closing

This has been a rare adventure over the last six years to publish The Art Avenue magazine, the only art and culture magazine in the border and establish The Art Avenue Gallery, a contemporary art gallery nestled in a burgeoning arts hamlet downtown showcasing artists from around the Borderplex.

As rare as the adventure was, the time has come to end this avenue and pursue another. The magazine (established in 2013) and gallery (2015) were created in an effort to promote artists and share in the art and cultural projects and issues throughout the region. It has been a privilege exhibiting works from hundreds of artists working in paintings, prints, sculptures, digital photography, poetry and jewelry, always with a focus on proving insight into the diverse cultural landscape that is the Borderland. Surrounded by local artists’ studios, The Art Avenue Gallery also served as a gathering place for neighborhood creatives and makers, hosting coordinated artist workshops and art camps for children to effectively break down the wall between the public and local artists.

The online publication, The Art Avenue will shut down later this year and the gallery will close at the end of the month with a sale of beautiful works from local artists, however I will continue to support the local art scene by cultivating private art collections and showcasing works though the windows in The Mills building in Downtown El Paso. I am continually amazed at the exceptional talents within our region and how oftentimes they go unnoticed. I hope I was able to etch away at the ideology that only great art works exist in metropolitan cities like Santa Fe and New York.

Impacting the art community was a vision supported by the tireless efforts of one of my closest friends and Creative Director, Jorge Calleja. His graphic design skills elevated the publication and gallery pushing an edgy contemporary style, showing color and design that was fresh and forward in the community. For this I am most grateful for the tireless hours he invested. I would also like to thank the many interns who supported The Art Avenue and have gone on to jobs in Germany, Dallas, New York and are prospering in the Borderplex making their own personal stamp in the art world.

An archive of our past posts and publications can be accessed via our archive page.

Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek

The Art Avenue