President’s Committee Meeting Builds a Foundation for Expanding Cultural Relationships with Mexico

Joined 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:

• Visits by the PCAH to Juárez, Mexico, which included several cultural sites, such as the Misión de Guadalupe, the Ex-Aduana Museum and the new Paso del Norte Cultural Center.
• The public dedication of the “The Equestrian” by John Sherrill Houser and his son Ethan Taliesan Houser, which honors the entrance of Spanish culture into the United States in the 16th century. Houser addressed the committee on the artistic history of this work.
• Jose Cisneros, a Mexican-American artist, and winner of the National Humanities Medal, was honored by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the OHTLI award for his lifetime of artistic contribution.

• El Paso Mayor John Cook opened the official committee meeting.
• Three new members were sworn in to the committee. They were Barbara Mitnick of Morristown, NJ; Rebecca Gonzalez of Austin, TX; and Adelle Hall of Shawnee Mission, KS.
• Chairman Adair Margo, on behalf of the White House, presented El Pasoan Sheldon Hall with the President's Call to Service Award for his lifetime of volunteer work, in particular, his work with the Mission Trail and the First Thanksgiving celebration.
• The city Museums and Cultural Affairs Department was awarded $10,000 by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities to continue its bi-national-bicultural projects. Later, Alberto Fierro Garza of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave a matching grant to the department.
•The heads and representatives from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Park Service; Mexico’s National Council on Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA), Institute of Archaeology and History (INAH), Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Belize’s Ministry of Culture engaged in a dialogue on broadening cultural relations between their countries.
• Two Joint Cultural Communiqués were signed, one by Adair Margo on behalf of the U.S cultural agencies and the National Park Service and Alvaro Hegewisch, representing Sergio Vela, President of CONACULTA and a second signed by Margo and George Thompson, representing Mark Espat, Minister of Culture for Belize.
• The communiqué was read out loud by actress-choreographer Debbie Allen, and it reinforced a commitment to cultural cooperation among the three countries. In particular, these two documents will serve as the framework for the upcoming Sister Cultural Parks meeting in Mesa Verde National Park, which will develop recommendations to carry out some of the goals in the communiqués.

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.

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Joint Cultural Communique between the U.S. and Mexico
Joint Cultural Communique between the U.S. and Belize