Arts & Humanities
Music
El Paso Pro Musica is one organization that exemplifies the region’s commitment to supreme creative expression. El Paso Conservatory is another. Between them, we’ve got classical music covered. There is also a rich concert scene and music production here yields world-renowned talent like Khalid, and we’re just getting started.
Zuill Bailey
Artistic Director of El Paso Pro Musica for an inspiring two decades, Grammy-award winning cellist Zuill Bailey brings a reverence for the region and a love and dedication to the community he serves to every note he plays.
Walls of El Paso
If you’re curious and you know where to look, El Paso becomes an art gallery. Hundreds of hand-painted murals from regional artists adorn the walls throughout the Sun City. If you find yourself in the area, chances are you won’t have to go far to see some truly spectacular works of art.
Los Dos
The enormous full-wall mural titled “Sister Cities” is one of the many iconic pieces created by dynamic husband and wife duo Christian and Ramon Cardenas, who often go by the moniker Los Dos. Drawing influence from people in their lives, their work pays homage to border culture and thematically deepens the connection between the cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, which are physically and culturally inextricably linked.
EL MAC
Internationally-heralded mural artist Miles MacGregor, aka EL MAC, hails from Los Angeles, CA but has left his breathtaking, larger-than-life, indelible mark all over the globe, including downtown El Paso. “Ánimo Sin Fronteras" (Spirit Without Borders), created in 2014, towers several stories above the adjacent Mills and Stanton Street parking lot, representing resilience, strength, and honor of all those who fight for justice.
Werc
Three intense technicolor birds stand nearly four stories high and wrap around the corrugated steel of residences in the Montecillo SmartCode community. This is the exquisitely executed handiwork of Werc, another international street art phenom. Jari Werc Alvarez was born in Ciudad Juárez and grew up in Texas. His love and craft take him all over the world.
Museums
El Paso may not be known for its museums, but it very well should be. The Sun City is home to over a dozen museums that can satisfy art connoisseurs and warplane buffs alike. Don’t pass up any of them, but take extra care to not miss the El Paso Museum of Art (the only accredited art museum in a 250-mile radius), the country’s only Border Patrol museum and the only fully bilingual Holocaust museum in the United States.
History Museum of History
Established in 1974 as the Cavalry Museum, the El Paso Museum of History (EPMH) got its new name in 1980 and is currently one of three city-operated museums. It serves the largest continuous border metroplex in North America—El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua—with a combined population of close to three million people.
The Lhakhang
At the heart of the UTEP campus stands a traditional Bhutanese structure called the Lhakhang. It was a gift to the U.S. from the kingdom of Bhutan, originally assembled in Washington, D.C. in 2008 and later reassembled on the UTEP campus by Bhutanese builders and craftsmen. The campus is mainly an homage to Bhutanese architecture and culture. If you are in El Paso, it is not to be missed.