El Paso Museum of History - Week #3 - Deborah
Week 3
July 19th
Today was a much more interactive day. Javee asked me as a favor if I could pick up the interactive workshop papers from an exhibit that the kids camp were going to see and also use. I cleaning up the interactive activity in one of the workshops for the desert couture which is an exhibit on El Paso’s fashion scene since the early 1800’s. As I was cleaning up I saw the artwork of the children and I was shocked by their fashion vision and on top of that how good they draw. I was never really good at drawing and seeing these pieces just makes me think about how art in the future is safe. This exhibit is very eye-catching because personally I love clothes and shopping and there were items that I would consider wearing. The Kids Camp is called “Kicks Camp '' inspired by two exhibits where history of sneakers come from Black culture and style from Desert Couture. Another part of the camp was having guests over to talk about what it’s like to be a black streetwear designer company in El Paso nammed Imperial Legacy Clothing. They're a brother-sister duo who were the first streetwear designers in El Paso. They shared how they’ve been to the New York Fashion Week multiple times and overall how they travel biweekly for fashion shows. These siblings Marcus and Faith Smith also donate their earnings to Mental Health. Beforehand I made a list of questions to ask them, if the opportunity was given and it was. My questions consisted of their opinions on rules in streetwear. To my surprise Marcus is a rule breaker and says he doesn’t care for rules in the fashion world, he is very open to making anything new such as using something that is already used and breaking rules by using different textile/material than what is seen normally. Michael and I really bonded today, we talked a bit more in depth about what he does and what scholarly websites he uses to do his extensive research. He talked to me about his research and gave me a sneak peak into the proposal he was setting up for a new potential exhibit. In summary he was educating me on El Paso’s demographics in the 1800’s to 1900’s and showed me pictures of people who lived in El Paso which yes has been predominantly hispanic for the longest time. But after I came to learn, Michael informed me that in these times “El Paso was a melting pot” meaning that there were many different types of people who lived here such as chinese and blacks. It feels crazy thinking about how much our city has changed and I hope that in the future we become more of that melting pot we once were. In continuation, Michael showed me these amazing photos in black and white but they were all so clear; I was stunned by the quality and preservation of these photos. These pictures were of all the different kinds of families living in El Paso. Shoutout to Michael!!! Since my extensive research on Veracruz has come to nearly an end I have to say it has been never ending knowledge. One of my favorite things to learn more about has been about the “adelitas” in the Mexican Revolution. These women were not only medics, but also took the role of fighting alongside men in the war, and even being spies. They came up in my research when searching for drinks that originated in Veracruz. These strong women created “Cafe de Olla” which is coffee cooked in a pot made out of clay with spices such as piloncillo, cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla. Because of my interests in linguistics when it came to searching for fun facts on Veracruz I got to researching on how many people still speak indigenous languages. To my interest I learned that there are over six hundred and sixty three thousand indigenous people. Out of the one hundred people who can speak a native language, only twelve cannot speak Spanish, meaning that eighty-eight of those hundred are bilingual. This research has been very fulfilling and I have come to be very proud of my work because I have learned many new things and I hope my work really does help with the event of El Dia de Los Muertos.
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| Desert Couture Interactive Workshop |
June 20th
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| Working on Directory 49' |
July 21st
Today the “Kicks Camp” ended and their creations were on display. All of shoes look very pretty, in addition the young artists even had their own self-portrait which was probably my favorite part because I find how humans perceive themselves to be very amusing and seeing it in art makes me think a little more. Nora told me to take pictures for the opening of the galley and I tried my best. Later on the day Tashi showed me the edited pictures she posted on social media and how they looked before and after editing. Tashi can take most things that look average and give them her special touch making everything look pretty. In short, my pictures were somewhat average and Tashi's editing is superb.
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| Kicks Camp Gallery |
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| Kicks Camp Opening |
July 24th
While I was doing my search for businesses, I forgot that some of these places were destroyed in the 60’s so I learned how our major streets have had name changes. For example we have a road named Gateway Blvd. East/West and it used to be named Manzanita Rd and that made me upset because I think Manzanita is a much cooler name than Gateway. I finished going through all of the directories and searching solely for the business and owner names in alphabetical order. Erica gave me a tip to be strategic and tackled my search with the books years 49’ 60’ 65’ 69’.
July 25th
Today I was invited to my first staff meeting. We all sit down and start talking one by one on what we’ve been working on, and what we will be doing next. I really enjoyed the structure of meetings because usually meetings don’t really focus on people individually unless it’s like an HR meeting or something along those lines. It’s really nice to lookback on what everyone did because you can tell everyone does their part to make this museum a really nice experience for everybody. After the staff meeting there was another meeting discussing a future exhibit. I honestly felt very special hearing such confidential information and got to voice out my own opinions on things like fonts, color palette, and the art itself.
July 26th & July 27th
I had to miss these two days because I was sick.
July 28th
I continued my journey with the directories which I am really enjoying. Most of the books are in good condition which is nice to see. I also find amazement in the old advertisements and business names even though I clearly didn’t live through those times. Seeing how everything was crafted back then and what was eventually published makes me think a lot, it feels almost surreal. I started a method to facilitate my findings for these businesses and it sped things up. I started with writing the alphabet down from A-Z because although I know it, the visuals help me have a guide on where I was because I had two different things in mind and adding a third would make me struggle. I then proceeded to write the alphabet again but only of the first letter of the businesses to know exactly where to look at. As I moved on, I would scratch or circle depending on if I finished searching for all the businesses beginning with the letter “A” or if I had to keep searching. Around 4 p.m, Tashi told me she needed my help. I did a crucial job of holding the light in a certain position for a photoshoot and helping set up the backdrop and lights. Since Tashi is the Marketing and Communications Coordinator, she’s extremely knowledgeable on cameras and lighting. She specified how important the position of the light is when taking photos because you are filling in the shadows. Tashi also told me I did amazing! I also got to take the items out of their box.
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