Behind the scenes of the Sun Bowl game, association works to make El Paso shine

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While El Pasoans geared up for the holiday season and winter break, the Sun Bowl Association was working around the clock. Staffed by a seven-member, full-time crew and relying heavily on volunteers, the Sun Bowl Association juggled the 43rd annual Sun Bowl Andeavor All-America Golf Classic, the 81st Sun Bowl Association Thanksgiving Parade and the 56th annual WestStar Bank Don Haskins Invitational basketball tournament in the past weeks, but those events all lead up to the biggest event – the Hyundai Sun Bowl. “It’s more like a juggle that has a lot of things in the air,” said Bernie Olivas, executive director of the Sun Bowl Association. “I knew what I was getting into and when I hire people I make sure that they know what they’re getting into, but we love it.” Olivas said working long hours is just part of the job.

El Paso has many Christmas events to keep anyone busy

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The holiday season is here and it is only fair to say that El Pasoans have a unique style of celebrating. Despite temperatures in the 60’s with no sign of snow this fall, El Paso still makes the best out of the sunny weather. According to a study by WeatherUnderground.com, last year the average temperature was 60 degrees with no snowfall at all. So how do El Pasoans make themselves get in the holiday spirit? Besides the family atmosphere El Pasoans celebrate, the city makes its greatest efforts to plan daily activities that people can enjoy for the course of the winter.

Facebook live makeup tips the latest in beauty trends

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EL PASO, TX – Facebook Live is revolutionizing make-up as young women use the social media to share tips and broadcast the latest trends, according to at least one woman using the social media site. Young women often scroll Facebook and run into live makeup tips from across the world. The women create groups within Facebook so only people they choose to share the tips with can join the exclusive group. “I love to go live because I love the interaction I have with my viewers,” said Ellie Ayala, a Facebook user with thousands of followers that often goes live. With just one “notification” push of a button, they know when I’m on, and they can see me right away.”

Going live on social media is also helpful because not only does the audience learn from the make-up guru, but she learns from her audience as well.

Activist art seeks to show the humanity of Dreamers

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Artists and proponents of the Dream Act have united to tell the stories of the people brought to the United States as young children and might have to return to their native land as changes are made to the DACA program. Artists are creating projects so people “see Dreamers as people in their community, because a lot of people might not know they are interacting with a Dreamer,” said Sylvia Johnson, a photographer. Johnson, who works for a Santa Fe, N.M.-based organization that supports Dreamers, has photographed many Dreamers as a way to personalize them and their struggle. The term “Dreamer” is used for people who were eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the Dream Act, simultaneously used as symbolism of their hopes to stay in the United States. The Stanlee & Gerald Rubin Center of Visual Arts hosted a panel discussion in September to provide a space to share their stories and current works with immigrants.

La Policia Federal de México muestra su cara musical

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La policía federal de México decidió darle una nueva cara a la institución, creando una orquesta y un mariachi conformado de policías que tienen vocación por la música. “Como parte del Mariachi de la Policía Federal nuestro trabajo es la proximidad social”dijo la policía tercera Norma Casillas, de 31 años, cantante del mariachi. “Tenemos que estar cien por ciento entregados para crear vínculos con la sociedad”. Los policías de la sinfónica han estudiado música en diferentes escuelas del país, tanto como en el conservatorio nacional de música. La idea principal de crear la orquesta fue establecer un vínculo con la sociedad y fomentar y difundir la cultura musical.

Nueva era, nueva idea en Craft Café

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El entusiasmo por productos y comidas orgánicas y mas saludables ha tomado raiz en esta zona fronteriza con una variedades de cafes y restaurantes que sirven selecciones vegetarianas o veganas. Recientemente dos emprendedores locales se han incorporado al movimiento orgánico con una idea inovadora, una carretilla de café instalada en one:one, unas oficinas ultra modernas en el centro de la cuidad. Rosa Tenorio, egresada de mercadotecnia, y Abel Baca, estudiante de administración de empresas, ambos en la Universidad de Texas en el Paso, fundaron en Septiembre su nuevo negocio, Craft Café, o “carrito de café” que sirve café, tés, y postres, todos hechos con ingredientes orgánicos. “El Paso por el momento no tiene ningún restaurante cien por ciento vegano pero tiene bastante opciones veganas”, dijo Tenorio. Actualmente, existen varios restaurantes que ofrecen alguna comida vegana o vegetariana en El Paso tales como Ripe, ubicado en Redd Road, Nour Mediterranean e India Place, ambos ubicados en Mesa Street.

