Tag Archives: Museum and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD)

The City of El Paso and the Museums and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD) is pleased to announce that Dr. Victoria Ramirez has been selected as Director of the El Paso Museum of Art.

Dr. Ramirez was selected following an extensive recruitment process that included community stakeholders.

“The City of El Paso continues to enhance the leadership team for the Museums and Cultural Affairs Department,” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “This addition to the team follows the recent appointment of a Director for the Museum of Archaeology and demonstrates the City’s commitment to cultural services in our community.”

Dr. Ramirez comes to the El Paso Museum of Art from the Bullock Texas State History Museum where she has served as Director since 2013. While at the Bullock Museum, she restructured the organization to create more robust education, student visits, membership, visitor services, and increased attendance.

Under her direction, the Museum launched a new website featuring the award-winning Texas Story Project, an outreach initiative that seeks to engage a broader audience in the Museum. Dr. Ramirez’s work in integrating technology into the Museum has been recognized by the American Alliance for Museums, the Texas Association of Museums and the American Association for State and Local History.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Ramirez to the El Paso Museum of Art. She will continue the high quality programming our community and region have come to expect from this Museum and use her background and experience to take the Museum’s offerings to the next level,” said Museums and Cultural Affairs Department Director Tracey Jerome.

Prior to joining the Bullock Museum, Dr. Ramirez served as director of education for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Before joining the Museum of Fine Arts in 1999, she served as curator of education with the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia.

She holds an Ed.D. with a focus on curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston, a M.A.T. in museum education and art history from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a B.A. in art History from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Ramirez will begin her new role on January 23, 2017.

The cultural funding program of the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD) is awarding $418,256 in support to 73 local non-profit cultural organizations and artists for performances, services and works throughout El Paso for the 2017 fiscal year.

The cultural funding program is a way for MCAD to directly invest in the arts, to foster cultural activity and build a vibrant creative community. Live performances by local actors and dancers, writing workshops, festivals in Downtown El Paso and new artworks are a few examples of the investments the City of El Paso is providing to the local creative community.

An example is Fab Lab El Paso, a non-profit organization specialized as a digital fabrication and makerspace. After seeing a need to reach the area’s youth, Fab Lab created Fab Kids, a design and makerspace for 8-14 year olds. With funding they received last year, they were able to offer this program for free.

“MCAD’s continued funding and support for 2017 means we will be able to increase capacity for workshops to purchase more materials and serve more participants in our new lab at Artspace in downtown El Paso. There are many cutting-edge ideas for artistic expression that we cannot wait to share; from drone-controlled splatter painting to fluorescent protein petri dish art!” said Creative Director of Fab Lab El Paso Cathy Chen.

Funded projects range from whole seasons of events by performing arts groups to teaching artist sessions in neighborhood spaces. MCAD annually grants out approximately a quarter of its Cultural Affairs Division budget to support arts and cultural activity geared towards El Pasoans and visitors.

Last year, supported organizations, artists and projects served approximately 400,000 El Pasoans and visitors in programming across the city.

The competitive grant making process entails an application review by a panel of community members. Since overhauling the process to foster greater openness in 2007, the program has awarded a total of $3.2 million to the local artistic community and been cited as a model of transparency by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

The Museum and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD) invites the public to view preliminary renderings of the Hispanic Cultural Center at an open house from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, January 25 at the Abraham Chavez Theater.

The Hispanic Cultural Center Subcommittee and MCAD staff conducted a study of the center at the direction of City Council. Consultants and staff will answer any questions the public may have at this open house.

The ideas gathered could be used to develop future plans of the Hispanic Cultural Center.

“We are excited to get to this point. These concepts provide a starting point for us to move forward with this center,” said Ben Fyffe, Assistant Director of the Museum and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD).

Voters approved the Hispanic Cultural Center as part of the 2012 Quality of Life Bonds.

Officials added, by working with consultants and local architects familiar with the facility, a unique solution to address the space and programmatic needs for the cultural center was developed. This, in turn, will enhance the theater that is a focal point in the Downtown Arts District.