November 23, 2025 • 34 mins
Segment 1: Did you know that El Paso has an International Museum of Art? Or that it serves as not only an art gallery from pieces all across the world but also as a historic home and beautiful venue to rent?
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Amber Banda interviews Cynthia Horton, Board Member for the International Museum of Art located at 1211 Montana Avenue in central El Paso.
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Amber and Cynthia talk about how a current exhibit with over 10,000 pieces, how they narrow down what to showcase, the programs the museum offers for students, aspiring artists, and philanthropists, and about the current Sun Bowl Art Exhibition. You can see the winner in various categories from this exhibition on their social media.
.
Listen in to find out if art is for sale, various pieces within the museum, what to expect, behind the scenes info, and how you can help keep this vital part of El Paso's cultural scene going.
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For more information visit http://internationalmuseumofart.org/
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Segment 2: The El Paso Community Foundation presents FREE Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre, a part of the Plaza Classic Film Festival and Winterfest!
.
Back for its 14th year, the free Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre are back! Amber Banda talks with Doug Pullen, Program Director for the El Paso Community Foundation and the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
.
Amber and Doug talk about the 6 free holiday movies being shown this year in conjunction with Winterfest to bring free holiday cheer to the Sun City! 3 Sundays, 6 movies, all at the beautiful and historic Plaza Theatre.
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They give a few thoughts on each movie, how they were able to narrow it down to 6, another free treat you can enjoy before each movie, and how you can experience these movies for free with your loved ones this holiday season.
.
For the full schedule and list of movies visit plazaclassic.com
NEW EPISODES EVERY SUNDAY AT 8AM! Follow Amber Banda, 96.3 KHEY Country, Power 102.1 or Sunny 99.9 on Instagram and/or Facebook for pictures of our guests and leave a comment. Be a part of the good going on in our community!
.
Amber Banda interviews Cynthia Horton, Board Member for the International Museum of Art located at 1211 Montana Avenue in central El Paso.
.
Amber and Cynthia talk about how a current exhibit with over 10,000 pieces, how they narrow down what to showcase, the programs the museum offers for students, aspiring artists, and philanthropists, and about the current Sun Bowl Art Exhibition. You can see the winner in various categories from this exhibition on their social media.
.
Listen in to find out if art is for sale, various pieces within the museum, what to expect, behind the scenes info, and how you can help keep this vital part of El Paso's cultural scene going.
.
For more information visit http://internationalmuseumofart.org/
_______________________________________________________________________________
Segment 2: The El Paso Community Foundation presents FREE Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre, a part of the Plaza Classic Film Festival and Winterfest!
.
Back for its 14th year, the free Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theatre are back! Amber Banda talks with Doug Pullen, Program Director for the El Paso Community Foundation and the Plaza Classic Film Festival.
.
Amber and Doug talk about the 6 free holiday movies being shown this year in conjunction with Winterfest to bring free holiday cheer to the Sun City! 3 Sundays, 6 movies, all at the beautiful and historic Plaza Theatre.
.
They give a few thoughts on each movie, how they were able to narrow it down to 6, another free treat you can enjoy before each movie, and how you can experience these movies for free with your loved ones this holiday season.
.
For the full schedule and list of movies visit plazaclassic.com
NEW EPISODES EVERY SUNDAY AT 8AM! Follow Amber Banda, 96.3 KHEY Country, Power 102.1 or Sunny 99.9 on Instagram and/or Facebook for pictures of our guests and leave a comment. Be a part of the good going on in our community!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host, Amberbanda,
and today we have Cynthia Horden. She is the board
member of the International Museum of Art. Cynthia, thank you
for talking.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
With us today.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Of course, So the International Museum of Art, it's a museum,
it's an art gallery, you know, like you said, it's
a historic home, and it's a venue. And we'll get
into all of that in a little bit. But the
first thing I want to address, especially when my husband solidified,
it was International Museum of Art. That is different from
the Alpaso Museum of Art.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Correct, absolutely correct, All.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Right, Can you explain to the listening audience a little
bit about the interest National Museum of Art.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Yes, the International Museum of Art was founded in nineteen
forty eight and it was it's actually called the International
Association for the Visual Arts, and we're an organization that's
managing the International Museum of Art. What we do is
we have artwork from all over the world. We have
an international collection, we have painting, sculptures, just a beautiful
array of things. And you know, we're really excited because
(01:23):
one of our latest acquisitions is a ten thousand piece
collection from a lady who traveled around the world and
her name is Sue Knigg, and she donated her items
to us from one hundred and ten different countries. So
we're really excited because that really gives us that international flair,
and that's what really makes us different from the El
Paso Museum of Art. They deal with local art and
(01:46):
some you know, very broad spectrum of things, but we
focus on international art and then also on local art.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
So when you said that ten thousand pieces of art,
the first question that crossed through my mind is kind
of like the logistics of it.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
How long does it take that to set up?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
You know, how many eighteen wheelers does that take? Can
you give us an idea of how long that would take?
To actually put into the museum.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
We started this project in twenty twenty two and we
brought it down into It came from Colorado, so we
brought it down in two different shipments, and the first
shipment was one hundred and ninety some boxes and the
second one was five hundred and sixty.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Two or five hundred and something.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
And we started opening the boxes and receiving those items
in March of twenty twenty three, and we finished about
fifteen weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Oh my gosh, we're in twenty twenty five. People, just
keep that in mind. That is amazing. So again, the
International Museum of Art, it's a museum, can you So
you touched a little bit upon the art, right, So
there's all different types. There's paintings, there's sculptures. What other
type of art is there before we continue?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So we have artifacts. The gallery that we just opened
was the African and Middle Eastern Gallery, So those are
items out of daily life. In the collection, there's over
seven hundred pieces of clothing. Not at any time are
all these items going to be out at once possible.
So we have a gallery set up that we opened
April fifth. It's open to the public. It'll be up
for about another year, and it has about one hundred
(03:09):
and twenty two items from the Middle East and Africa
in it. And so when you look at that one
hundred and twenty two pieces out of ten thousand, it's
less than one percent of the entire collection. So we
are putting those items in different areas of the museum,
beefing up some of our other displays. We have a
Buddha collection, and so we're putting items that come from
Laos and from Nepal, items of daily life and prayer
(03:33):
life into those cabinets too. So it's been a wonderful
acquisition for us. So you'll see sculptures, you'll see weapons,
musical instruments, all sorts of things. So we also one
of the number one things that we would say when
we would open the boxes.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
Is what is it?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Because we were like, okay, what is this good? I'm
not the only one.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Even the people that work they're like, is how do
you choose? Like, Okay, we have ten thousand items, how
do you choose which of the small percent is going
to be displayed.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
We have a great team, you know, Emily who's a director,
and Alatte who does our curation of those, they come
up with some spectacular ideas and then they'll ask us,
since we're the ones that unpacked it, you know, can
you find us these items? They have a list that
they can go by because it's divided by regions. She
went to seven different regions, and so they'll tell us
kind of what their concept is and we'll just start
(04:22):
pulling items and they get to look at it and
they start curating a show. And that's what they'll see
with the African and Middle Eastern Gallery, that's the first
installment of what we've been able to do with this.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So Africa and Middle East, and so you know, you
mentioned that one and then you mentioned that lady that
traveled all over the world and brought her ten thousand pieces,
took you a little over two years to actually put
into the museum for display. How do you choose or
how do you acquire? Okay, we're going to get this
artist or we're going to get this you know, because
I guess they travel all over the world. Like how's
that decision process? Like what you choose to bring to
the museum.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
So when for the art gallery part, we focus on
Southwestern art those well, not Southwestern art, but people that
are in this regional art so the artists that are local,
so you will see just a wide variety of their
artistic expression, which is really exciting. So we have two
changing galleries, so Emily is always creating different opportunities. We
(05:13):
have member showcases where our members can actually display their
art in a competitive process, and it's just amazing to
see some of the art that is coming out of
our community, young artists, those that have been seasoned artists
for a long time, and just to see it all
in one place and on a rotating basis, it's really amazing.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Do you have any art in there?