Caffeine fueled high-tech gaming center opens in East El Paso

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EL PASO – A husband-and-wife team is bringing together what they believe is the best of both worlds for coffee lovers and first-person gamers. Hive Java Lounge and Glitch Gaming Center, 1505 George Dieter, pairs the laid-back atmosphere of a cafe next to a state-of-the-art gaming room. “If you look around you can see that we’re something that nobody’s ever seen before,” says owner Nick Dobbard. “We offer high-end computers that you can come in and play pretty much any game that you want to play from your Steam account to your Blizzard account to your Uplay.” Gamer Janes Royce has been a customer of Glitch since it opened in September and says he spends an average 2 to 8 hours a day at the center.

In a unique living arrangement, diverse artists work together to create a new kind of community in El Paso

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Put a bunch of artists together in one creative space and what do you get? Less than a year after opening in Downtown El Paso the Roderick Artspace Lofts  is beginning to answer that question as all 51 local units have been filled up with a diverse group of artists who are getting to know each other and planting the roots of a vibrant arts community. “Real bonds are forming and real collaboration is happening between the Roderick residents, a group of people who are dedicated to the pursuit of making beauty and expressing themselves in creative ways,” said Eric Pearson, President and CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation. Artspace opened in January of 2017 in partnership with the El Paso Community Foundation and the City of El Paso, with the goal of  turning what was a vacant lot at the corner of Oregon and Missouri in Downtown El Paso into “an arts destination animated by artists and creative businesses.” “I hope that the community they are building is going to look outward beyond the walls of the Roderick Lofts and take it out to the streets.” Pearson said.

Rickmobile brings out El Paso’s interdimensional comedy fans

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How much does El Paso love the top TV comedy among millennial viewers? When the Rickmobile came to town in September, bringing special merchandise from the animated show, Rick and Morty, El Pasoans got their portal guns out, got “schiwfty,” and flooded the Alamo Drafthouse. Rick and Morty, the Adult Swim show created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon has amassed a large following that only continues to grow after its third season. Fans say the show is different from other adult animated shows and quickly becomes addictive. “It was like a vortex, and I just started watching it and I couldn’t leave and stop watching it,” said Aaron Woods, 20, a UTEP student majoring engineering leadership with a minor in commercial music.

Meatless merchant offers ‘pay it forward’ plan

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What began as a food truck in the fall of 2016, One Grub Community provides access to healthy, plant-based foods through the vegan meals and grocery items it sells at the Downtown Art and Farmers Market every Saturday. By providing access to healthy and tasty foods, “El Paso’s first pay-it-forward meatless merchant” is joining some other local vegan eateries in winning over El Pasoans’ hearts – one vegan delicacy at a time. “I think the community knows that some authentic, good stuff is happening,” owner Roman Wilcox, 36, says. “We get really positive feedback on all our stuff; we’re really blessed.”

According to Wilcox, the company’s most highly-requested menu items are its “Natcho Queso”, a cashew-based chile con “queso”, and seitan jerky, protein made of wheat gluten and red lentils. One Grub also offers prepared meals, including breakfast tofu scrambles and seitan-stuffed peppers.

El Consulado de México en El Paso se pinta de colores en contra de los muros

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Con diversos colores y un sinfín de detalles artísticos, el Consulado de México en El Paso tiene programado estrenar en el próximo mes un nuevo mural el cual promueve la unión de México y los Estados Unidos al igual que la bi-nacionalidad. Paloma Vianey Martínez, artista creadora del mural, es una estudiante de historia del arte y pintura en la Universidad de Texas en El Paso. Martínez, que nació en Ciudad Juárez y tiene 21 años de edad, fue recomendada por la Presidenta de la Universidad Diana Natalicio para que fuera ella quien llevara a cabo esta ardua tarea. “Paloma es un talento de UTEP y la propia doctora Diana Natalicio me la presentó y me comentó que ha sido una persona que ha destacado. Tuve el interés de conversar con ella y pedirle que pudiera aportar al consulado su talento y su arte,” dijo Marcos Bucio, Cónsul General de México en El Paso.

