Museums

The museum features the 168-year history of Fort Bliss in El Paso, and the history of the 1st Armored Division from its organization before World War II until the present day. Among its many exhibits are over 40 artifacts and other armored vehicles.

Closed for Redesign

The TecH2O Water Resources Learning Center provides education and training to foster the understanding and appreciation of total water management in the Chihuahuan Desert. The 30,450 square-foot center of angles, curves, circles and waves includes a 250-seat auditorium for hosting forums; and interactive displays, exhibits and demonstration projects that bring water management to life.

Created in 1936, the Centennial was the first museum in El Paso and one of the earliest buildings at the College of Mines, now UTEP. Permanent exhibits focus on the Chihuahuan Desert region, the largest desert in North America. Temporary exhibits are generally related to border life and culture, or more broadly to the Americas. The extensive Gardens display native plants in a variety of settings.

The Chihuahuan Desert Gardens are open daily from dawn to dusk.

Founded by minimalist artist Donald Judd, this contemporary art museum is an international sensation. Chinati features sculptures, paintings, drawings, installations and other works by renowned artists Donald Judd, John Chamberlain, Claus Oldenburg & Choose van Bruggen, Dan Flavin, Ilya Kabakov, Roni Horn and many more. Hours of Operation: Thursday-Saturday 9 AM - 5 PM. Reservations required.

The museum was founded to commemorate the 20th and 21st century veterans of San Elizario, which since World War II has had one of the highest proportions of its population in the armed services of any US community.

The El Paso Holocaust Museum & Study Center was established to educate the public about the Nazi Holocaust, and to honor those who perished and those who survived. The museum houses exhibits that trace the rise of the Third Reich, the mass deportations of millions of German and European citizens to ghettos and concentration camps, their valiant resistance efforts, and the liberation of the camps by Allied Forces in the closing days of World War II. Admission is free.

The museum’s grounds include 15 acres of nature trails, outdoor exhibits and desert garden with various native Chihuahuan desert plants. The trails leading from the Museum are well marked and maintained, with some leading into the canyons of the East Franklin Mountains. For bird enthusiasts you may see doves, gambols and scaled quail, verdin, canyon wren, various sparrows, horned larks, turkey vultures and perhaps golden eagles.

The El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA) houses a permanent collection of over 7,000 works of art from the Byzantine era to the present. Among the collection’s strengths in American, Mexican, and European art are Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces from the likes of Botticelli, Canaletto, and Van Dyck, as well as 20th century works by notable natives like Tom Lea. In addition, the museum hosts a robust schedule of temporary exhibitions. The museum school also offers diverse classes, hands-on workshops, and popular camps for adults and children alike.

The El Paso Museum of History (EPMH) offers visitors a bilingual, multi-cultural experience through exhibitions that focus on the history of El Paso del Norte (The Pass of the North). The permanent and rotating exhibitions in the museum’s six galleries feature history beginning from pre-Spanish contact to present. Through exhibitions and educational programming, EPMH involves diverse audiences in exploring the varieties of human experience and encourages individuals to explore the past by reflecting on their own place in history.

Located at the entrance of the El Paso Museum of History, the Digital Information Gateway in El Paso (DIGIE) is an interactive Digital Wall and community archive that was created as part of the 2012 Quality of Life Bond Program. Displayed across five touch-sensitive screens that total 35 feet in length, it is currently the only digital wall of its kind in the United States and one of four in the world!

DIGIE is a vast collection of images and videos exploring El Paso’s past and present. There are over 16,000 community uploads available to view on DIGIE and the Museum of History is not the only place to access it! DIGIE offers a cross-media experience where users can browse and co-curate content within the digital archive.

The Heritage House preserves the history of UTEP from its origin as the Texas College of Mines in 1914 and is located in a home built in 1921 by the first dean of the College. It features special exhibits for Homecoming, and from time to time during the year. Admission is free.

