EL PASO, Tx., January 17, 2026: Today, Saturday, January 17th at 11 a.m., the Chamizal National Memorial, located at 800 South San Marcial Street, will host the new artist selected for its artist-in-residence program at the Chamizal Theater. The artist was selected by an internal committee. It is not known how much community input the park received or who was on the committee to select the artist.
The proposed mural update will cover the west facing portion of Carlos E. Florés’ mural “Nuestra Herencia” which was painted in 1992, touched up in 1997 and restored from 2014 to 2016 for the National Park Service Centennial’s 50th Anniversary. During 2014-2016 restoration, the original “generic white man” was replaced by Barack Obama at the request of the El Paso Junior League, according to the park’s National Park Service brochure. The astronaut replaced opera singer Marian Anderson who was in the original panel.
“Nuestra Herencia” mural panel with Barack Obama, updated in 2014-2016, January 16, 2026, Miguel Juarez/El Paso Herald Post
The proposed portion of the addition to the mural will paint over the portrait of the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama. It is not known why part of the mural will be painted over, given the Chamizal National Memorial’s significant investment in the historic mural.
The Chamizal National Memorial is part of the National Park Service. The NPS is a federal agency.
Maestro Florés is a U.S. veteran, as well as an internationally known artist, who attended La Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City, in the late 1960s. Florés was in Mexico City during the Mexican Student Movement in 1968. La Academia de San Carlos is the oldest art academy in the Americas, founded in 1781, serving as a pivotal institution for Mexican art education (painting, sculpture, architecture) under the European classical tradition, now part of UNAM, housing collections and offering insights into Mexican art history from its historic building near the Zócalo. Maestro Florés also painted murals inside Lincoln Center. Maestro Florés is featured in the book Colors on Desert Walls: The Murals of El Paso (1997, Texas Western Press) and in the 1997 EPCC TV series, “Frontera Artists: Mexican and Chicano Artists in El Paso.” The event is free and open to the public.
This is a developing story. We will have a full coverage following the meeting.
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Cover photo credit: Portion of “Nuestra Herencia” Mural at the Chamizal National Memorial, January 16, 2026, Miguel Juarez/El Paso Herald Post
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