This border city’s recording industry reputation is growing

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El Paso is currently home to number of recording studios and the past year was a good one for musical artists coming out of the city on the crossroads between music scenes in Austin and Los Angeles. Khalid has been the most successful of three fresh faces from El Paso that have reached the national stage. Elia Esparza landed a spot on The Voice in 2016, followed by Valerie Ponzio in the 2017 season. Beacon Hill Recording Studios

Alfredo Gonzalez is general manager and music producer at Beacon Hill Recording Studios, 6430 Gateway Blvd, where Khalid recorded his hit song “Location.” Gonzalez said the 3-year-old studio struggled at first, in part because El Paso didn’t have a large recording industry infrastructure like big cities.

Juarez celebra su primer Bazar Ambulante de Producción, Redes, Truques y Ventas

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Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua – Por primera vez, se llevó a cabo en Ciudad Juárez hace unos meses El Primer Bazar Ambulante de Producción, Redes, Truques y Ventas, que atrajo más de 28 bandas locales, fotógrafos, ilustradores, programadores visuales y otros artistas locales para vender su mercancía al público. Antonio Saenz Facio, uno de los organizadores, dijo que el evento es una manera para que la comunidad de Juarez se de cuenta de que “en la tierrita sí se tiene mucha calidad. Hay que apoyar al talento local, como a los amigos/conocidos que emprenden su negocio, para que podamos crecer tal vez ya no a nivel local, si no, mas allá”. La organización del evento fue llevada a cabo por la organización sin fines de lucro llamada Alianza Fronteriza. Es una alianza de músicos fronterizos para crear una unión de músicos y darse a conocer en todo el país.

40 years after her first record, Peruvian Queen of Landó Eva Ayllón, tours the US and Canada  

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CHICAGO — Coming straight from Seattle, her flight delayed by stormy weather after touring Montreal and Vancouver, Chicago was the fifth stop in Eva Ayllón’s USA-Canada Tour this year. New York, Houston and San Francisco followed suit. 
“Every night we appear on stage is like magic,” Eva shares with an audience that fills the Old Town School of Folk Music’s theater in a hot evening, after a day of thunder and downpours. “We never know what’s going to happen, but tonight I feel we’re going to have a great time,” adds Eva after singing Panalivio, a popular Afro Peruvian rhythm that has already stung her restless audience. 
“I have not been to Chicago in six years.” People contradict her: “More than that, more!” “It’s not my fault that they have not brought me,” she mischievously responds. With that provocative attitude and challenging tone she already has the public in her pocket. Well, not necessarily, because her really tight flowered-pattern dress, has none. 
  
She continues with a substantial old-world collection of Peruvian waltzes.

Flashdance showcases El Paso’s newest dance talent

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El Paso’s largest and oldest dance showcase, Flashdance, celebrated its 32nd anniversary in 2017 by featuring high school and private studio dancers from throughout the city. Parks and Recreation Public Relations specialist Wayne Thornton helped launch Flashdance, which began in 1985 as a competition and later was transformed into a showcase. The first shows were at El Paso’s Lincoln Center before moving to various locations in the city. It seems to have found a home at UTEP’s Magoffin Auditorium, where two shows were presented in February. Becky Salcido, coach of UTEP’s Golddiggers dance team said Flashdance is a great recruiting tool for dancers in area schools who truly have that passion and drive to take it to the next level.

Local ska band Fixed Idea prepares for 25th anniversary bash in El Chuco

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An El Paso Ska band called Fixed Idea is preparing for its 25-year anniversary celebration party which will be held at the Tricky Falls entertainment venue in August. In preparation for the celebration, the band has released a new music video and will soon be releasing a brand-new song. They will also be releasing two CDs, one of them is titled “25-to-life” and features 25 tracks to celebrate the group’s 25th anniversary. “We have just been really focusing, visualizing and working on these songs without any distraction,” said Pancho Mendoza, 41, the lead singer and original member of Fixed Idea. “It’s gotten us this far and this year we are celebrating 25 years with…

Roderick Artspace

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By Lizbeth Carmona

Walking the halls of the Roderick Artspace lofts, bright colors, quotes from famous authors on seizing the day, and indie music leaking through closed doors can all be experienced before even entering the resident’s lofts. An eclectic variety of people fill the 51 lofts in the new Roderick Artspace apartments in

downtown El Paso, especially people who make around 30% to 60% of the area median income and would like to dedicate themselves fully to their craft. Found on 601 N Oregon Street, Artspace is a location for both artists and local businesses looking to attract artistic commerce and improve the city’s cultural representation. Though not having long since the first residents began to move in, the Artspace is charged with creative energy. The first floor provides space for businesses that are attracted by the area such as the Kalavera Culture shop and El Paso Opera.

