El Paso

“Nothing will erase the pain of August 3 and we are hopeful that reopening the store will be another testament to the strength and resiliency that has characterized the El Paso community in the wake of this tragedy,” a Walmart spokesperson told the New York Times in late August.

El Paso Remembered

A year after racism turned lethal for 23 people in El Paso, a veteran journalist looks back on what’s become of her Texas border city, the victims’ families, and survivors of the hateful shooting.

by Angela Kocherga

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I met Argeenis, a 23-year-old drag queen from Ciudad Juárez, on my fifth day of documenting El Paso’s Border Tuner art project. The multimedia installation by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer virtually connected El Paso and Juárez for 12 days in November. The public was invited to operate searchlights installed at six stations on both sides of the Rio Grande. When two beams of light crossed from opposite sides, microphones and speakers switched on, allowing people to talk with each other across the wall separating the two cities. Read more at texasobserver.org/bordertuner.

Eye on Texas: Border Tuner

In November, a massive public art project lit up the sky over El Paso and Juárez, prompting conversations both funny and serious, political and personal.

by Monica Lozano