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El Paso, TX Arts and Culture Overview

Attractions include museums, galleries, theaters

By Braxton Shoop on October 26, 2015

El Paso, TX Museums
El Paso / Staff Photographer
The War Eagles Air Museum at the Doña Ana County Airport in nearby Santa Teresa, N.M., features vintage and experimental aircraft, along with classic cars.

Residents and visitors are front row center for a variety of cultural events, experiences and attractions in Greater El Paso that add to the community’s quality of life:

History

Museums are plentiful in El Paso, including the El Paso Museum of History, which features five galleries showcasing 400 years of U.S./Mexico border history. The El Paso Holocaust Museum educates visitors about the Nazi Holocaust and the victims who perished and survived. The Magoffin Home State Historic Site, a 19-room adobe building constructed in 1875, is El Paso’s only historic house museum.

War Eagles Air Museum, at Dona Ana County Airport, features 30 military and civilian aircraft of the World War II-Korean War period. Exhibits at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology at Wilderness Park detail the first inhabitants of the El Paso area and greater Southwest. Other attractions in Greater El Paso include Fort Bliss and Old Ironsides Museum and Tigua Indian Cultural Center.

Visual and Performing Arts

Paint the town by visiting several arts-based venues throughout the area, including the International Museum of Art that showcases thousands of global artifacts and hosts several traveling exhibitions.The El Paso Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of more than 6,000 works from such masters as de Ribera, Murillo and van Dyck.  Named one of the Top 100 Performing Arts Venues in the World by Pollstar, the Plaza Theatre Performing Arts Center hosts Broadway shows, concerts, the El Paso Symphony and film festivals.

Other major contributors to the community’s arts and culture scene include the Abraham Chavez Theatre, the Scottish Rite Theater and the UTEP Ballet.

Artspace El Paso

Drawing attention in the city are plans to develop an Artspace El Paso arts incubator community, tentatively scheduled to open in mid-2016. Artspace is a Minneapolis-based, nationwide developer of affordable artists’ housing. An El Paso Community Foundation fundraising project will bring 50 Artspace apartment lofts, six commercial spaces, 50 parking spaces and public areas for events in the downtown district.

Much of the funding for the development originates from a Low Income Housing Tax Credit,which since 1986 has provided incentives to developers to create affordable rental units for the working poor.

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