San Jacinto beauty reaches its fame to Instagram

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By Aliana Contreras

The newly renovated San Jacinto Plaza has not only received attention from El Pasoans, but also from many talented photographers – both local and worldwide. “I’m a hobbyist. I’ve dropped a lot of money on photography, so I’m pretty obsessed with the whole hobby,” Jay said. Jay, also known as “that1duder” on Instagram, is a photographer from Seattle who traveled to El Paso three years ago to pursue his hobby of photography. “Coming down here, I didn’t know what to expect.

A home for aspiring artists: Downtown El Paso

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By Sarah Olberman   

Galleries and museums are embracing local artists like never before, giving them more exposure as the El Paso creative community begins to prosper, artists say. “Before I moved to Los Angeles, the only places I would see local art was like at bars,” said Matthew Martinez, better known by his alias JAM! “That was my first experience with seeing really talented artists in a bar setting. Seeing that, I really wanted to give people an opportunity to have something in a traditional, real, contemporary gallery because I feel like there’s a lacking for that,” Martinez said. Martinez opened his gallery and store, Dream Chasers Club, 200 S. Santa Fe St., in 2015 after living in California and on the East Coast.

Violence, beauty of Mexico influencing emerging border artists

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EL PASO – As a child at the beginning of the new millennium, Ana Carolina’s city was notorious as a place where hundreds of women went missing. Now a student at UT El Paso, the theme of empowering women is at the core of many of Carolina’s works. For Carolina and other young artists from Ciudad Juarez, art has become a way to process and escape from the ugly reality of the drug wars and other violence that surrounded them growing up. “The disappearance of so many young women is something that really characterized Ciudad Juarez, so I think that really influenced my art a lot,” Carolina said. “I draw women and something that represents them is that they are all facing forward and looking straight at you. My women are strong; we are not just a symbol of sexuality or sensuality in the arts.” 

 Carolina also uses her art to express the cultural beauty that characterizes this region where Mexico and Texas connect.

Border-inspired writer wins 2017 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry

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Natalie Scenters-Zapico, who was an undergraduate Creative Writing major at UT El Paso, has won the prestigious 2017 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry, for her collection of poems “The Verging Cities.”
“From her undergraduate writing career at UTEP, she went on to become a fully-funded graduate student at the University of New Mexico, and is now one of our country’s most literarily-recognized emerging writers,” said Sasha Pimentel, assistant professor of poetry and creative nonfiction at UTEP. Judges for the award said the collection, published by the Center for Literary Publishing, Colorado State University,  shows Scenters-Zapico is an “an important emerging poet whose formal and tonal range in The Verging Cities is impressive and disarming.” Scenters-Zapico’s style brings the border to life, the judges wrote:
“Her voice is honest, engaging, and complex as she explores the liminal space of the U.S./Mexico border with vivid imagery that moves fluidly between Juárez and El Paso. At times both tender and funny, she writes so that the border becomes not just an idea, but a rich and real world. With poems that are as intelligent as they are urgent, Natalie Scenters-Zapico offers a necessary poetic voice in these perilous times.”

Print shop supports El Paso by design

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EL PASO – If this border city’s culture could be captured on a T-shirt, the Proper Printshop is probably the place that is printing it. The spirit of the Sun City is at the heart of the central El Paso shop at 800 Montana where owners J.J. Childress and Alan Hudson embrace the language, the people and the city itself in their designs. The owners and employees work are also passionate about helping clients transform their own ideas into works of art. “We don’t want to be the shop that you go into, you have a bad design and they say OK and just print it,” Childress said. “We want to help you improve and shape your artwork.”

The print shop is not only known for creating art, but also promoting El Paso’s unique culture and local art scene.

