An Open Letter to the El Paso Arts Community

This is the kind of enlightened responsible vision El Paso needs. Not victimization politics. It's not the market's fault if you don't understand the market. Educate and adapt. -- Rich Wright

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Tim is right.

I asked El Paso artist Bill Kolliker, back in 1985, why I don't see more of his work being seen and sold in El Paso. And he said "why bother" and "it's too much work to sell art here".
And he said his work sells all the time in Scottsdale, AZ.

Personally, I see people buying mass-produced paintings,
sofa size and smaller being sold for hundreds of dollars at
furniture retailers, but the same buyers would not buy local-original art for the same price. Go figure.

Several really good El Paso artists have moved to Santa Fe to
make and sell their art. And I've seen artists get just an address/ PO Box in Santa Fe, just so they can put on their sign / tent/ space/ "from Santa Fe". and people whisper................ "he's from Santa Fe" honey, let's buy some art from him".

Well, I don't have the answer to the age old question of why El Pasoan's don't buy art here. But, I am trying to understand it.

Keep it going Tim !

-- Marty

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I'm very impressed Mr. Holt's approach to what he sees as a problem. I personally can't stand the "art community" and it is mostly because they sit around whining about how nobody appreciates them. Mr. Holt is not whining. He comes up with a solution.

Make the face of art in this town resemble that of Mr. Holt's attitude and you will have galleries packed with people and plenty of places to show.

Always remember that this town has many needs - arts, parks and jobs to name just a few. With a positive and industrious attitude like Mr. Holt's we can meet all those needs.

Mr. Holt - thank you for making me dislike the arts community a lot less. -- David K

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Tim, I loved your article and the recommendations that you made. Please note that some artists and art organizations have formed and Ad Hoc Arts Advocacy Group in collaboration with the Museums and Cultural Arts Department (MCAD) and Genesis 21, a private consulting firm. The group is currently working on an economic development report in coordination with the Americans for the Arts to show the importance that art has on the economy of the City. Other issues they are tackling include Education and Marketing as those have been identified as the highest areas of need. As someone who works for EPISD, as an inside person I would encourage you to advocate for the arts and for the schools to open their doors to artists and art organizations as the arts have also been proven to advance education and will help develop the future artists, audiences, and arts advocates we so desperately need in El Paso. Get involved with EPISD's recent Arts Committee to help ensure increase and ensure the integration of the arts in your District.

I loved your letter as it hits many points that need to be addressed and you're right collaboratively we can make difference. -- M. Carter

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Making art more approachable to the average person is a must, especially for this market. I know many people feel intimidated to walk into a gallery. What if they ask me questions? I don't have a clue about art. Noone wants to feel stupid. Take note from the way the big successful retailers bring in their customers, have smaller inticing items at the door that most people may be able to afford, large easels with information people can read, or a video playing of the artist or artists at work at their craft, to ease them in the door. Lots of research money is spent by retailers to sell products, copy the best. Make it fun. Wearable art, t-shirts etc. -- maria gonzales

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Inclination towards art is a human quality, not a rarified grace. El Pasoans like everyone else are indeed “artistically inclined,” except perhaps to different levels of “art” from what some artists consider to be true art and not “crafts” or kitsch. Although art is of great importance to any civilization, nobody ever needs art. Any putative El Paso artist would therefore do well to look at their art “market.” It’s almost common sense that appreciation of fine art closely parallels social class, i.e., income level and educational attainment. The great French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu wrote about social class and taste decades ago in several books, most notably in "Distinction." It takes refinement of intellect (and a big purse) to appreciate and value art the way you want your viewers to do so. You should take a look at income and education demographics of El Paso for your answers. They are available online at the U.S. Census website. If you choose not to go where art is appreciated and valued and selling at a premium, and you’re trying to make your living at it; perhaps budget, volume production art is a good idea. There may be some consumers of high art in El Paso, but they are just as likely to do their buying in Santa Fe, or even Old Mesilla. Oh, and as for a potential center for Chicano art, keep in mind that when the C.A.R.A. exhibit (Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation) hit town during its national tour in the early nineties,…an art spawned by perhaps the only genuine cultural phenomenon and political movement to which El Paso has ever given birth,…the powers that be at the El Paso Art museum in their inscrutable wisdom changed the name to the less ethnically charged “Hispanic Reality.” As for Hispanic art, New Mexico has the corner on that market. -- Albert R

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Regarding Spanglish

Thank you for your article on "Spanglish." Having grown up in Swissgerman speaking Zuerich, with a high german only speaking grandfather,in a language culture that borrows freely from the nwewest and most appropos words and revels in it I always am interested how Americans become so twisted up about language.Also, most educated Swiss speakk 3 or 4 languages {out of necessity,there are after all 4 official languages in the country) and feel good about it.I wish more US citizens spoke more than one language .I believe also that different languages reveal the thinking of people.This also helps understanding between people.So again thank you for your informative article. -- Helen Edwards

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I'm glad that despite several circuits around the tower, blasting it with verbal attacks and evaluating the integrity of it's architecture, the author finally found he stood with the rest of us, in stating that

"Mexican Americans are considered once more as lazy, unambitious, stupid and retarded because they fail to meet the linguistic standards of the English language."

