El Paso's 10 Contemporary Art Galleries And Museums To Visit

El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA) was founded in 1959 to become one of the most acclaimed and influential cultural establishments in the areas of West Texas and New Mexico. Located a few steps away from San Jacinto Plaza, dominated by Los Lagartos, a fibreglass statue of two alligators, the museum houses a vast permanent collection comprising the renowned Kress collection, the Spanish Viceroyal, the American and the works on paper collections. The contemporary collection encompasses some of the best new art from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico, with works displayed as part of the permanent collection and showcased during the many temporary exhibitions. Among the gems presented at EPMA are works by local painter Carmen Lomas Garza, Color Field artist Sam Gilliam, sculptures by Texas-based James Surls, and assemblage works by Al Souza, demonstrating a wide spectrum of media and styles.

Housed by the University of Texas at El Paso since its opening in 2004, the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts is committed to bringing the most innovative trends in artistic practice to the region. Serving as a creative laboratory for art students and local emerging artists, the Rubin aims at creating a space where internationally recognised, cutting-edge art meets the inventiveness of home practitioners. Among the ongoing series of regular exhibitions, workshops, site-specific installations, and Biennial Faculty Exhibitions, a highlight is the current retrospective on jeweler and metal artist Rachelle Thiewes, Rachelle Thiewes: Something Gleams. Thiewes, in addition to being a professor at the university, is also an acclaimed sculptor with works displayed in Washington D.C., Scotland, New York and Chicago, among others.

Also lodged at the University of Texas at El Paso, this time at the Fox Fine Arts Center, the Glass Gallery focuses exclusively on the artworks of the up-and-coming talents from the UTEP Department of Art. Run under the supervision of the Rubin Center’s staff, this student-led gallery has been showcasing artistic research on a range of different media for over 20 years. With an ambitious program of around 15 exhibitions every year, both solo and collective, the gallery displays the newest explorations and reflections driving artistic practice in the area’s arts hub.

Commemorating the peaceful setting of the Chamizal border dispute between the US and Mexico, the Chamizal National Memorial is committed to celebrating the history and culture of the borderline region where it is located. Three galleries showcasing the work of local painters and sculptors make up the complex: the Los Paisanos, the Abrazos, and the Borderland gallery. By hosting exhibitions such as River People, featuring local artists like Nestor Valencia and Julio Sanchez de Alba, the gallery’s aim is to shed light on the rich and diverse heritage that characterizes this frontier area. Also on display in the bookshop is a collection of colorful alebrijes, curious animal-like creatures dreamed up by Mexican artist Pedro Linares which later became popular folk art objects in the Oaxaca region.

Together with the African and Western galleries, the Kolliker and the Mexican Revolution galleries, the Red Room Gallery makes up the permanent collection at the International Museum of Art of El Paso. The Red Room is devoted to contemporary local art and presents a selection of paintings and drawings by top artists from El Paso and the Southwest. Occupying the lower floor of the museum with a showcase of diverse artistic media and themes, the gallery is a great place to start your exploration of local art. Among the artists to see here are muralist Ernesto Martinez and beloved local mixed media artist Lawrence Benjamin Porter.

Included in El Paso metropolitan area, San Elizario is known for its Historic Art District and Mission Trail, which are surely worth the drive. Among the cluster of art galleries dotted around the village, the Amado Peña Gallery stands out for its commitment to fostering local and Native American art. Housed in a renovated historic building, the gallery showcases works by some renowned artists from the region, such as Helen Hall and Manuel Franco, as well as some of Amado Peña’s very own paintings, whose strength shines through their strong dedication to Native American art.