Speaker 4 (05:34):
I am not an artist, I am.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
A master of stick figures. Just curious. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
And so not only is it the museum, it's an
art gallery, it's a historic home.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You touched on all that.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It's also a venue. Can you describe the venue a
little bit to the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Yeah, so a trust home. The architectural concepts of it
are fantastic. The house was built I think in nineteen
oh nine nineteen ten or finished in nineteen ten. It
took up an entire city block. Oh wow, it costs
fifty thousand dollars at that time, so if you look
at it in today's economic terms, is probably two million dollars.
But it's got its original floors in the parlor. It's
(06:09):
just really a beautiful building and it's got stained glass
in there. And we just I think of last year.
November of last year, we received our historic designation for
the trust's home, so it has a historic marker there.
So for those that are history buffs, I mean, we
have something for everyone, those that like arts and culture,
(06:29):
those that like you know, the history and historic homes.
And it's a great venue. We've had a lot of
people that have had their weddings there, People hold meetings there.
There was one there just this past weekend with Alpha.
They had a panel discussion and they did their program,
so Polarosa so all types of activity. So we have
(06:50):
an auditorium they can also rent. We have a one
hundred and sixty eight seat theater, which a lot of
people don't know. Yes, we are hidden gyms, so we
want you to We want people to know about us
and and come check us out.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And again you can find pictures and more information at
International Museum of Art dot org. Where is it located.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Twelve eleven Montana Avenue, right right in the heart of
Central Pasta.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Right in the heart of Central alpas So it is
a hidden gym. Again, and if you're just tuning in,
I have Cynthia Horden. She's board member of the International
Museum of Art, not the same as the Olpassive.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Museum of Art. Again, if you're just tuning in.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Cindy, we talked a little bit about the museum. It's
an art gallery, it's a historic home, it's a beautiful venue.
Are there any programs that the museum offers?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Gosh, yes, I have a plethora of programs and they're
they're continuing to change. So Emily does, especially for our members.
So I want to, you know, make sure I encourage
people to become a member and find out all of
the interesting activities that we have. But as far as
programming we have, she'll do like themed art shows for
(07:51):
the community or for the or for our members, tying
programming to them. She also has a what do they
call it? They not like a seek and fine, but
a scavenger hunt, oh yea for adults and children where
they can go and they can do a scavenger hunt
throughout the museum and find out interesting pieces and things
about the museum. We do all sorts of programming around
(08:13):
the building we just received. And you know, one of
our great partners is the El Paso Museum of Art.
They have a lot of items that were from the
Tro's home. They've just given us one that is just
a beautiful kitchen buffet. It's huge and we just have
that and we set that back in the original place
where it was. So there's just all sorts of different programming,
(08:35):
historic programming. People can learn more about our Window to
the World collection, they can learn about different cultures.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I know that they plan.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Different things around like Dia delos Mortos, all sorts of things.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, and you said that it is also for kids too.
That's my selfish thinking because I have a ten year
old who just loves art and twenty year old that
also loves art too, So okay, so it's different ages
and again you can find more information on those programs
at International Museum of Art dot org. Now it is November,
it is the holiday season and in all Passo that
means Tony, the Tiger Sun Bowl, the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
(09:11):
You know a lot of people are talking about that
right now. It's that time and at the International Museum
of Art there is the Sun Bowl Art Exhibition. Can
you tell us a little bit more about that, Cynthia.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, this is one of the biggest events we do
during the year and it's a jury show. So this
year we had over We had ninety seven artists, which
is the largest we've ever had that have displayed their artwork.
So the galleries are set up. There's two different galleries
and I was touring them the other day and I said,
this is incredible, incredible, just a variety of artwork. It's
just demonstrating the talent of al Paso Ones. I mean,
(09:44):
we just really shine when we're asked to do creative
things or just anything, you know, so just to see
the beauty of what they can produce. So we had
over The reception was last week and those over four
hundred people. That there's about four hundred people that came.
But it displays all sorts. It's a jury show. They
can see our list of winners on the on the
(10:05):
website and they can also go and see some of
the pictures as well, or they connect or they can
connect with us on Instagram or on Facebook and see
some of the see some of the artwork, but we
want them to come, come, come by and see it. Yeah,
there's there's a just a tremendous spectrum. There's some sculpture
in there. There's all sorts of artwork. I mean, just amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, it's it's always different right to experience it in person.
It's it's being around the people that are there to
experience the same thing. When I was on the Instagram,
I believe it was part of the sun Boll Art exhibition.
It was a painting and it was like of a
close up of an eyeball and they were pulling the eye,
the lower eyelid down, but in it was the one
(10:43):
of my favorite paintings every time I see it, the
Franklin Mountain with the star and it was really cool.
So you can see that on their Instagram, but again,
better yet see it in person. So the sun Ball
Art Exhibition, does that mean that all of the art
that was entered has the theme of the Tony the
Tiger sun Bull or they giving Day parade or is
that just the name of it.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
That's just the name of it. Yeah, they're the sponsor
of it, and so it's just a part of the
many activities that the sun Bowl Association does. So we're
privileged to be able to add that art and cultural
aspect to it. Yeah, because I'll passa is just so
diverse and has so much talent and so much energy.
And I think the picture they were talking about, I
think that was the one that won Best in Show.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Ah, that could be it because it was one of
the ones that was featured. And I just actually had
the sun Ball Association on a lot of people weren't
aware that they are a nonprofit and you think football,
you think the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but it's amazing that
they're also supporting the cultural scene here and I'll pass.
So they're supporting the arts and that's amazing. And so
this has been going on the sun Ball Art Exhibition
since nineteen forty nine, so a year after the museum
(11:42):
actually opened again. If you want to see the winners,
you can go to the International Museum of Art dot org.
Now one of the questions that I have, can you
purchase the art?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Yes, the artwork can be purchased.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Wow awesome, and it just and.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Some of them have already sold.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Oh okay, so act fast and that would be again
around the holiday days. You know, you can order something
off Amazon this and that's great. I do it all
the time. But to have something to gift someone that's local,
you know, no one else has. It's something that's been
in an international museum of art. You're supporting the cultural
scene here in I'll pass so you can purchase the
art now it's all art for sale or do like?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
How does that.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Work for the gallery for the for this show?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yes, all the all for that show?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Okay, yes, okay, well yeah, how you're not going to
be selling the artifacture maffac Ar.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Middle East for things that I unpacked, those are not
for sale.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I mean everything's for sale, right, but I don't think
anyone else passle might have that type of money. But again,
the sun Boll Art exhibition, it's going on. When when
is the last day to see it?
Speaker 4 (12:39):
January eleventh?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
January eleventh, Okay, so act fast because it's going to
be the holidays. You know you want to see it
right now before because January is going to be here
before you know it. So the International Museum of Art
dot org, Cynthia, is there anything else that you would
like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I do you had mentioned you your child has a
love for art. One of the things that we're going
to be doing is with our Window to the World,
we're going to make that a mobile museum. That's a
project that we're working on right now that we're actually
going to be able to take into schools with about
one hundred and twenty five different artifacts where the kids
can handle it.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
It's must be some sturdy artifacts.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Yes, they can try on some of the clothing. And
that's exactly what the founder who donated these items to
us did for her students. She had a bug for
traveling and she the reason why she bought all these
items was to teach her students so that they would
understand culture. So there's musical instruments, weapons, clothing, story books
in different languages, I mean, all sorts of things, so.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
From different parts of the world, different clothing, different artifacts.
And when is that going to start?
