Community Engaged Practices in the Arts is an emerging initiative of the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts in collaboration with UTEP’s College of Liberal Arts that aims to highlight and create meaningful community engagement through artist-led interdisciplinary practices to include visiting artists, public programming and community collaborations which will be complemented by volunteer opportunities and paid internships for UTEP students. These will provide foundational experiences for the development of an interdisciplinary for-credit academic program that will prepare students to lead social change in their communities using artistic practices in a wide variety of settings.

Vision

Reimagining our borders through artist-led, interdisciplinary collaborations.

Mission

We are a collaborative of artists, academics, and activists at The University of Texas at El Paso using interdisciplinary, artist-led practices to:

• Amplify and represent diverse community voices using art as a means for self-expression and visibility of lived experiences in our border region
• Build bridges that fortify existing cross-cultural connections and exchanges
• Create alternative platforms that address social, political and environmental injustices through art making.

At the core of our practice is a mindful exploration of the balance between the quality of artistic expression and the quality of the relationships we build, with a critical awareness of the concrete impact of our work. We strive to create multiple entry points for meaningful student participation in all aspects of our process.