July at the Museum of Archaeology

El Paso Museum of Archaeology

July 2012

Access Update:

Due to TXDOT construction in process, from Hwy 54, use the Sun Valley exit to reach the museum via Transmountain Road westbound.  Look for the right turn lane into the museum driveway.

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2012 Archaeology Summer Day Camps – Still Open for Registration

9 am to Noon, Tuesdays through Fridays on the following dates:

July 10 to 13 for ages 7 to 9, Grades 2 to 4

and

June 26 to 29 and July 24 to 27 for ages 10 to 12, Grades 5 to 7.

The camp registration fee is $55 for El Paso Museum of Archaeology members and $70 for non-members. Registration is accepted on a first-come first-served basis as attendance is limited to twelve students per camp. Children must have completed first grade and be at least seven years old. For information and the camp registration form contact the museum at 915-755-4332 or guidamr@elpasotexas.gov.

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New Exhibit: Look Close SEE FAR, A Cultural Portrait of the Maya

On View through September 9, 2012

Saturday, June 23, Free Admission

Photographer’s Talk: 2:00 to 3:00 pm

Reception: 3:00 to 4:30 pm

Meet photographer Bruce T. Martin who has been photographing the Maya and their surroundings for the past twenty years.  He’ll speak on his exhibit, and give you his impressions of the lives and culture of Maya people today.  He says “The Maya region is a place where the delicate balance between society and the environment dominates life and challenges one’s view of reality.”

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Pompeii: The Key to Roman Life, film with discussion by Dr. Ronald Suciu, History Professor, El Paso Community College

Saturday, August 25, 2:00 pm, Free Admission

El Paso Museum of Archaeology

4301 Transmountain Road, El Paso Texas 79924; 915-755-4332; guidamr@elpasotexs.gov; www.elpasotexas.gov/arch_museum/

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm; Sunday, 12 to 5 pm

Closed Mondays and City Holidays

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

Sunflower Thieves Stalk Neighborhood

Many Newmanistas keep a garden of some kind - tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, prickly pear, beans and so forth. Unfortunately, thieves are looking to reap an undeserved bounty.


Adrian Guerrero who lives in the 2500 block of Richmond wrote:  "My daughter and I recently planted sunflowers in our front yard as a nice father daughter activity. We have cared for the plants and have seen them grow to 6 feet now. This very week the first sunflower emerged and sadly the entire stock was stolen this morning from my front yard in the 7 a.m. hour. Hopefully this letter will give some warning to the rest of the neighborhood and prevent any further thefts."


Do be on the lookout. Please do report all crimes to the police. It is important for them to keep track of crime patterns as well as apprehend suspects. The non-emergency number is 915-832-4400. If you see a crime in progress, call 
9-1-1.

Ceiba this Saturday at Museum of Archaeology

The El Paso Museum of Archaeology Presents

Exploring the Music of the Americas

A Family Workshop by the musical group Ceiba

Saturday, June 16, 2012, 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Free Admission
Map

Ceiba performing at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, 2010

Families with children age six years and up are invited to participate in a creative, interactive exploration of live music and art inspired by ancient and modern Latin America from México to the Andes led by the El Paso musical group Ceiba. Both English and Spanish will be spoken during this workshop. Please call to register at 915-755-4332.  This workshop is sponsored by the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Ceiba (world-tree) workshops are performance-demonstrations of Latin American regional music, including Mexican, Caribbean, and Andean.  Hosts may elect simpler assembly format, but a full workshop involves participants in music-making, movement/dance, and small-group verbal/visual responses to specific musical selections.  After each of several representative pieces, Ceiba’s facilitators listen to and transcribe participants’ responses to open-ended questions in small groups (What did you see?  Where did you travel?  What did you hear?  How did you feel?).  Questions rotate after each selection, so that participants may reflect upon and respond to each one.  Ceiba shares-out participants’ imagined, remembered, or sensory experiences, then continues with another selection.  Participants may transform verbal into visual images, taking home their papers or “tiling” them into a mosaic/mural. The performance is a voyage through the continent over time, branching from plural-origin roots rhythms and instruments, through pre-Columbian, colonial, and post-colonial First Nations, African, European, and other cultural traditions, into an aural canopy that sustains memory and vision today.  The workshop is adaptable to age-specific, special needs, &/or bilingual formats.  We want participants to tap the grounding, sheltering, nurturing, and world-extending potential of their own and others’ cultural “world trees.”

