It all started as an attempt by a group of friends to showcase El Paso pride. Now, OSAPLE has grown into an entity all its own.
OSAPLE, El Paso spelled backwards, is a cultural collective that was launched in 2010. A group of around 10-12 members manage a Facebook page, host events, pass out buttons, t-shirts and other promotional items and also collaborate with Rios Online Radio to create a weekly podcast called Chuco! Talks, which features El Pasoans who are doing something innovative around the city.
Gabriel Acuña, an advertiser at Culturespan Marketing, founded the collective. Acuña was born in El Paso, but because his father was in the military, he had to move several times around the country and abroad. “I always wanted to move back to El Paso,” he said. “When I tell people my story, they always say ‘why the hell would you want to move back here?’ But for me it was always home. I was always so proud to be from here.”
While studying at UTEP, Acuña decided to try to help people fall back in love with the city, and so OSAPLE was born.
Since it’s launch, the Facebook page has acquired more than 2,500 likes and the group has hosted several events, including barhops, using the Sun Metro system. They have also launched several advertising campaigns featuring slogans like “I liked El Paso before it was cool,” “I (star) El Paso” and “Chuco Chulas.”
“We wanted to take the stuff that other big cities are doing but make them our own, adding our own style to it,” said Carlos Lopez, creative director at OSAPLE and art director/designer at Sanders\Wingo Advertising.
Acuña also began Chuco! Talks, a 3-4 minute video-cast, to launch weekly on OSAPLE, but the amount of production involved with making the video made it hard to continue weekly. Later, Rios Online Radio founder and executive producer Joseph Brooks approached Acuña with the idea of turning it into a podcast. “I like to call Rios the bullhorn of OSAPLE,” Brooks said. “OSAPLE is the voice of El Paso, but we make that voice louder.”
Chuco! Talks has recorded shows featuring locals like the owners of The Pizza Joint, the founders of The Coloring Gallery and more.
Now, the collective, in collaboration with Rios, has announced its latest endeavor: 915 Day. “It’s a day that’s going to be all things El Paso,” Acuña said. “The goal is to promote local business, to push people to go out and try a local beer, local tacos, local everything.” 915 Day will take place on Sept. 15 next year.
“I think El Paso is a city that, little by little, is appearing on the map,” Lopez said. “Five or 10 years ago, even other Texans didn’t know El Paso was even a part of Texas, they thought it was in Mexico. This is starting to change; El Pasoans have a lot to be proud of.”
To learn more about OSAPLE, visit facebook.com/osaple. To learn more about Chuco! Talks and Rios Online Radio, visit riosradio.com.
TEXT: JASMINE AGUILERA | PHOTO: COURTESY OF OSAPLE