Have you ever seen a mural in El Paso?

You might just think that it’s simple street art,

however, the murals in El Paso shed light on the true culture of the city, and it is arguably the

best representation of it. For example, the Greetings from El Paso mural made in 2016 is a tour

of the city itself, featuring prominent parts of El Paso such as Southwest University Park and

UTEP.

To begin with, a man that goes by the name Victor “Mask” Casas was able to make a mural

representing his childhood with his friends and family. I say this because, according to a New

York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/opinion/el-paso-art-murals.html), he

made the “Caution: Children Crossing” mural. This mural shows young children playing games

like “ICE Agent” and “Chinche al Agua”. The reason Victor Casas made this mural was to

represent the childhood of himself and plenty of other people. This source helps prove my thesis

because it shows an interview talking to the artists and their reason for making their murals,

especially ones that represent the culture of El Paso.

Secondly, according to a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ3fa5Pdzs),

a man that goes by the name of “Bordalo II” made a mural in El Paso to represent one of the

endangered animals. Bordalo II has done quite a lot of these murals, and he has his own process

in which he makes them. To begin with, he chooses an animal to create. For this mural, he

decided to make it a young-looking Mountain Lion! Next, he chooses how he shall make the

mural. He decides between realism, half-and-half, and colorful. He chose the colorful end of the

spectrum to make the somewhat dull El Paso area into a magnificent blast of color. Finally, he

puts it all together and it looks stunning! This source helps prove my thesis because it talks
about a mural made by Bordalo II, and it’s completely out of plastic! It also talks about how he

makes his murals and his childhood.

Finally, the mural that was mentioned in the thesis was a very rough process and it truly

shows how dedicated El Pasoans are to representing their city. According to the official

“Greetings from…” site (https://www.greetingstour.com/murals/el-paso-tx), the “Greetings from

El Paso” mural was created entirely by a man named Dave “Grave” and the people behind the

“Greetings from…” tour. To begin with, they had a small delay due to the blazing temperatures.

However, once it got a bit colder, they started getting to work. Fortunately, they had a bit of

company. During the making of this mural, construction was happening right next to it from EP

Riverbend Development. They not only were constructing a building next to the mural, but they

also built the mural wall for them. Now, they could start the mural. They started by making the

background, which consisted of a yellow star (meaning the “lone star”) with a “Greetings from”

in it, and the Franklin Mountains! Then they made the letters, which contains very prominent

parts of the city, including the Southwest University Park and UTEP! This source helps me prove

my thesis because it provides more information and how they made the mural featured in the

example in the thesis. For example, this mural was a part of a country-wide tour known as the

“Greetings From” tour.

This is why I think murals are the best representation of the true culture in El Paso, because

of the artist’s experiences, beliefs, and the strenuous process required to create these awesome

works of art! Do you want to see an El Paso mural now?