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Hopefully we're going to launch that the beginning of next year.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And if a school wants that to go to their campus,
how do they go about reaching out to you or
how do they go about getting that?
Speaker 4 (13:48):
They can contact the museum that can contact Emily right
now we're in that fundraising stage to really raise the
money so that we can get it out into the community.
But that is our heart to get this out of
the schools because I think they will be absolutely blown away.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
That is amazing.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So that leads to my final question. How can people
support the museum if they want to donate, if they
want to, I don't know if you take volunteers, but
especially for programs like this, how can they give and help?
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Yes, volunteering. We thrive on volunteering. Another way that we're
different from the passive Museum of Art is that we're
independently funded. We are not funded by the city, so
everything we get is because of our wonderful donors and
the community that supports us. So it costs US one
hundred thousand dollars a year to operate the museum, not
including salaries. So when we break that down, it's two
hundred and seventy four dollars a day each and every day,
(14:37):
whether the museum is open or closed. So as little
as eleven dollars can support us for an hour all
the way up to a week. So whatever anybody, every
dollar counts for us. They can give on our through
our website at International Museum of Art dot org. Okay,
or they can send us a check and make checks
out to the International Association for the Visual Arts and
(14:59):
then we'll get and we will put it to good
use and start getting more out into more art out
into the community, and more programming and all of the
things that go along with what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah, like you said, it's not just about the art,
it's about the learning different culture. International Museum of Art
so it's you know, great to learn about al Paso
art and the Alpasso culture scene. But this is I
mean that window to the world program sounds amazing. I
would love for my daughter to do something like that.
So if you want to support, you can go to
International Museum of Art dot org. You can also write
(15:27):
out a check. If you forget the name that the
just repeat it for me.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
We're going to make the checks out to International Association
for the Visual.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Arts, International Association for the Visual Arts. If you forget
all of that, don't forget that. I'm pound two Sunday
ninety nine point nine and a ninety six point three
k country on their Instagram and Facebook. That information will
be there if you're listening live, if you're listening on
the free iHeart app. That information will be in the
description of the podcast. Cynthia, thank you so much for
talking with us today.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Of course, welcome.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Back to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host Amberbanda,
and today we have Doug Poland.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
He is the.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Program director for the al Paso Community Foundation and the
Plaza Classic Film Festival to include the Holiday Movies at
the Plaza Theater.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Doug, thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Thanks for inviting me.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I'm glad I got to say that maybe once or
twice throughout this interview, otherwise that'll eat up sometime. But
you wear many hats and there's a lot of good.
That just means that there's a lot of good organizations
helping other good organizations, especially this holiday season. So again,
the al Paso Community Foundation, the Plaza Classic Film Festivals,
free Holiday movies at the Plaza Theater. Doug, can you
(16:40):
tell us first a little bit about the al Paso
Community Foundation.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Yes, we are a nonprofit charitable organization founded in nineteen
seventy seven. Essentially creates an endowment that is put towards
good in our area to address various needs, so we
you know, the film festival, it was one thing that
the foundation did in response to the Plaza Theater restoration,
(17:05):
which the foundation led. The Foundation also worked with the
city on La newb Yeah, led that effort. We have
different sub organizations like the down Syndrome Coalition for El
Paso and they have the Gozos ice cream restaurants. They
(17:25):
just opened a second location. Oh, it's all over the place, education,
animal preservation, you know, you kind of name it health. Yeah,
it's it's kind of hard to describe because it's literally
all over the place.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So, I mean, I've been doing philanthropy work for a
few years, mostly aimed for child advocacy, but it's always
like a nonprofit. But I you know, I barely found
out that the difference, you know, is the al Paso
Community Foundation. It is a nonprofit, but it's not just
an organization that's geared towards one thing, like you said.
It gives money to different organizations different ways.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Girls Who Rock is another one that's fresh in my mind.
I just did an interview with Jim Ward, ol pastor
Jimward from Sparta really cool nonprofits. So again, the Alpasso
Community Foundation exists to help different organizations nonprofits around the city.
Like you said, they were vital in providing the funds
to restore and preserve the Plaza Theater, which is why
(18:21):
they decided to do the Plaza Classic Film Festival. And
again we are including the free holiday movies at the
Plaza Theater. Doug, can you give us a little bit
of history about maybe how the holiday movies came to
be or how they've involved evolved over the years.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
They started in two thousand and eight, which was the
same year of the first Plaza Classic Film Festival. Oh,
that was in response to donors questions, are you going
to bring movies back to the Plaza Theater because there
was a movie theater in its former life and now
it's a performing arts center.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
So the film festival started in two thousand and eight
as the movies returned to the Plaza Theater. And then
that Christmas on one weekend, they showed I think six
movies over two days, and it was all connected with
the tree lighting ceremony in Sanacino Plaza and the light parade.
It was that same weekend. Yeah, there was no Winterfest
(19:17):
at that time. Yes, and so they did the movies
from two thousand and eight to twenty twelve, and they
charged the admission, it was like five bucks or something,
and then they were they suspended them twenty thirteen fourteen
fifteen because Sannacino Plaza was under construction. It was being
(19:38):
renovated and had been redesigned. It took longer than expected,
so the movies were on hold because if you remember
that period, the tree lighting and the parade and all that,
it was all a little different, and they were staging
out of Cleveland Square Park for a while. And yeah,
so we waited that out and twenty sixteen the year
(20:00):
snacinto reopen and I had, you know, conferred with Eric Pearson,
our president, to get his okay on trying to bring
the movies back, so he okayed it. We went to
I'll Pass Alive, the folks who operate the theater for
the city, and they said, well, as a matter of fact,
we're starting this new winter festival, we'd love to have
(20:21):
movies as part of that. Yeah, so we've done them
ever since as part of Winterfest, which started in twenty sixteen,
and the only year there were no movies there was
no real Winterfest was twenty twenty because of the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, nothing was happening that year. I think we had.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Any set up. The schedule of movies to do is
drive ins if we got the cities. Okay, yeah, you
may recall we were a hotspot at that point. So yeah,
there was no way in hell the city was going
to give us permission to Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
No, the Yeah, a lot of stuff ended on that
on that year. But by any chance, do you know
the first movie.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
That was shown at the Plaza Classic.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
The winner, either one either either.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
For the Plaza Classic Film Festival or the Holiday Movies.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I don't remember what the first movie shown at the
Plain Classic Film Festival was, but I think the first
one that they showed that Christmas was a Christmas Story.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Okay, yeah, you should try out kid, right.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Yeah, I actually I went to see it. I was
newly back in ol Passa that year after being gone
for a long time, and I got choked up because
the movie made me think about my father, whose death
was why I had moved back to hell pass the
first place.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
You know, he was from the Detroit area and that
movie was set in a Cleveland area very similar. Yeah right,
So I didn't expect that response.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
But yeah, you never know. Was he a Turkey fiend too?
Like the movie? I'm not sure that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
So however, yes, oh yeah, oh I I relate with
your dad totally on that. So the Alpaso Community Foundation
Plaza Classic Film Festivals free holiday movies at the Plaza Theater.
So it is in conjunction with Winterfest again. Winterfest this
year going on November twenty second through January fourth, So Doug,
can you tell us a little bit more about the
(22:11):
free holiday movies? When do they start, where will they be,
and then we'll go into each.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Individual movie a little bit. We'll give our thoughts on each.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
All the movies will be at the Plaza Theater this year.
That's home base as far as I'm concerned. Yes, we've
done them there each year. We have been off site
for a few things here and there, like last year
we were in the Art Museum, but this year they're
all in the Plaza Theater. November thirtieth is the first weekend.
These are all Sundays, December seventh and then December twenty first,
(22:44):
and these are dates that were made available to us,
and that's why we were only showing six movies. This year.
