Tag Archives: chihuahuan desert gardens

The University of Texas at El Paso’s Chihuahuan Desert Gardens is a participant in the Lark Label Loves Gardens Sweepstakes that continues through the end of August.

The garden, which boasts more than 700 species of plant life over 1.5 acres, is among nine specialty public gardens from around the country in the competition.

The garden that earns the most online votes will receive $1,000 in signage from the event sponsor, Lark Label Co. of Wichita, Kansas.

The Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, which surrounds UTEP’s Centennial Museum, was dedicated in 1999. It is likely the country’s only garden that promotes plants from the northern Chihuahuan desert, said John White, the gardens’ lead curator.

“That’s what makes us unique,” said White, who added that organizers picked the finalists from a list of 40 nominees.

People can vote once per day via this link. The contest began August 1 and ends on the 31st.

For more information about UTEP’s Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, visit their website.

The Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens will host an opening reception for two exhibitions that highlight border culture.

“Border Street” is a photography exhibition celebrating our border culture through the lens of four photography enthusiasts.

“Rebirth of Duranguito” is a community-generated plan for the preservation and restoration of Duranguito, one of El Paso’s oldest neighborhoods.

The exhibit opening is set for Thursday, January 31st, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. and will be open through early March.

Additionally, the exhibit  “Where the World Met the Border,” will be on view through April 27, 2019.

“Where the World Met the Border,” tells the stories of a place, El Paso’s 1st Ward. This is the story of El Paso’s first neighborhood: a fronterizocommercial center, where immigrants from all over the world made their homes.

This exhibits provides a window into the lives of people from all over the world—Mexico, Ireland, Syria, Italy, and China— who came to the First Ward to better their lives and make their homes.

Permanent exhibits in the museum focus on the natural and cultural history of the Chihuahuan Desert region, the largest desert in North America. A variety of temporary exhibits address themes related to border life and culture, the Americas and the University’s history and current activities

The Centennial Museum was constructed in 1936 to celebrate the anniversary of Texas’ independence, making it the oldest museum in El Paso.

What: Exhibit opening

When: 4:30 – 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31

Where: Centennial Museum at the corner of University Avenue and Wiggins Way 

 For more information, please call 915-747-5565.

The UTEP Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens is proud to host “Aliento a Tequila,” an art exhibition by El Paso-born and Austin-based photographer Joel Salcido.

An opening reception will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. January 20, 2018. The exhibit will be on view Saturday, January 20 through May 19, 2018.

Salcido, a borderland native, revels in capturing “tales of conquest and defeat.” His previous media work as a staff photographer for the El Paso Times, as well as a correspondent for USA Today, has allowed him to strikingly document subjects such as the 1985 Mexico City earthquake and the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico.

His fine art photographs can be found on display in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Harry Ransom Humanities Center at The University of Texas at Austin; and the El Paso Museum of Art, to name a few. His new book, “The Spirit of Tequila,” was released in fall 2017.

Centennial Museum officials say, “Come witness the beauty of tradition, the documentation of the blue agave plant, its cultivation and transformation into this uniquely Mexican elixir, and experience a taste of Mexico.”

For more information on the exhibit, contact the UTEP Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens at 915-747-5565.

What: “Aliento a Tequila,” a photographic exhibition

When: 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018

Where: Centennial Museum, corner of Wiggins Way and University Avenue, UTEP campus

The Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens has extended its hours and will now be open six days a week beginning Monday, September 25, 2017.

The museum’s current exhibits include “Bracero Memories” and “La Frontera: A Century of Division and Resistance.” Both exhibits are free and open to the public through Dec. 16, 2017.

The new hours will be Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“We are excited to welcome visitors to the museum on Mondays,” said Daniel Carey-Whalen, museum director. “This provides further opportunities for UTEP faculty and students, in addition to local school groups, to learn about the natural and cultural history of the Chihuahuan Desert and UTEP’s amazing research.”

The Centennial Museum – part of The University of Texas at El Paso – is El Paso’s first museum. It was established in 1936, thanks to funding from the Texas legislature, in honor of the State of Texas’ Centennial Celebration. The museum’s permanent exhibits showcase the natural and cultural history of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Temporary exhibits highlight aspects of the Chihuahuan Desert, border life and culture, and research by UTEP faculty and students. The gardens were established in 1999 and contain more than 800 species of plants native to the region.

For more information, contact Cynthia Ortiz at 915-747-6667. For a full list of events, please visit the museum’s website or follow them on Facebook.

Daniel J. Carey-Whalen has been selected as the new director of The University of Texas at El Paso’s Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens.

Carey-Whalen, a Kansas native, first came to UTEP in 2012 as an adjunct lecturer in museum studies in UTEP’s Department of Art. In 2015, he was promoted to coordinator of museum studies and public culture at the University.

Over the last four years, Carey-Whalen has taught three museum studies courses and managed the museum intern program.

“UTEP is a wonderful place to work,” Carey-Whalen said. “They have enabled and encouraged me to grow as a museum professional. I am so fortunate that my new position will allow me to continue working with students. I love UTEP students! Also, I am so excited to continue working with UTEP faculty.”

Carey-Whalen earned his bachelor’s degree in history and a double master’s degree in American studies and urban planning from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Prior to joining UTEP, he was the education coordinator at both the Kansas Museum of History and Galveston County Historical Museum.

He also served as the grants administrator for the Institute for Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Carey-Whalen will start his new position Sept. 1.

FloraFEST is the annual fundraiser for the maintenance and operation of the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens and is the largest sale of its kind in the region.

Shoppers can purchase native and desert-adapted plants and visit with local Master Gardeners and other plant experts for advice on how to care for their plants at home.

Most of the plants sold at FloraFEST are not available at local nurseries or retailers. Activities include a guest lecturer, children’s coloring contest and terrarium workshop.

The UTEP Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens sponsor the event at the museum, at the corner of University Avenue and Wiggins Road on the UTEP campus.

FloraFEST 2016

April 23, 24 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, UTEP campus