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President’s Committee Meeting Builds a Foundation for Expanding Cultural Relationships with MexicoJoined by high-level dignitaries from Belize, Mexico and Spain, the President’s Committee on the Arts Humanities 61st meeting was held in El Paso, Texas in late April to focus on expanding cultural understanding and relationships. Held in cooperation with the city of El Paso’s Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, this was the President’s Committee’s first meeting on an international border. By experiencing the cultural connections on both sides of the border—historic Mission churches and a state-of-the arts cultural center in Juarez, Mexico and honoring artists from El Paso who bring these connections to life—the President’s Committee broke new ground here in its international relation efforts. ![]() Alvaro Hegewisch, Director General of Mexico's
CONACULTA, speaks to the President’s Committee on the shared cultural
connections between the U.S. and his country and the opportunities to
enhance those relations in the Joint Communiqués for Cultural
Understanding.
“I truly believe that first-hand experience is the best thing for anyone,” said Chairman Margo. She added “Borders need not divide us. In El Paso/Juarez, we are not just neighbors, we are family and our meeting brought together artists, scholars and cultural leaders to help us see how we are all connected.” Highlights of the President’s Committee visit to El Paso included:
Director Anne-Imelda Radice congratulates Barbara
Metnick after swearing her in along with Adele Hall (far left) and Rebecca
Gonzales (second from the right) as new members of the President’s
Committee.
![]() Paquime’s place in the story of world
civilizations transcends boundaries, particularly in its ties with other
world heritage sites in the southwest U.S, and the PCAH is seeking to
draw out those cultural connections.
After the meeting in El Paso a small contingent of the PCAH members and representatives from Mexico proceeded on to Casa Grandes, Mexico for a visit to Paquime. Paquime is a World Heritage site, and it along with two other world heritage sites—Mesa Verde and Monte Alban—and Belize’s Caracol are the focus of the Sister Cultural Park meeting in May. By visiting Paquime, members saw first-hand the connections that join these four sites—architecturally, culturally and economically. By bringing leaders from culture, tourism, philanthropy, preservation, parks and businesses together at Mesa Verde, the PCAH is seeking to establish a public-private framework to enhance the cultural connections between these sites.
National Park Service Deputy Secretary Dan Wenk joins in a dialogue with MarioPérez Campa (left), Tecnic Secretary of the National Institute for Antrophology and History and other Mexican and Belizean agency leaders on future international cooperation on cultural, natural and historic preservation between these countries.
Learn More...Joint Cultural Communique
between the U.S. and Mexico |
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