Mural Artist Fund

WALLS WITHOUT BORDERS

Since 2009, Amor por Juarez has supported some of the region’s most impoverished neighborhoods and developed binational exchange through innovative and culturally diverse programs. Amor por Juarez recognizes the critical need for large-scale interventions that communicate the importance of educating our communities and our country that Latin(x) immigrants and residents are not only significant contributors to local economies, but Latin(x) families assimilate quickly while still maintaining rich cultural traditions that improve the quality of life for our community.

The “Walls Without Borders” educational mural program aims to educate El Pasoans about our community’s history and relationship with migration and immigration, as it contributed to the cultural and economic development of our city. The murals will depict historical events that relate to each of the topics listed below, and easily accessible QR codes will lead participants to historical essays, videos, and activities that will contextualize the works of art. Our goal is to provide an engaging and interactive way to learn about the city’s history while positively impacting the neighborhoods where the murals are located.

Walls Without Borders will ask artist teams to create five murals, using traditional muralist techniques and updated street art techniques to create images that capture the history and reflect on the moments of our times, while humanities scholars/historians Drs. Miguel Juarez, Roberto Andrade, and Doctoral Candidate Eric Chavez will provide reflections and essays that can be accessed via QR code directly next to the mural. Pablo Hernandez, VivaVoodeux, Babak Tavakoli, and Edgar Ivan Melendez Chávez, led by artist Paola Martinez, will paint using historical photographs portraits of historical figures in El Paso history to create the murals. Educational content for K-12 students and a link to crowdfund the next mural will also be available through the QR code. We aim to work with organizations such as Adventures in Learning to craft STAAR-relevant questions and follow-up activities so that teachers who wish to incorporate the murals into their curriculum can do so either by asking students to visit the murals in person or by visiting our website to pull the mural images, historical photographs, and activity sheets.

2024:

Chamizal Treaty

Artist: Pablo Hernandez
Writer: Eric Chavez
Address: 3826 Alameda Ave, El Paso, Texas 79905

County Seat Election

Artist: Tino Ortega
Writer: Eric Chavez
Address: 8940 Alameda Ave, El Paso, Texas 79907

Tiwa Tribe History

Artist: Pika
Writer: Eric Chavez
Address: 216 N Zaragoza, El Paso, Texas 79907

History of Women in El Paso

Artist: Christin Apodaca
Writer: Eric Chavez
Address: 1316 Noble st, El Paso, Texas 79902

2023

The mural topics will all explore the effects each topic has on immigration and the community’s development. The topics are as follows: COVID-19; the Rio Grande; Black Americans in the border region; Asian migration; and Indigenous tribes in the region.

5 Artists

3 Scholars

1 Goal: To provide an engaging and interactive way to learn about the city’s history while positively impacting neighborhoods across El Paso

Thank you for the support and making this possible

-The Summerlee Foundation

-Hummanities Texas

-The Electric Company El Paso Electric

-Union Pacific Foundation