Sometimes we have more dates, yeah, sometimes fewer dates. We've
shown as many as twelve movies, and I think we've
shown as few as six or seven.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, that's one of the first questions I had for
you have six movies this year, and again they're all free.
There's no charge to see them, because last year you
I mean, I was like, WHOA, I didn't even know
there was that many Christmas movies. But again, we're just
glad that they're back. We're glad that they're still here.
So let's go into all right, so they're all on
a Sunday. Let's start with the first two movies of
(23:20):
the Free Holiday Movies. The first one on Sunday is
three pm. We got Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Okay,
I gotta ask you, is this a Christmas movie or
a Halloween movie?
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Both?
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Both? All right?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
If you had to choose one, I guess you're gonna
go with Christmas, right, because it's part of the free
Holiday movie.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I'm team I'm team Halloween.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I think it's definitely like a way to kick off
the Halloween season either way.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I'll watch it for both. But you say it's both.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
We added it a few years ago at the suggestion
of a woman who used to work for All Passo
Live as a fan of the movie, and she said,
y gotta show it because we at that point we
were showing our first movies, or were usually the weekend
that Winterfest started. We're not doing that now because the
feeling is downtown is two congested and it makes parking
(24:09):
and traffic and accessibility a lot more challenging.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Yeah, that traffic is a nightmare.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Yeah, so it was our transition. In fact, the first
year we showed it, if I remember correctly, we showed
Nightmare and we showed planes, trains and automobile.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Oh yeah, so you had.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
A Halloween into Christmas and then a Thanksgiving and then
we could go.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Into Christal nice little transition, but it dried.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
These the six movies were showing all draw around five
to six hundred people a year. They averaged five to
six hundred people a year.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Is that? Wait? Is that how you narrowed it down
to those six?
Speaker 5 (24:43):
Just decided with six slots we haven't had We've shown
more than six for the last several years. Yeah, So
with only six slots, I decided, let's just go with
the biggest the most popular titles, because even though we
may show these from year to year, there are a
lot of people who've.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Never experienced Yeah, exactly, and.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
It's free, so anybody can go, right, And so sometimes
people will go they'll see Nightmare before Christmas on a
screen for the first time. Yeah, they've seen it thirty
times at home, right, but never in a movie theater.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
And so again, if you're just joining us, I have
here Doug Pulland, program director for the El Paso Community
Foundation and the Plaza Classic Film Festival. We are talking
about their free holiday movies at the Plaza Theater. So again,
three weekends each on a Sunday. So we just got
into Sunday, November thirtieth, we got the Tim Burton's The
Nightmare before Christmas. Now that evening at five thirty it
(25:39):
is home alone.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
That's my ten year old. That's one of her favorite
Christmas movies.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
Yeah. Yeah, and that one, that one's always real popular.
The first time we showed it was in twenty sixteen
and it didn't draw that well. But the reason it
didn't draw well is that we were set up on
two Saturdays, three movie is each Saturday. Oh, we found
out the week before the movies that somebody on the
(26:06):
i'l passa Live side had made a mistake. Oh no,
and didn't realize that there was a showloading. Oh we
had to move them up, yeah, Friday, and so they
were all shown on a school day.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Oh yeah, that's why I heard about it. Yeah, that's
got to be tough.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
So yeah, the home alone, that's a big one. And
then the next weekend after that, Sunday, December seventh, we
have at two thirty pm, It's a Wonderful Life. So again,
you also chose these movies because of the run time, right,
and they're all about.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
Yeah, you sequence them with the run time in mind,
you know, Ah, try not to go. The longer the
movie is, the harder it is to keep people there,
especially with young kids. Yeah, but a movie like It's
a Wonderful Life, that's that's the oldest classic in this group.
It's a little over two hours. It's about two hours
and ten minutes. It's a lot of people's favorite Chris movie.
(27:00):
Oh yeah, and uh that's gonna draw You're not going
to have as many little kids in a movie like that, right,
young adults up to elderly. Yeah, and so that's an audience.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
It's like, that's the every time a bell ring an
angel kid? Right, Yeah, you know, I've never seen that
movie in its entirety. I've seen like bits and pieces,
but that would be one that I again, most people
haven't seen on screen.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
If you see it in a theater, it's a different experience.
It's a very emotional movie. It's dark at times. Yeah,
and we paired it with Elf at six because Elf
actually contains homages to It's a Wonderful life.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Really. Yeah, I've seen that movie multiple times.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Which was the most obvious one is when Buddy has
run away from his human home. Huh, and he's walking
along the bridge looking down. He's contemplating suicide.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh oh, I never caught that.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Which is what George Bailey does, walks along the bridge.
So that's one of the little nods too. It's so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
One of my favorite things every time I see Sanna
in the crowd is I know him like I just
everyone knows that I know him, all right. And then
the final weekend we got Sunday, December twenty first, three pm,
The Polar Express. I really do love that movie, I
guess because it kind of reminds me of the Hogwarts Express.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
But what are your thoughts on that movie?
Speaker 5 (28:27):
That was a movie? You know, I lived in Michigan
a long time. The author of the book is from
Grand Rapids. The train that they modeled that on is
up there. I've seen it, and so I had an
interest in it when I heard they were making a
movie on it, and my son was the right age.
But when the movie came out, I didn't see it
(28:48):
and I was kind of creeped out by the animation,
and so I had no interest in them. Yeah, and
that was another one that one of one of my
i'l Passo Live cohorts suggested one year, like, why don't
you try it? So I did. I remember watching it
at home going this just creeps me out. But put
(29:11):
it on the big screen totally that it did apparence
and yeah, it draws really well. Kids just eye up.
And it's got a real sweet sentiment to it also,
And so I flip flopped on that movie after I
watched it in the theater.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
So I'm not gonna lie now that you're saying this.
When my ten year old, I think she saw it
maybe a couple of years ago, she said the same thing.
The animation kind of creeped her out, but again, it
is a very nice story, and right now is one
of your media cohorts. I'm telling you, when you put
in a Harry Potter movie for the Holiday movies, I
want to be one of the first, and I want
to see how it does, because I mean, Harry Potter
could be either Halloween or Christmas. So I'd be interested
(29:49):
to see how that one goes. And finally, one another
one of my absolute favorites, the final sixth movie of
the free Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theater, Doctor Seuss's
Z How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I'm not talking about
the cartoon. I'm talking about the Jim Carrey at six pm.
Tell me what are your thoughts on, you know, the
(30:10):
Jim Carrey Grinch versus the new cartoon Grinch?
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Which is your favorite?
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Well? I haven't seen the new cartoon Grinch. Oh okay, okay,
so I can't. I can't judge that one. I grew
up watching the TV version of How the Yes, yeah,
of course that's my age group.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah no, I grew up watching that one too.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
I love that one too, and I love that and
we showed that one year when we were able to
license it, and because licensing, if you can't get licensing,
you can't show true. This was another suggestion, and I
had never seen this version before. I'd never really wanted
to see it because of the way it looked to
me when I saw it in trailers commercials. That's back
(30:52):
when I didn't have to think about it. And yeah,
so I got a copy of it and watched it,
and it was a lot better movie than I thought
it was. But it plays better in the theater. Again,
I think, Yeah, there's some more communal aspect to it.
And because the screen is so big, it's forty three
(31:12):
by twenty, there's an immersive quality and so some of
the emotion and yeah, sentiments that are built in, you know,
baked into these movies, you can appreciate it more because
you're not having TV commercials. Yeah, you're not being interrupted,
you know, by somebody in the family, who's where's the
such and such? Right, it's you and the screen.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Well, and it's kind of like listening to music on
your own verses as a concert, where everyone's there for
that same reason and you all can and also have
that shared joy of it.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
The Grinch is still Christmas. I can do so many
cultes from that one.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
But one of my favorite was when I was more
on Facebook and it had the suggested friends and it
showed the Grinch where he was like hate.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Hate hate lo entirely like yeah, so again.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
You can find all of these movies at Plazaclassic dot com.
