The Rubin Center for the Visual Arts is undergoing an exciting period of growth. We are pleased to share this report that highlights our major exhibitions, programs, and collaborations for the 2022-2023 academic year.

The Rubin Center is the only dedicated contemporary arts institution in the El Paso / Juárez region. Since our founding in 2005, we have developed a reputation for excellence in our field, producing more than 150 original exhibitions and site-specific commissions with a risk-taking roster of international artists, overwhelmingly centering Latinx and Latin American voices.

This year, we are undergoing a comprehensive strategic planning process, with involvement from staff, campus partners, and community collaborators, and with the support of the Mellon Foundation. This process will allow us to make a strong plan for the future, re-aligning our mission and goals to incorporate what we’ve learned from more than 15 years experience producing and exhibiting con temporary art at the US-Mexico border.

We are also increasing our investment of time and resources in building local, cross-border capacity and infrastructure for artists from both El Paso and Juárez through workshops, exhibitions, and paid opportunities to serve as consultants in our program. This aligns with our commitment to UTEP students who are developing the skills and experience they need to build meaningful careers in the arts.

Our staff is growing with the recent addition of curator Laura Augusta, PhD, who will lead our ambitious exhibitions program. She will be joined by Ramon Cardenas, who will be promoted to the position of Assistant Curator of Practice in December of this year. We will add a full-time Assistant Curator of Interdisciplinary Education and Outreach in early 2023. They will work alongside our existing staff, faculty, and our team of paid student interns to execute a broad range of activities that include educational outreach, environmental initiatives and increased programming that takes an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary culture.

We open our annual publication with a wish, made by artist Alina Kiliwa in our fall exhibition (RE)CONTEXT: “Que el amor sea la próxima pandemia” (May love be the next pandemic). It’s been a joy to see our community return to the galleries and to our public programs, family days and teen nights, after so many changes through the past two years. We are honored to share space again with artists, students, and friends. We hope you’ll join us in the year ahead as we return, in growth and renewed spirits, in collaboration and experimentation, in dynamic companionship and new ideas, at the Rubin Center.

Sincerely,

Kerry Doyle