Texas is enriched by its diversity of artists across the state. Those artists are not only using their work to create but to connect us with perspectives other than our own and make statements about their communities, our society and more.
In this Texas Tribune conversation, which is part of our “We the Texans” project looking at the state of democracy in Texas, we’ll hear from artists using various media about why they are inspired to do this work and how they see their role in driving dialogue, activism and change.
Join us at 4 p.m. MT (5 p.m. CT) on Wednesday, April 10, at the El Paso Museum of Art and online. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. and the event will end at 5 p.m., allowing in-person attendees time to view the exhibits before the museum closes at 6 p.m.
Confirmed speakers include artist Camila Abbud, whose work is featured in the El Paso Museum of Art’s 2024 Border Biennial / Bienal Fronteriza 2024, Lupe Mendez, 2022-2023 Texas poet laureate and Stephen Ingle, creative director and co-founder, Creative Kids.
This in-person event will be live streamed for virtual attendees and will be available to watch on demand at texastribune.org/events.
Email us at events@texastribune.org
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Abbud is a Transfronteriza multidisciplinary artist, cultural organizer and curator based in El Paso, Texas. She is an alumna of the Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Program, and this spring, she will graduate from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Arts, double concentrating in graphic design and painting, with a minor in anthropology.
Ingle is the creative director and co-founder of Creative Kids, a 25-year-old nationally recognized creative youth development program that positively impacts under-resourced populations in the border community of El Paso, Texas, helping young people to thrive through the
transformative power of the arts. His leadership has not only contributed to improved access to arts programs for our youth but has also
resulted in increased visibility of El Paso outside of the community.
Originally from Galveston, Mendez is an internationally published writer, author of the award-winning book of poetry “Why I Am Like Tequila,”and served as poet laureate for the state of Texas in 2022 and 2023. He founded Tintero Projects, which works with emerging Latinx writers and other writers of color within the Texas Gulf Coast Region, with Houston as its hub. His work reflects his roots in Texas (including Galveston Island, Houston, and the Rio Grande Valley) and the Mexican state of Jalisco (specifically, Atotonilco El Alto, San Jose del Valle, San Juan de los Lagos, Guadalajara, Los Cuates and La Pareja). He earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Ewalt joined The Texas Tribune as senior director of events and live journalism in March 2023. He previously worked at Chautauqua Institution in Western New York in various roles, including vice president and Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education and editor of The Chautauquan Daily. Serving alongside the Tribune's events team, Matt is responsible for the strategic vision and execution of the Tribune’s live journalism, which includes The Texas Tribune Festival and year-round events across Texas aimed at fostering civic engagement and democratic participation.