Together with the African and Western galleries, the Kolliker and the Mexican Revolution galleries, the Red Room Gallery makes up the permanent collection at the International Museum of Art of El Paso. The Red Room is devoted to contemporary local art and presents a selection of paintings and drawings by top artists from El Paso and the Southwest. Occupying the lower floor of the museum with a showcase of diverse artistic media and themes, the gallery is a great place to start your exploration of local art. Among the artists to see here are muralist Ernesto Martinez and beloved local mixed media artist Lawrence Benjamin Porter.

The Shape of Imagination

El Paso’s new children’s museum (for now, called The Children’s Museum) has been designed and built for kids of all ages. Let your imagination run wild and experience epic learning adventures across four floors of fantastic exhibits, all linked by an impressive 50-foot tall climber. The best part? There’s no right or wrong way to explore La Nube. Dive into nine themed learning zones where you can explore, build, test, problem-solve, and play. With a mix of permanent exhibits and ever-changing activities, each visit is an exciting, new experience.

The museum is housed in an 1850s Territorial Style building in El Paso’s Mission Valley. Its exhibits focus on the rich and colorful historical legacies of San Elizario, including the “First Thanksgiving,” the Spanish presidio, the San Elizario Salt War of 1877, and the first county seat of El Paso county. Admission is free.

A striking adobe structure, Magoffin Home State Historic Site explores the stories of a multicultural family who actively participated in U.S. expansion and settlement, military service, trade on the Santa Fe–Chihuahua Trail, Civil War turmoil, and U.S.–Mexico relations. Built in 1875 for pioneer, politician, and civic leader Joseph Magoffin, the nineteen-room adobe home containing original family furnishings is El Paso’s only historic house museum and a prime example of Territorial style architecture.

The MaCall Center, located in the historic home of Marshall and Olalee McCall, contains a museum, a photography collection, and archives on local and national Black History. The Center offers many sponsored programs , and serves as the meeting and gathering place for El Paso’s African American community.

Through the use of interactive exhibits, exhibit space, oral histories, audio-video presentations, workshops, cultural events, and other tools, Museo Mayachen is creating a space for the learning of history and culture that engages the community it serves.

The National Border Patrol Museum is the only one of its kind in the United States. It is a private, not for profit, museum where exhibits cover the history of the United States Border patrol, from the old West, Prohibition, and WWII, right up to current operations, through displays of weapons, paintings, documents, equipment, photos, artifacts, and “hands-on” vehicles such as the Jeep, Helicopter, Scarab boat, snowmobile and ATV. Guided tours may be booked in advance. Admission is free.

Housed by the University of Texas at El Paso since its opening in 2004, the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts is committed to bringing the most innovative trends in artistic practice to the region. Serving as a creative laboratory for art students and local emerging artists, the Rubin aims at creating a space where internationally recognized, cutting-edge art meets the inventiveness of home practitioners. Among the ongoing series of regular exhibitions, workshops, site-specific installations, and Biennial Faculty Exhibitions, a highlight is the current retrospective on jeweler and metal artist Rachelle Thiewes, Rachelle Thiewes: Something Gleams. Thiewes, in addition to being a professor at the university, is also an acclaimed sculptor with works displayed in Washington D.C., Scotland, New York and Chicago, among others.

The Lhakang is open from 11a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every Wednesday and first Saturday of the Month. The exhibit is overseen by the Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens. Parking is available at the Centennial Museum parking lot. Open 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every Wednesday and first Saturday of the Month.

The museum features exhibits on the changing role of the Noncommissioned Officer in the U.S. Army from 1775 to the present, through displays of equipment and uniforms used by staff sergeants and other NCO’s.

The War Eagles Air Museum, located at the Dona Ana County Airport, features a collection of more than 30 military and civilian aircraft of the World War II-Korean War period, most of them flight-worthy, and over 40 classic and historic automobiles.

Ysleta Mission Gift Shop is a cultural gift store and gallery. Our inventory includes metal arts, local artist works, vintage & antiques, Mexican folk art & textiles, religious saints, handcrafted & custom work, authentic Native American pottery, sterling silver & semi-precious stone jewelry.