A clean and cool park draws Segundo Barrio residents in the summer

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EL PASO — Residents walking past the Boys Club Park in Segundo Barrio are treated to the sights and sounds of kids playing on the skate-park, handball courts, and basketball courts against a backdrop of painted murals. Perhaps they will stop and rest on the benches in the abundant shady areas to admire the murals, which depict Segundo Barrio’s culture, history and aspects of life in the area. The most prominent mural painted brightly on the handball courts called “El Corrido de Segundo Barrio,” shows a mother bathing her child outside their apartments, musicians playing and residents walking along the border. The Boys Club Park in the Segundo Barrio is one of the city neighborhood parks that can be found full of activity on any given day. Residents in and around the area are drawn to the Boys Club Park for many reasons.

Centro de Trabajadores Agrícolas Fronterizos at Oregon St. and 9th St. (Annette Baca/Borderzine.com)

Puro Borde murals show the colors of hope in the border cities

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EL PASO – Local artists from El Paso and Ciudad Juarez have joined together in a network that spans the border, dedicated to painting the streets of both cities with hopeful art to refocus the minds of many who see this area as a war zone. The network known as Puro Borde, consists of more than two dozen artists from the El Paso-Juarez area who help each other exhibit their murals, turning their cities into more colorful communities. They also place their work in local galleries. Self-described “border artist” Arón Venegas, is a member of Puro Borde in El Paso who believes that art communicates with power. Venegas, a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, has worked on a variety of murals with Puro Borde and has exhibited his work in both Mexico and the U.S.

As for creating a sense of pride in a community through public art, Venegas suggests that a single mural cannot have the power that many with the same objective can.

Artists Arturo Damasco painted legendary Mexican actor Carlos López Moctezuma. (Luis Hernández/Borderzine.com)

New art brings good memories back to the old Juárez mercado

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CD. JUAREZ – Driving through downtown Juárez has always been somewhat of a treat for me. The sights and sounds of the everyday hustle and bustle, the lingering aroma of what can only be defined as tradition, and the looming sense of that which is no longer there. Yet what most captivates me to this day are the numerous decaying buildings situated in one single area. These remnant monoliths weathered down by the years serve as a reminder of my city’s heritage, a heritage that I never fully knew.