Community Art
In the vast desert of West Texas, El Paso is bringing color to the landscape. Since 2006, the city has reserved two percent of the budget of all capital improvement projects for public artwork. Since then, El Paso’s Public Art Program has com- pleted more than 50 projects located throughout the city. In 2012, El Paso voters turned out to the polls and an additional $13 million of fund- ing was approved by a 74 percent margin. Public Affairs Coordinator Erin Ritter said that the program’s goal is “for art to be brought out into the community and not stuck behind museum walls.”
The public art pieces not only beautify the city but also shape it. Michele R. Gutlove’s Helix Nebula was completed Feb. 27 and hangs in the Irving Schwartz Public Library. “The piece helped drive the mis- sion of that particular library,” Ritter said. “There is a focus on astronomy and science at that library based on what that particular art piece looks like.”
STARS AT NIGHT, BIG AND BRIGHT “Helix Nebula,” by Michele Gutlove, installed at the Irving Schwartz Library.
Artist Matthew Geller writes that Chroma Booster, his public El Paso art piece, “celebrates the con- trolled chaos of the industrial infra- structure that both surrounds the site and dots the Texas landscape.” Completed in 2015 and located at the new pedestrian plaza between the Convention and Performing Arts Centers and the baseball stadium, the 53-foot tower is formed by a cluster of colored pipes that release clouds of mist throughout the day. Visitors gather to enjoy the cooling water that drifts down into the plaza. With the push of a button, the interactive art piece briefly sprays water, often to the delight of playing children. When the sun goes down, colored LED lights make the mist glow in the night.
El Paso’s cultural heritage in the arts is an integral part of the community’s identity, and the Public Art Program maintains that. For every commissioned project with a value of $125,000 or above, the program asks the lead artist to mentor a less experienced local art- ist through the process. With this partnership, El Paso’s art scene will continue to brighten the desert for generations.