I would go farther in saying "Mexican Americans are considered once more as lazy, unambitious, stupid and retarded by persons in BOTH Spanish Americas and in the United States because they fail to meet the linguistic standards of the English language... as well as those of the Spanish language spoken in Central and South america, as that spoken In Spain."

This is because what is spoken here is not Spanglish... the international language of hand gestures, faces, and mix matched words used to communicate among those who have not mastered the vocabulary in the language (spanish or english), but rather CHINGLES (note: english readers, it doesn't rhyme with shingles, but with the spanish pronunciation of english).

Chicano ingles, which clearly defines the language along the border as not 'Spanish' to begin with, but rather chicano and as a combo language.
Orale Ese in chicano means 'Right on dude', but in spanish means "pray to that one". Holmes in english and spanish is a fictional character who lives in Victorian England, but in chicano means hermano/brother.

Nothing wrong with it, in an of itslef, but like southernisms, Cajun, or IM -texting language, it is not the language of all, and it is not 'proper'.
Thus knowing how to speak "properly" in accordance with expectations is important to personal success, and success of the region.

-- Rick M

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Pues que Wonderful!! There are those that say that a Spanglish newscast on television would do well in communities such as ours. I don't know, but a ver what happens.

Loved your article.

Bueno bye,.. -- Mike

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EPA Questions TCEQ on Asarco Permit

Thanks, David Crowder, for this very significant and insightful article. Finally, the EPA may start enforcing the law and deny Asarco's permit. The EPA letter brought up some important points, but could have also mentioned that El Paso is in noncompliance with PM10 particulate emissions, and that the many tons of particulates Asarco plans to spew into our air each year will push El Paso and the surrounding area even further into noncompliance.

Thank you El Paso Mayor Cook and those members of City Council who have stood firmly against Asarco. Thanks also to the elected officials and public servants in El Paso, Juarez, Sunland Park and the State of New Mexico for their steadfast holding forth for clean air, without Asarco.

Our property taxes will go up if Asarco reopens, as people move away to avoid Asarco, with resultant loss in assessed valuations. Other property owners will have to take up the slack and pay more taxes.

We need clean employers in the area, and to not scare them away if Asarco reopens and degrades the air and threatens the health of the three million people in the El Paso - Juarez - Sunland Park area. -- Fred

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This sounds like wonderful news for El Paso. Fred is correct is stating that if Asarco reopens our taxes will go up and jobs will fade away-not to mention that our air quailty will be compromised as well. It will be a great day in El Paso if the EPA takes the appropriate steps to close down Asarco which is something that the TCEQ failed to do! -- Betty

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Regarding the Impact of the Border Fence on Rio Bosque Park

Thank you, John Sproul.

It is fortunate that someone with actual knowledge of the wildlife, the aesthetic quality and the ecology of the area has reviewed the apparently, intentionally biased opinions expressed in the environmental assessment. Rio Bosque is a regional treasure and the border fence would have a tragic impact on its quality. -- Mervin Moore

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Thank you for publishing this letter online. It is such a shame that at the same time that we are celebrating 10 years of the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, we are also facing its demise. The whole situation saddens me greatly.

-- Shamori Whitt

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For many years, through at least the 1970s, the inner Rio Grande Valley, especially the area between the levees, was heavily used as a de facto public park. (Due to practical issues concerning access, the area north of Mt. Christo Rey was used more heavily than the area to the south.) Residents of all ages, classes, and ethnicity greatly enjoyed use of thi area, and it significantly enhanced their quality of life. Any further diminution of river access would be an intolerable worsening of an already bad situation. -- Edward A. Leonard

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Mr. Sproul's comments are truly right-on. He was my former supervisor when I worked at Rio Bosque from 2000-2001. There are certain sections of the park that are extremely beautiful--especially after the summer rains.

I remember one September when I walking along the edges of the canals uprooting Russian thistle (commonly known as "tumbleweeds" when dried) and being amazed at the profusion of blooms and waist-high wildflowers.

Waves of yellow, white and purple flower heads from varieties like seepweed, spiny aster, jackass clover, silver saltbrush, and cowpen daisies swayed in the mid-morning breeze.

Countless butterflies, dragonflies, bees, wasps, and other winged miniature creatures ignored me and weaved hurriedly between the airborne insect traffic only to search for the next nectar-dripping pistil (actually, it's the pollen-laden anther section of the stamen).

Anyways, another time, during winter, I was sick with a cold but went to work despite it and during a break, I got the chance to splash barefoot, in ankle-high, cold, clear water as I tried to catch schools of medium-sized carp and catfish with my bare hands. This was something I'd never imagined I could do in El Paso.

Anyhow, I applaud John Sproul's efforts (and all of those who've contributed in some way) to shape Rio Bosque into what it was 200 years ago--back when there weren't many fences... -- Juan Arturo Muro

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