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Thursday, April 3, 2025

Free & Open to the Public
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Centennial Museum and Rubin Center for the Visual Arts

 

The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø campus and El Paso communities came together to explore two captivating exhibitions: Mud + Corn + Stone + Blue at the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts and Cultivating Your Home: Embracing Chihuahuan Desert Diversity at the Centennial Museum. These exhibitions explored themes of landscape, agriculture, the environment, and humanity’s connection to the Earth—highlighting the physical and cultural heritage of our shared region, from Central America through Mexico, the borderlands, and the Southern Great Plains.

The celebration began at 3:30 PM with a thought-provoking presentation on Desert Humanities by Dr. Celina Osuna at the Centennial Museum. The festivities continued with a live music performance on ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s Geology Lawn, and guests had the opportunity to tour the Lhakhang and learn about its art and cultural significance. Along the pathway from the Lhakhang to the Fox Fine Arts complex, local organizations hosted interactive tables that highlighted their work and its ties to the humanities and the regional landscape.

At the Rubin Center, visitors experienced the featured exhibition, participated in a hands-on tortilla printmaking workshop, and enjoyed an additional live music performance to close out the evening.

  

event program schedule

3:00 PM – The event opened
3:30–4:15 PM – Guest speaker Dr. Celina Osuna gave a presentation at the Centennial Museum
4:30–5:00 PM – Musical performance by Amalia Tereso took place at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s Geology Lawn
4:30–6:30 PM – Guests participated in a printmaking workshop at the Rubin Center
6:00–7:00 PM – The evening concluded with a closing musical performance by the Amalia Tereso Duo

Throughout the event, attendees enjoyed community collective networking and ongoing tours of the Lhakhang.

centennial and rubin center synopses 

Centennial Museum Exhibition - Cultivating Your Home: Embracing Chihuahuan Desert Diversity

We celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens! Featuring native plants from various habitats within the Chihuahuan Desert, the Gardens fostered a deeper connection to the desert home we share, inspiring stewardship for its preservation.

This exhibition highlighted the rich biodiversity of plants and animals unique to the Chihuahuan Desert. Visitors discovered the history of the Gardens, learned how they had grown over the years, and gained practical insights on cultivating native plants to support conservation efforts in their own landscapes.

 

rubin center exhibition - Mud + Corn + Stone + Blue

Exploring the entwined histories of the United States and Central America, Mud + Corn + Stone + Blue wove together stories of place and time, connecting conflicts from the 1960s onward with the U.S. corn industry and agricultural policy. The exhibition examined armed struggles in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua; U.S. military interventions in Honduras; and domestic protests such as the 1979 Tractorcade in Washington, D.C.

Focusing on 1979–1981, the exhibition revealed how agricultural policies linked to Cold War economic decisions shaped land use, ideas of stewardship, migrant labor, and agricultural exports—affecting small family farms in the U.S. Corn Belt and fueling political conflict in Central America. Through a dynamic constellation of narratives, the exhibition underscored the far-reaching impact of intertwined political, social, and environmental histories.