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the El Paso Museum of Art benefits El Paso greatly because it is the only
accredited institution within a 200 mile radius and so what that means is that
EPMA because of its geographical location it serves as the hub for
cultural exchanges languages people from all different types of backgrounds
having this National Medal is not only going to put al Paso in a positive light
in a national headline but even locally it's gonna bring awareness to the free
programming that this museum offers so it will be great for our city to be
known for such positive community building efforts and I would love more
people locally and on a national level to be aware of that EPA inspired me as a
kid it was inspiring for me to know that this place was a possible connection for
my future career in my career as a comic-book writer it has embraced me and
given me that validity that I need to introduce myself to the community as a
professional artist and so that has really helped to bring credibility to
the work that I'm trying to do but also it's creating awareness about my work to
the community the openness of Museum of Art benefits the community by our
outreach programs we reach out to the elementary schools the high schools the
public and let them know that we have events available for them that are free
to the public Ceramics has helped me in my healing
process in my life I used to be in the Army I was the Army for seven a half
years with two tours of Iraq suffering from PTSD other physical ailments
pursued BFA in studio art with those concentration in ceramics it seems as if
the universe pushed in a certain direction to to teach ceramics he's
helped me with my healing process it's helped me with my PTSD and I've found
calm and peace and with ceramics one of the continued conversations in the
museum field is about relevance and one of the things that I'm most
proud of that we're doing in El Paso is really making an effort to showcase to
El Paso ins that not only is art relevant but the museum is relevant and
we do that by highlighting art and highlighting programs that reflect what
people care about and reflect the community I'm so proud when I see people
come into the museum and they see art that they can understand or that they
connect to it reflects their culture it reflects their history and that I think
can really serve as a national model for other museums
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