You can go I can see what movies are playing when,
and they're all going to be at the Plaza Theater. Doug,
is there anything else that you would like to tell
the listening audience?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Just know that these are free. There are no tickets required.
You just show up. You've got to walk through the
motion or the sensors and all the security stuff, but
there's no tickets. It's general admission seating. The Plaza Theater
seats over two thousand people.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Oh wow.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
These movies average five to six hundred every year, so
there's plenty of seats. Yeah, you don't need to worry
about reserving seats or anything like that. And in the
thirty minutes leading up to the movie, we have different
local organists playing the Wiler Mighty World Pipe Organ, which
(32:49):
is the theater's original pipe organ from nineteen thirty which
is a rarity these days for an original organ to
still be housed it's original home.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Or for people to know how to play the Yeah,
that's even more.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
That's even rare. And again, no food in the theater.
It's not like traditional popcorn. But there are drinks. Correct,
they have a concession out then, Okay, that is.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
Open some of the time. I don't know what their
schedule is for these movies. I assume they'll be there.
They usually do some themed drinks, you know, tied in
with the movies and things like that. But I haven't
been informed one way or the other. But I assume
they'll be there yet.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Okay, awesome, So again, Plazaclassic dot com you can find
out more information about the Plaza Theater, the Classic Film Festival,
the holiday movie schedule, and you can also go to
ep Winterfest dot com since this is a part of
the Winterfest. It's going to be going on until January fourth. Doug,
thank you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
Sure, thanks for the invitation.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
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one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(34:05):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
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now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host, Amberbanda,
and today we have Cynthia Horden. She is the board
member of the International Museum of Art. Cynthia, thank you
for talking.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
With us today.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Of course, So the International Museum of Art, it's a museum,
it's an art gallery, you know, like you said, it's
a historic home, and it's a venue. And we'll get
into all of that in a little bit. But the
first thing I want to address, especially when my husband solidified,
it was International Museum of Art. That is different from
the Alpaso Museum of Art.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Correct, absolutely correct, All.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Right, Can you explain to the listening audience a little
bit about the interest National Museum of Art.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Yes, the International Museum of Art was founded in nineteen
forty eight and it was it's actually called the International
Association for the Visual Arts, and we're an organization that's
managing the International Museum of Art. What we do is
we have artwork from all over the world. We have
an international collection, we have painting, sculptures, just a beautiful
array of things. And you know, we're really excited because
(01:23):
one of our latest acquisitions is a ten thousand piece
collection from a lady who traveled around the world and
her name is Sue Knigg, and she donated her items
to us from one hundred and ten different countries. So
we're really excited because that really gives us that international flair,
and that's what really makes us different from the El
Paso Museum of Art. They deal with local art and
(01:46):
some you know, very broad spectrum of things, but we
focus on international art and then also on local art.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
So when you said that ten thousand pieces of art,
the first question that crossed through my mind is kind
of like the logistics of it.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
How long does it take that to set up?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
You know, how many eighteen wheelers does that take? Can
you give us an idea of how long that would take?
To actually put into the museum.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
We started this project in twenty twenty two and we
brought it down into It came from Colorado, so we
brought it down in two different shipments, and the first
shipment was one hundred and ninety some boxes and the
second one was five hundred and sixty.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Two or five hundred and something.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
And we started opening the boxes and receiving those items
in March of twenty twenty three, and we finished about
fifteen weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Oh my gosh, we're in twenty twenty five. People, just
keep that in mind. That is amazing. So again, the
International Museum of Art, it's a museum, can you So
you touched a little bit upon the art, right, So
there's all different types. There's paintings, there's sculptures. What other
type of art is there before we continue?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So we have artifacts. The gallery that we just opened
was the African and Middle Eastern Gallery, So those are
items out of daily life. In the collection, there's over
seven hundred pieces of clothing. Not at any time are
all these items going to be out at once possible.
So we have a gallery set up that we opened
April fifth. It's open to the public. It'll be up
for about another year, and it has about one hundred
(03:09):
and twenty two items from the Middle East and Africa
in it. And so when you look at that one
hundred and twenty two pieces out of ten thousand, it's
less than one percent of the entire collection. So we
are putting those items in different areas of the museum,
beefing up some of our other displays. We have a
Buddha collection, and so we're putting items that come from
Laos and from Nepal, items of daily life and prayer
(03:33):
life into those cabinets too. So it's been a wonderful
acquisition for us. So you'll see sculptures, you'll see weapons,
musical instruments, all sorts of things. So we also one
of the number one things that we would say when
we would open the boxes.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
Is what is it?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Because we were like, okay, what is this good? I'm
not the only one.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Even the people that work they're like, is how do
you choose? Like, Okay, we have ten thousand items, how
do you choose which of the small percent is going
to be displayed.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
We have a great team, you know, Emily who's a director,
and Alatte who does our curation of those, they come
up with some spectacular ideas and then they'll ask us,
since we're the ones that unpacked it, you know, can
you find us these items? They have a list that
they can go by because it's divided by regions. She
went to seven different regions, and so they'll tell us
kind of what their concept is and we'll just start
(04:22):
pulling items and they get to look at it and
they start curating a show. And that's what they'll see
with the African and Middle Eastern Gallery, that's the first
installment of what we've been able to do with this.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So Africa and Middle East, and so you know, you
mentioned that one and then you mentioned that lady that
traveled all over the world and brought her ten thousand pieces,
took you a little over two years to actually put
into the museum for display. How do you choose or
how do you acquire? Okay, we're going to get this
artist or we're going to get this you know, because
I guess they travel all over the world. Like how's
that decision process? Like what you choose to bring to
the museum.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
So when for the art gallery part, we focus on
Southwestern art those well, not Southwestern art, but people that
are in this regional art so the artists that are local,
so you will see just a wide variety of their
artistic expression, which is really exciting. So we have two
changing galleries, so Emily is always creating different opportunities. We
(05:13):
have member showcases where our members can actually display their
art in a competitive process, and it's just amazing to
see some of the art that is coming out of
our community, young artists, those that have been seasoned artists
for a long time, and just to see it all
in one place and on a rotating basis, it's really amazing.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Do you have any art in there?
Speaker 4 (05:34):
I am not an artist, I am.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
A master of stick figures. Just curious. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
And so not only is it the museum, it's an
art gallery, it's a historic home.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You touched on all that.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It's also a venue. Can you describe the venue a
little bit to the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Yeah, so a trust home. The architectural concepts of it
are fantastic. The house was built I think in nineteen
oh nine nineteen ten or finished in nineteen ten. It
took up an entire city block. Oh wow, it costs
fifty thousand dollars at that time, so if you look
at it in today's economic terms, is probably two million dollars.
But it's got its original floors in the parlor. It's
(06:09):
just really a beautiful building and it's got stained glass
in there. And we just I think of last year.
November of last year, we received our historic designation for
the trust's home, so it has a historic marker there.
So for those that are history buffs, I mean, we
have something for everyone, those that like arts and culture,
(06:29):
those that like you know, the history and historic homes.
And it's a great venue. We've had a lot of
people that have had their weddings there, People hold meetings there.
There was one there just this past weekend with Alpha.
They had a panel discussion and they did their program,
so Polarosa so all types of activity. So we have
(06:50):
an auditorium they can also rent. We have a one
hundred and sixty eight seat theater, which a lot of
people don't know. Yes, we are hidden gyms, so we
want you to We want people to know about us
and and come check us out.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And again you can find pictures and more information at
International Museum of Art dot org. Where is it located.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
Twelve eleven Montana Avenue, right right in the heart of
Central Pasta.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Right in the heart of Central alpas So it is
a hidden gym. Again, and if you're just tuning in,
I have Cynthia Horden. She's board member of the International
Museum of Art, not the same as the Olpassive.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Museum of Art. Again, if you're just tuning in.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Cindy, we talked a little bit about the museum. It's
an art gallery, it's a historic home, it's a beautiful venue.
