Paso in 2005 and delivered a speech so profound that MCAD and the Department of Economic Development decided to take action not too long after, creating the El Paso Region Creative Cities Leadership Project in 2006.
El Paso served as an experimental city to test Dr. Florida’s theories, which made clear that economic development “isn’t just about attracting companies; it’s also about attracting and keeping talented people.” Furthermore, the project instructed MCAD and other participants in the initiative that El Paso should capitalize on it being one of the largest bi-national borders in the world.
From this historic think tank in 2006 sprang forth Digital El Paso, which brought Wi-Fi to Downtown & Public Libraries and the City of El Paso Public Art Program and a few other short lived initiatives such as T3, the El Paso -Juarez Binational Arts & Cultural District Design contest, Border Canvas and the Binational Technology Alliance. Though several projects died, the Public Art Program is alive, well & managed by MCAD, who is constantly seeking new local artists to add to its repertoire. In addition to the artist registry, the Downtown Art Market occurs on a weekly basis, the Chalk the Block festival has been occurring annually for the past 5 years and the Downtown Arts District was established in 2011.
“There’s always been art in El Paso, but this resurgence of art is great because it’s bringing a whole lot of new elements into the mix.” says EXIST, “I feel that with El Paso embracing all of this new art, it will help bring the arts to the new generation and they won’t feel like they have to leave to go to a cooler city.”
One only has to take a relaxed stroll around the heart of the city to notice all the new galleries, public art installations and creative elements breathing new life into the Sun City, making the Pass of the North more than just a border town but also a gateway into the very soul of creative energy.
Links:
EXIST 1981: http://www.exist1981.com/
Schiani Ledo: http://www.ledodesign.com/
Museum & Cultural Affairs Department: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/mcad/
Creative Class: http://www.creativeclass.com/
TEXT: CRYSTI COUTURE
TOP PHOTO COURTESY OF WERC ALVAREZ “THE HUNTER”