El Pasoan who spent more than 40 years buying art considers how to leave it for others to enjoy

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With altruism as the main drive behind his art collection, UTEP librarian Juan Sandoval has amassed over 1,000 works of art that he keeps in his modest Sunset Heights apartment. “I always had poor friends growing up, so I would help them out by buying their art,” said Sandoval. The first time he bought a piece was in 1975 to encourage a friend. “In college, I used to buy original works of art for $25,” he joked. The works Sandoval has acquired throughout the years range from simple Native American tapestry to intricate and abstract lithographs made by prominent artists such as Luis Jimenez, Francisco Toledo and Marta Arat.

Tell us what you think about telenovelas

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Statistics show that many Latino millennials are changing Spanish-language TV – by no longer watching telenovelas as former generations did. Borderzine is conducting a short online survey in both Spanish and English (your choice) to get your thoughts on the telenovela style of TV shows. Just select either link, take the short survey, and we will publish the results when they are finalized. English
Español

Ice rinks top attractions in desert holiday outings

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Ice skating and festive lights mark the start of the holiday season in El Paso in two popular locations. WinterFest is an ongoing event in the Downtown Arts Festival Plaza and surrounding areas featuring lights, food, holiday shopping, festivities and  an new outdoor ice skating rink located near the Plaza Theatre. “As San Jacinto Plaza once again lights up for the winter season, we wanted to enhance the downtown visitor’s experience and create a new holiday tradition,” said Bryan Crowe, General Manager of Destination El Paso. WinterFest runs until Jan. 8.

El Paso florist teams with New Mexico flower farm to create ethical arrangements

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EL PASO – When Juliana Varkonyi and her mother Mary Ibanez decided to open a flower shop, they knew they wanted it to reflect a sense of community and respect for the environment. That’s why they decided to open Desert Modern Florals in Downtown El Paso and then partner with Calhoun Flower Farms based in southern New Mexico. The shop is in the center of the Cortez Building downtown, across the street from the newly renovated San Jacinto Plaza. Ibanez said they chose the downtown location because of the revitalization that is going on right now. She wanted the business to be part of the emerging community.

Art helps tell Holocaust story

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Concentration camp survivor David Kaplan says that art speaks louder than words. In 1941, when Kaplan was 12 years old, he and his family were sent to separate concentration camps.  Although he survived four years at several camps, his brother perished in Landsberg, his mother and sister were killed in Majdanek.  

The 88-year-old believes that it is often better for survivors to write poems and create art to represent the Holocaust rather than to simply recount their personal experience. Creating art about a dehumanizing experience like the Holocaust can bring hope to people who are the victims of such traumatizing events.

Things worth knowing about the El Paso Museum of Art

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The El Paso Museum of Art makes its home in the heart of downtown El Paso in the world’s largest international border community. Because of this border community, we see art that is rich in the culture and reflects the surrounding areas and history. Many people visit the museum each year but many locals don’t know the unique facts, history or resources that the museum offers. Here are some things worth knowing about our El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA). 1.

Arte en la calle: Cambian los colores de Juárez

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Un grupo de jóvenes juarenses se ha dado a la tarea de apoderarse de la ciudad y llenarla de un arte nuevo con el que esperan cambiar la imagen negativa que Juárez carga desde aquella época violenta vivida a partir del 2006. Lo intentarán llenado de color las grandes paredes y muros de la ciudad y especialmente en las colonias abandonadas que sufrieron el éxodo de sus habitantes. Estos grupos de artistas están conformados tanto por estudiantes de la carrera de Diseño Gráfico y Artes Visuales de la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ)  como por los llamados “prácticos”, que son aquellos que aprendieron la técnica directamente en la calle, plasmando su experiencia en las bardas de sus colonias, en parques e incluso en las universidades, especialmente en el Instituto de Arquitectura, Diseño y Arte (IADA). Entre los años más violentos de la ciudad (2006-2010), el muralismo fue un modo de expresión y de escape para estos jóvenes que desde entonces buscan darle al mundo una nueva percepción de esta frontera. Reunidos en grupos, mejor conocidos como colectivos, salen a las calles a trabajar, algunos con éxito y un reconocimiento cada vez mayor del público.

Latino entrepreneurs make their mark through microbrewing

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El Paso, TX – Carlos Guzmán opened his first bar while he was stationed in Iraq. Well, it was sort of a bar. And it sort of just happened. Guzmán was having a hard time buying liquor in Iraq, so he asked his friends and family to stash some little bottles in their care packages. “Little did I know that within a month we’d have over 50 bottles,” said Guzmán who was in the U.S. Army.