Are there any programs that the museum offers?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Gosh, yes, I have a plethora of programs and they're
they're continuing to change. So Emily does, especially for our members.
So I want to, you know, make sure I encourage
people to become a member and find out all of
the interesting activities that we have. But as far as
programming we have, she'll do like themed art shows for
(07:51):
the community or for the or for our members, tying
programming to them. She also has a what do they
call it? They not like a seek and fine, but
a scavenger hunt, oh yea for adults and children where
they can go and they can do a scavenger hunt
throughout the museum and find out interesting pieces and things
about the museum. We do all sorts of programming around
(08:13):
the building we just received. And you know, one of
our great partners is the El Paso Museum of Art.
They have a lot of items that were from the
Tro's home. They've just given us one that is just
a beautiful kitchen buffet. It's huge and we just have
that and we set that back in the original place
where it was. So there's just all sorts of different programming,
(08:35):
historic programming. People can learn more about our Window to
the World collection, they can learn about different cultures.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I know that they plan.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
Different things around like Dia delos Mortos, all sorts of things.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, and you said that it is also for kids too.
That's my selfish thinking because I have a ten year
old who just loves art and twenty year old that
also loves art too, So okay, so it's different ages
and again you can find more information on those programs
at International Museum of Art dot org. Now it is November,
it is the holiday season and in all Passo that
means Tony, the Tiger Sun Bowl, the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
(09:11):
You know a lot of people are talking about that
right now. It's that time and at the International Museum
of Art there is the Sun Bowl Art Exhibition. Can
you tell us a little bit more about that, Cynthia.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, this is one of the biggest events we do
during the year and it's a jury show. So this
year we had over We had ninety seven artists, which
is the largest we've ever had that have displayed their artwork.
So the galleries are set up. There's two different galleries
and I was touring them the other day and I said,
this is incredible, incredible, just a variety of artwork. It's
just demonstrating the talent of al Paso Ones. I mean,
(09:44):
we just really shine when we're asked to do creative
things or just anything, you know, so just to see
the beauty of what they can produce. So we had
over The reception was last week and those over four
hundred people. That there's about four hundred people that came.
But it displays all sorts. It's a jury show. They
can see our list of winners on the on the
(10:05):
website and they can also go and see some of
the pictures as well, or they connect or they can
connect with us on Instagram or on Facebook and see
some of the see some of the artwork, but we
want them to come, come, come by and see it. Yeah,
there's there's a just a tremendous spectrum. There's some sculpture
in there. There's all sorts of artwork. I mean, just amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, it's it's always different right to experience it in person.
It's it's being around the people that are there to
experience the same thing. When I was on the Instagram,
I believe it was part of the sun Boll Art exhibition.
It was a painting and it was like of a
close up of an eyeball and they were pulling the eye,
the lower eyelid down, but in it was the one
(10:43):
of my favorite paintings every time I see it, the
Franklin Mountain with the star and it was really cool.
So you can see that on their Instagram, but again,
better yet see it in person. So the sun Ball
Art Exhibition, does that mean that all of the art
that was entered has the theme of the Tony the
Tiger sun Bull or they giving Day parade or is
that just the name of it.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
That's just the name of it. Yeah, they're the sponsor
of it, and so it's just a part of the
many activities that the sun Bowl Association does. So we're
privileged to be able to add that art and cultural
aspect to it. Yeah, because I'll passa is just so
diverse and has so much talent and so much energy.
And I think the picture they were talking about, I
think that was the one that won Best in Show.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Ah, that could be it because it was one of
the ones that was featured. And I just actually had
the sun Ball Association on a lot of people weren't
aware that they are a nonprofit and you think football,
you think the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but it's amazing that
they're also supporting the cultural scene here and I'll pass.
So they're supporting the arts and that's amazing. And so
this has been going on the sun Ball Art Exhibition
since nineteen forty nine, so a year after the museum
(11:42):
actually opened again. If you want to see the winners,
you can go to the International Museum of Art dot org.
Now one of the questions that I have, can you
purchase the art?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Yes, the artwork can be purchased.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Wow awesome, and it just and.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Some of them have already sold.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Oh okay, so act fast and that would be again
around the holiday days. You know, you can order something
off Amazon this and that's great. I do it all
the time. But to have something to gift someone that's local,
you know, no one else has. It's something that's been
in an international museum of art. You're supporting the cultural
scene here in I'll pass so you can purchase the
art now it's all art for sale or do like?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
How does that.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Work for the gallery for the for this show?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yes, all the all for that show?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Okay, yes, okay, well yeah, how you're not going to
be selling the artifacture maffac Ar.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Middle East for things that I unpacked, those are not
for sale.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I mean everything's for sale, right, but I don't think
anyone else passle might have that type of money. But again,
the sun Boll Art exhibition, it's going on. When when
is the last day to see it?
Speaker 4 (12:39):
January eleventh?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
January eleventh, Okay, so act fast because it's going to
be the holidays. You know you want to see it
right now before because January is going to be here
before you know it. So the International Museum of Art
dot org, Cynthia, is there anything else that you would
like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I do you had mentioned you your child has a
love for art. One of the things that we're going
to be doing is with our Window to the World,
we're going to make that a mobile museum. That's a
project that we're working on right now that we're actually
going to be able to take into schools with about
one hundred and twenty five different artifacts where the kids
can handle it.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
It's must be some sturdy artifacts.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Yes, they can try on some of the clothing. And
that's exactly what the founder who donated these items to
us did for her students. She had a bug for
traveling and she the reason why she bought all these
items was to teach her students so that they would
understand culture. So there's musical instruments, weapons, clothing, story books
in different languages, I mean, all sorts of things, so.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
From different parts of the world, different clothing, different artifacts.
And when is that going to start?
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Hopefully we're going to launch that the beginning of next year.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And if a school wants that to go to their campus,
how do they go about reaching out to you or
how do they go about getting that?
Speaker 4 (13:48):
They can contact the museum that can contact Emily right
now we're in that fundraising stage to really raise the
money so that we can get it out into the community.
But that is our heart to get this out of
the schools because I think they will be absolutely blown away.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
That is amazing.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So that leads to my final question. How can people
support the museum if they want to donate, if they
want to, I don't know if you take volunteers, but
especially for programs like this, how can they give and help?
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Yes, volunteering. We thrive on volunteering. Another way that we're
different from the passive Museum of Art is that we're
independently funded. We are not funded by the city, so
everything we get is because of our wonderful donors and
the community that supports us. So it costs US one
hundred thousand dollars a year to operate the museum, not
including salaries. So when we break that down, it's two
hundred and seventy four dollars a day each and every day,
(14:37):
whether the museum is open or closed. So as little
as eleven dollars can support us for an hour all
the way up to a week. So whatever anybody, every
dollar counts for us. They can give on our through
our website at International Museum of Art dot org. Okay,
or they can send us a check and make checks
out to the International Association for the Visual Arts and
(14:59):
then we'll get and we will put it to good
use and start getting more out into more art out
into the community, and more programming and all of the
things that go along with what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah, like you said, it's not just about the art,
it's about the learning different culture. International Museum of Art
so it's you know, great to learn about al Paso
art and the Alpasso culture scene. But this is I
mean that window to the world program sounds amazing. I
would love for my daughter to do something like that.
So if you want to support, you can go to
International Museum of Art dot org. You can also write
(15:27):
out a check. If you forget the name that the
just repeat it for me.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
We're going to make the checks out to International Association
for the Visual.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Arts, International Association for the Visual Arts. If you forget
all of that, don't forget that. I'm pound two Sunday
ninety nine point nine and a ninety six point three
k country on their Instagram and Facebook. That information will
be there if you're listening live, if you're listening on
the free iHeart app. That information will be in the
description of the podcast. Cynthia, thank you so much for
talking with us today.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Of course, welcome.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Back to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host Amberbanda,
and today we have Doug Poland.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
He is the.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Program director for the al Paso Community Foundation and the
Plaza Classic Film Festival to include the Holiday Movies at
the Plaza Theater.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Doug, thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Thanks for inviting me.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I'm glad I got to say that maybe once or
twice throughout this interview, otherwise that'll eat up sometime. But
you wear many hats and there's a lot of good.
That just means that there's a lot of good organizations
helping other good organizations, especially this holiday season. So again,
the al Paso Community Foundation, the Plaza Classic Film Festivals,
free Holiday movies at the Plaza Theater. Doug, can you
(16:40):
tell us first a little bit about the al Paso
Community Foundation.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
Yes, we are a nonprofit charitable organization founded in nineteen
seventy seven. Essentially creates an endowment that is put towards
good in our area to address various needs, so we
you know, the film festival, it was one thing that
the foundation did in response to the Plaza Theater restoration,
(17:05):
which the foundation led. The Foundation also worked with the
city on La newb Yeah, led that effort. We have
different sub organizations like the down Syndrome Coalition for El
Paso and they have the Gozos ice cream restaurants. They
(17:25):
just opened a second location. Oh, it's all over the place, education,
animal preservation, you know, you kind of name it health. Yeah,
it's it's kind of hard to describe because it's literally
all over the place.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So, I mean, I've been doing philanthropy work for a
few years, mostly aimed for child advocacy, but it's always
like a nonprofit. But I you know, I barely found
out that the difference, you know, is the al Paso
Community Foundation. It is a nonprofit, but it's not just
an organization that's geared towards one thing, like you said.
It gives money to different organizations different ways.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Girls Who Rock is another one that's fresh in my mind.
I just did an interview with Jim Ward, ol pastor
Jimward from Sparta really cool nonprofits. So again, the Alpasso
Community Foundation exists to help different organizations nonprofits around the city.
Like you said, they were vital in providing the funds
to restore and preserve the Plaza Theater, which is why
(18:21):
they decided to do the Plaza Classic Film Festival. And
again we are including the free holiday movies at the
Plaza Theater. Doug, can you give us a little bit
of history about maybe how the holiday movies came to
be or how they've involved evolved over the years.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
They started in two thousand and eight, which was the
same year of the first Plaza Classic Film Festival. Oh,
that was in response to donors questions, are you going
to bring movies back to the Plaza Theater because there
was a movie theater in its former life and now
it's a performing arts center.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
So the film festival started in two thousand and eight
as the movies returned to the Plaza Theater. And then
that Christmas on one weekend, they showed I think six
movies over two days, and it was all connected with
the tree lighting ceremony in Sanacino Plaza and the light parade.
It was that same weekend. Yeah, there was no Winterfest
(19:17):
at that time. Yes, and so they did the movies
from two thousand and eight to twenty twelve, and they
charged the admission, it was like five bucks or something,
and then they were they suspended them twenty thirteen fourteen
fifteen because Sannacino Plaza was under construction. It was being
(19:38):
renovated and had been redesigned. It took longer than expected,
so the movies were on hold because if you remember
that period, the tree lighting and the parade and all that,
it was all a little different, and they were staging
out of Cleveland Square Park for a while. And yeah,
so we waited that out and twenty sixteen the year
(20:00):
snacinto reopen and I had, you know, conferred with Eric Pearson,
our president, to get his okay on trying to bring
the movies back, so he okayed it. We went to
I'll Pass Alive, the folks who operate the theater for
the city, and they said, well, as a matter of fact,
we're starting this new winter festival, we'd love to have
(20:21):
movies as part of that. Yeah, so we've done them
ever since as part of Winterfest, which started in twenty sixteen,
and the only year there were no movies there was
no real Winterfest was twenty twenty because of the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, nothing was happening that year. I think we had.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Any set up. The schedule of movies to do is
drive ins if we got the cities. Okay, yeah, you
may recall we were a hotspot at that point. So yeah,
there was no way in hell the city was going
to give us permission to Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
No, the Yeah, a lot of stuff ended on that
on that year. But by any chance, do you know
the first movie.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
That was shown at the Plaza Classic.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
The winner, either one either either.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
For the Plaza Classic Film Festival or the Holiday Movies.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I don't remember what the first movie shown at the
Plain Classic Film Festival was, but I think the first
one that they showed that Christmas was a Christmas Story.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Okay, yeah, you should try out kid, right.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Yeah, I actually I went to see it. I was
newly back in ol Passa that year after being gone
for a long time, and I got choked up because
the movie made me think about my father, whose death
was why I had moved back to hell pass the
first place.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
You know, he was from the Detroit area and that
movie was set in a Cleveland area very similar. Yeah right,
So I didn't expect that response.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
But yeah, you never know. Was he a Turkey fiend too?
Like the movie? I'm not sure that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
So however, yes, oh yeah, oh I I relate with
your dad totally on that. So the Alpaso Community Foundation
Plaza Classic Film Festivals free holiday movies at the Plaza Theater.
So it is in conjunction with Winterfest again. Winterfest this
year going on November twenty second through January fourth, So Doug,
can you tell us a little bit more about the
(22:11):
free holiday movies? When do they start, where will they be,
and then we'll go into each.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Individual movie a little bit. We'll give our thoughts on each.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
All the movies will be at the Plaza Theater this year.
That's home base as far as I'm concerned. Yes, we've
done them there each year. We have been off site
for a few things here and there, like last year
we were in the Art Museum, but this year they're
all in the Plaza Theater. November thirtieth is the first weekend.
These are all Sundays, December seventh and then December twenty first,
(22:44):
and these are dates that were made available to us,
and that's why we were only showing six movies. This year.
Sometimes we have more dates, yeah, sometimes fewer dates. We've
shown as many as twelve movies, and I think we've
shown as few as six or seven.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, that's one of the first questions I had for
you have six movies this year, and again they're all free.
There's no charge to see them, because last year you
I mean, I was like, WHOA, I didn't even know
there was that many Christmas movies. But again, we're just
glad that they're back. We're glad that they're still here.
So let's go into all right, so they're all on
a Sunday. Let's start with the first two movies of
(23:20):
the Free Holiday Movies. The first one on Sunday is
three pm. We got Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Okay,
I gotta ask you, is this a Christmas movie or
a Halloween movie?
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Both?
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Both? All right?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
If you had to choose one, I guess you're gonna
go with Christmas, right, because it's part of the free
Holiday movie.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I'm team I'm team Halloween.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I think it's definitely like a way to kick off
the Halloween season either way.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I'll watch it for both. But you say it's both.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
We added it a few years ago at the suggestion
of a woman who used to work for All Passo
Live as a fan of the movie, and she said,
y gotta show it because we at that point we
were showing our first movies, or were usually the weekend
that Winterfest started. We're not doing that now because the
feeling is downtown is two congested and it makes parking
(24:09):
and traffic and accessibility a lot more challenging.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Yeah, that traffic is a nightmare.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Yeah, so it was our transition. In fact, the first
year we showed it, if I remember correctly, we showed
Nightmare and we showed planes, trains and automobile.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Oh yeah, so you had.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
A Halloween into Christmas and then a Thanksgiving and then
we could go.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
Into Christal nice little transition, but it dried.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
These the six movies were showing all draw around five
to six hundred people a year. They averaged five to
six hundred people a year.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Is that? Wait? Is that how you narrowed it down
to those six?
Speaker 5 (24:43):
Just decided with six slots we haven't had We've shown
more than six for the last several years. Yeah, So
with only six slots, I decided, let's just go with
the biggest the most popular titles, because even though we
may show these from year to year, there are a
lot of people who've.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Never experienced Yeah, exactly, and.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
It's free, so anybody can go, right, And so sometimes
people will go they'll see Nightmare before Christmas on a
screen for the first time. Yeah, they've seen it thirty
times at home, right, but never in a movie theater.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
And so again, if you're just joining us, I have
here Doug Pulland, program director for the El Paso Community
Foundation and the Plaza Classic Film Festival. We are talking
about their free holiday movies at the Plaza Theater. So again,
three weekends each on a Sunday. So we just got
into Sunday, November thirtieth, we got the Tim Burton's The
Nightmare before Christmas. Now that evening at five thirty it
(25:39):
is home alone.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
That's my ten year old. That's one of her favorite
Christmas movies.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
Yeah. Yeah, and that one, that one's always real popular.
The first time we showed it was in twenty sixteen
and it didn't draw that well. But the reason it
didn't draw well is that we were set up on
two Saturdays, three movie is each Saturday. Oh, we found
out the week before the movies that somebody on the
(26:06):
i'l passa Live side had made a mistake. Oh no,
and didn't realize that there was a showloading. Oh we
had to move them up, yeah, Friday, and so they
were all shown on a school day.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Oh yeah, that's why I heard about it. Yeah, that's
got to be tough.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
So yeah, the home alone, that's a big one. And
then the next weekend after that, Sunday, December seventh, we
have at two thirty pm, It's a Wonderful Life. So again,
you also chose these movies because of the run time, right,
and they're all about.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
Yeah, you sequence them with the run time in mind,
you know, Ah, try not to go. The longer the
movie is, the harder it is to keep people there,
especially with young kids. Yeah, but a movie like It's
a Wonderful Life, that's that's the oldest classic in this group.
It's a little over two hours. It's about two hours
and ten minutes. It's a lot of people's favorite Chris movie.
(27:00):
Oh yeah, and uh that's gonna draw You're not going
to have as many little kids in a movie like that, right,
young adults up to elderly. Yeah, and so that's an audience.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
It's like, that's the every time a bell ring an
angel kid? Right, Yeah, you know, I've never seen that
movie in its entirety. I've seen like bits and pieces,
but that would be one that I again, most people
haven't seen on screen.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
If you see it in a theater, it's a different experience.
It's a very emotional movie. It's dark at times. Yeah,
and we paired it with Elf at six because Elf
actually contains homages to It's a Wonderful life.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Really. Yeah, I've seen that movie multiple times.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Which was the most obvious one is when Buddy has
run away from his human home. Huh, and he's walking
along the bridge looking down. He's contemplating suicide.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh oh, I never caught that.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Which is what George Bailey does, walks along the bridge.
So that's one of the little nods too. It's so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
One of my favorite things every time I see Sanna
in the crowd is I know him like I just
everyone knows that I know him, all right. And then
the final weekend we got Sunday, December twenty first, three pm,
The Polar Express. I really do love that movie, I
guess because it kind of reminds me of the Hogwarts Express.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
But what are your thoughts on that movie?
Speaker 5 (28:27):
That was a movie? You know, I lived in Michigan
a long time. The author of the book is from
Grand Rapids. The train that they modeled that on is
up there. I've seen it, and so I had an
interest in it when I heard they were making a
movie on it, and my son was the right age.
But when the movie came out, I didn't see it
(28:48):
and I was kind of creeped out by the animation,
and so I had no interest in them. Yeah, and
that was another one that one of one of my
i'l Passo Live cohorts suggested one year, like, why don't
you try it? So I did. I remember watching it
at home going this just creeps me out. But put
(29:11):
it on the big screen totally that it did apparence
and yeah, it draws really well. Kids just eye up.
And it's got a real sweet sentiment to it also,
And so I flip flopped on that movie after I
watched it in the theater.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
So I'm not gonna lie now that you're saying this.
When my ten year old, I think she saw it
maybe a couple of years ago, she said the same thing.
The animation kind of creeped her out, but again, it
is a very nice story, and right now is one
of your media cohorts. I'm telling you, when you put
in a Harry Potter movie for the Holiday movies, I
want to be one of the first, and I want
to see how it does, because I mean, Harry Potter
could be either Halloween or Christmas. So I'd be interested
(29:49):
to see how that one goes. And finally, one another
one of my absolute favorites, the final sixth movie of
the free Holiday Movies at the Plaza Theater, Doctor Seuss's
Z How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I'm not talking about
the cartoon. I'm talking about the Jim Carrey at six pm.
Tell me what are your thoughts on, you know, the
(30:10):
Jim Carrey Grinch versus the new cartoon Grinch?
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Which is your favorite?
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Well? I haven't seen the new cartoon Grinch. Oh okay, okay,
so I can't. I can't judge that one. I grew
up watching the TV version of How the Yes, yeah,
of course that's my age group.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Yeah no, I grew up watching that one too.
Speaker 5 (30:29):
I love that one too, and I love that and
we showed that one year when we were able to
license it, and because licensing, if you can't get licensing,
you can't show true. This was another suggestion, and I
had never seen this version before. I'd never really wanted
to see it because of the way it looked to
me when I saw it in trailers commercials. That's back
(30:52):
when I didn't have to think about it. And yeah,
so I got a copy of it and watched it,
and it was a lot better movie than I thought
it was. But it plays better in the theater. Again,
I think, Yeah, there's some more communal aspect to it.
And because the screen is so big, it's forty three
(31:12):
by twenty, there's an immersive quality and so some of
the emotion and yeah, sentiments that are built in, you know,
baked into these movies, you can appreciate it more because
you're not having TV commercials. Yeah, you're not being interrupted,
you know, by somebody in the family, who's where's the
such and such? Right, it's you and the screen.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Well, and it's kind of like listening to music on
your own verses as a concert, where everyone's there for
that same reason and you all can and also have
that shared joy of it.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
The Grinch is still Christmas. I can do so many
cultes from that one.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
But one of my favorite was when I was more
on Facebook and it had the suggested friends and it
showed the Grinch where he was like hate.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Hate hate lo entirely like yeah, so again.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
You can find all of these movies at Plazaclassic dot com.
You can go I can see what movies are playing when,
and they're all going to be at the Plaza Theater. Doug,
is there anything else that you would like to tell
the listening audience?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Just know that these are free. There are no tickets required.
You just show up. You've got to walk through the
motion or the sensors and all the security stuff, but
there's no tickets. It's general admission seating. The Plaza Theater
seats over two thousand people.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Oh wow.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
These movies average five to six hundred every year, so
there's plenty of seats. Yeah, you don't need to worry
about reserving seats or anything like that. And in the
thirty minutes leading up to the movie, we have different
local organists playing the Wiler Mighty World Pipe Organ, which
(32:49):
is the theater's original pipe organ from nineteen thirty which
is a rarity these days for an original organ to
still be housed it's original home.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Or for people to know how to play the Yeah,
that's even more.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
That's even rare. And again, no food in the theater.
It's not like traditional popcorn. But there are drinks. Correct,
they have a concession out then, Okay, that is.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
Open some of the time. I don't know what their
schedule is for these movies. I assume they'll be there.
They usually do some themed drinks, you know, tied in
with the movies and things like that. But I haven't
been informed one way or the other. But I assume
they'll be there yet.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Okay, awesome, So again, Plazaclassic dot com you can find
out more information about the Plaza Theater, the Classic Film Festival,
the holiday movie schedule, and you can also go to
ep Winterfest dot com since this is a part of
the Winterfest. It's going to be going on until January fourth. Doug,
thank you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
Sure, thanks for the invitation.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program. Please email to ep Forum at iHeartMedia dot
com or call us at nine one five three five
one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(34:05):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso
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