Amor Por Juarez

AMOR POR JUREZ WAS FOUNDED IN 2009 AS A PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN INTENDED TO ATTRACT PEOPLE BACK TO CIUDAD JUREZ, THE WORLDS LARGEST INTERNATIONAL BORDER METROPLEX, DURING A PERIOD OF REGIONAL TURMOIL. AFTER THE FEDERAL REORGANIZATION OF 2012, AMOR POR JUAREZ EMERGED AS A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION WITH A RENEWED FOCUS. ALTHOUGH GROUNDED IN ITS ORIGINAL INTENT TO REVIVE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN CIUDAD JUREZ, AS A NONPROFIT, AMOR POR JUREZ, TURNED ITS FOCUS TO CULTIVATING A DYNAMIC AND DIVERSE CONTEMPORARY ARTS COMMUNITY WITH THE POTENTIAL TO POSITIVELY IMPACT THE CITY AND THE REGION IN NUMEROUS WAYS. IN 2008, THE ESCALATING DRUG WAR PLAGUING MXICO APPEARED TO COME TO A HEAD IN CIUDAD JUREZ, MAKING THE CITY ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT IN THE WORLD AND DRIVING AWAY BUSINESSES, TOURISTS, AND LOCAL RESIDENTS ALIKE, MANY OF WHOM MADE THEIR WAY ACROSS THE BORDER INTO THE UNITED STATES. ALTHOUGH DEBILITATING, THE INFLUX OF VIOLENCE DID NOT QUELL THE HEART OF THE CITY NOR DID IT DIMINISH THE AIM OF REGIONAL LEADERS DETERMINED TO END THE NEGATIVE PUBLICITY BY RESTORING A POSITIVE PUBLIC PERCEPTION THAT COULD LEAD TO A REVIVAL OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EXCHANGE. AND WITH THAT IN MIND, AMOR POR JUAREZ WAS BORN. NOW IT HAS DEVELOPED LARGE-SCALE ART INTERVENTIONS THAT IMPACT A LARGE POPULATION AND HOSTED ART EXHIBITIONS THAT PROVIDE A MORE INTIMATE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE ARTISTS AND COMMUNITY ABOUT OUR SHARED CULTURAL IDENTITY IN EL PASO AND JUAREZ. THE ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATES ITS MESSAGE THROUGH PUBLIC CONCERTS, MURALS, AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN JUAREZ AND EL PASO AND HAS HAD INCREDIBLE SUCCESS AT REACHING A BROAD AUDIENCE BY HOSTING OPERA CONCERTS, ART AUCTIONS AND PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO AREA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.