We celebrate Texas artists
Texas Folklife organizes and presents exhibitions highlighting the work of Texas artists in all disciplines. Often, these exhibits start out at our office gallery in Austin, then travel to sites throughout the state and beyond.
On display through Labor Day 2008 at our gallery, this series of photographs by University of Houston MFA graduate Chuy Benitez reflect the unique culture of his Texas bordertown home. These photos, from 2003, represent his first full-scale documentary project, which he did as an undergrad at the University of Notre Dame. "It is a portrait of the El Paso/Juarez borderlands as I have come to know and appreciate them. Each of these landmarks and landscapes hold memories from my past and the past of so many other El Pasoans and Juarenses, but there is also a cultural vibrance that resides in each place and person photographed."