Ceiba formed in 1999 at La Peña del Pueblo, a workers’ cultural project at La Mujer Obrera in El Paso (now Centro Mayapán), with the purpose of reclaiming and disseminating the musical genres of Latin American folk, neo-folk, and New Song marginalized by the commercial music industry.  The cultural, historical, and artistic value of this music and the poetry of its lyrics encourage us to explore a vast and rich human geography formed by the confluence and conflict of Indigenous, European, African, and Semitic traditions.  The Americas have as many cultures and struggles as the macaw has colors.  Ceiba interprets corridos, sones, huaynos, pirecuas, cumbias, guajiras, joropos, polkas, sayas, takiraris, danzas, waylas, albazos, and yarabis from lands whose people may yet find peace with justice.  Ceiba’s core musicians are Jena Camp, Raúl García, Justino Aburto Huerta and Lorenzo Guel-Camp, son of Ceiba’s founder and musical director, Lorenzo Guel, who died in 2009.  Norma Orozco and others sometimes enliven the music by dancing the zapateado on the tarima.

Three Big Issues with Newman Park

There are three important issues currently with Newman Park that you need to know about.

First, as many of you will begin noticing today, two of the four slides on the playground have been removed. This was the result of jagged holes found on the slides that could be dangerous to the children using them. A  damaged portion on a third slide was replaced with a spare part. Replacement slides have been ordered but will take up to 6 to 8 weeks to be delivered. Rep. Byrd’s office is looking to see whether there is money in the City budget for a new playground. There may not be at this time.

You may also notice that some areas of  the park turf are getting browner especially since we have all become accustomed to the lush green grass this year. The City of El Paso’s General Services Department has had to cut back on irrigation as a special request from the El Paso Water Utilities to parks, schools and Ft. Bliss. On behalf of Mr. Ed Archuleta, CEO and President of PSB/EPWU, Mr. Martin Bartlett sent Newmanistas this message:

“As temperatures rise, so does the demand for water. In a typical year, El Paso Water Utilities is able to rely on river water to help meet the increased demand. However, a lack of water in the Rio Grande in May forced EPWU to shut down treatment of river water at two of its plants and created a period of critical water conservation for customers – including city parks.

“At the request of EPWU, the City of El Paso’s General Services Department has voluntarily undertaken a city-wide, three-week reduction in irrigation of parks. Their plan includes a special focus on parks in Downtown, Central El Paso, and the Near Westside. Those parts of town typically rely most heavily on river water during the hot months. Since there has been no water in the river, that reduction has been key to helping avoid mandatory watering restrictions.

“The department has proven they are a willing partner with EPWU in conserving our natural resources and so has the Newman Park Neighborhood Association. We’re especially thankful for your support because the need to conserve will continue. While we expect to have water from Elephant Butte Lake in the river soon, it will be less than we get in a typically year. Adopting the Less is New More lifestyle isn’t just about conserving water in the short term; it’s also about living more responsibly in the Chihuahuan Desert because the less we use today, the more we’ll have tomorrow.”

Mr. Stuart Ed of our City’s General Services (the department that maintains and has been responsible for our beautiful park) explained that last week there was no irrigation, this week there will be a 75% reduction and next week a 50% reduction. In an email he wrote: “We will certainly have our crews review the watering and insure there is no permanent loss of turf.  We will keep a close eye on it.”

Do check out your water utility’s Less Is the New More program and get involved. Like and follow EPWU’s Facebook page. Finally, if you twitter and tweet, follow EPWU on Twitter.  Plan now to attend a free Rainwater Harvesting talk on Saturday, June 9 at 10 a.m. at the Museum of Archaeology. (Details)

Finally, General Services today also removed the dead Aleppo Pine on the corner of Richmond and Alabama. It was one of our larger trees that never made it back after last year’s record freeze and record heat. The good news is that we continue to get new trees in the park. Soon there will be a beautiful new Newman Park sign on that same corner where the pine was.

Remember – circle your calendars for our membership extravaganza on Saturday, June 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the home of Orlando and Esther Arriola, 2630 Louisville. Hamburgers, hot dogs, prizes, chalk drawing, storytelling and the magical music of Ceiba! This will be a special time for us to rub shoulders and get to know neighbors and make new friends.

Membership is just $15 per household or $50 for a business which also pays for year round business card advertising online.  A very convenient way to join or renew your membership is by going to our blog. You will see a yellow DONATE button in the upper right hand corner. Click on it and you will be directed to our secure PayPal location. Just put “membership” in the purpose field and fill out the rest of the form. You can also mail a check made out to NPNA to Robert Taylor, 2809 Richmond Avenue, El Paso, TX 79930.

Finally, what happens at our parks, recreational and senior centers are important to all of us. Mark your calendars for important meetings regarding updating the City’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan.