El Paso Art Critics, Get Your Voice Heard About Newest Public Art Next Week

Plenty of people complain about how ugly most of the public art projects are, and here's your chance to have your voice heard. Public art in El Paso has always been controversial to residents, with plenty of people having opinions about the recent art projects that have gone up in the city.

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The art installation on Interstate 10 off the Airway exit was met with confusion when it was first lit up in the El Paso sky. People weren't sure what the artwork was supposed to be, joking that it kind of looked like egg beaters twirling in the wind. There's also the strange high baskets that hold purple glass-like balls.

There were other artworks installed in roundabouts around El Paso that people have been discussing, most recently in the Upper Valley off Country Club Road. We told you residents were unhappy with the new artwork and complained about it being an eyesore.

Some El Pasoans also wondered why the community wasn't asked for their input as to what artwork would be installed around the city. Turns out, the City of El Paso held a community meeting to discuss the artwork that was going to be placed in that area back on September 3rd, 2020.

Borderland residents complained that they didn't know this meeting was going to be held and that they could have had more of a voice into what artwork was put into that roundabout. Now, the City of El Paso is working on a new public art piece to commemorate the memory of victims of the August 3rd, 2019 mass shooting and they want to hear from all of us.

There will be several community meetings held to discuss the art project so the community can participate in the process of establishing new public art projects. The next community will be held virtually and in person on Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 6 p.m. At Marty Robbins Rec Center. Marty Robbins is located at 11620 Vista Del Sol.

This memorial will be located at Ponder Park, a location significant to El Pasoans in the days and weeks after the shooting. The Walmart memorial was moved to Ponder Park in November after it was announced that the Walmart store would be reopening. Community members were able to pay their respects to the shooting victims at Ponder Park afterward and now they will have a second permanent place in the park to remember them. There is already the "Grand Candela" outside of the Cielo Vista Walmart.

If you have an opinion on what art projects should be approved for the city's memorial, you should go and voice your concerns at these city meetings. If not, then you really can't complain about what art is chosen, because you didn't voice your opinion when it was asked of you.