An iconic El Paso painting has a new home. And its creator has a fresh understanding of who comes through in a time of need.
“El Paso Gracias a Dios” is a 1993 painting the size of a small billboard that uses Thanksgiving as a theme to celebrate El Paso’s history. Marcus was told last year that it had to be moved from its longtime spot at the Chamizal National Memorial.
“For a year, we reached out to all the institutions that could be of help – cultural, buildings, city and county, and history museum. The most that they could help me with is getting it out of there and storing it. They thought that was the main deal. Well, I could do that. So, I said, ‘Thanks, but no, thanks,’” Marcus said in an interview Friday with El Paso Matters.
Management at the Chamizal – a federal government site commemorating the peaceful settlement of the last boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico – told Marcus in 2024 that the 9-by-11-foot artwork had to be moved to comply with federal guidelines on loaned artwork.
Marcus and his daughter, Leilainia Marcus, approached a variety of institutions in El Paso to gauge their interest in either buying or borrowing the painting. With an Aug. 1 deadline looming, their last chance was a July 28 meeting of El Paso County Commissioners Court, where negotiations about the artwork would be discussed in closed session.
As the deadline approached, the artist grew ill with abdominal issues. He and his daughter believe his illness – which led to a recent four-day hospitalization – was due in part to his stress over the future of his painting.
The day before the county meeting, Hal Marcus was meeting with Luke Lowenfield, his collaborator on three children’s books, to discuss their plans for A Christmas Fair, the Junior League’s annual event where El Pasoans can shop for gifts made by local artists and artisans.
Marcus shared his stress over the painting with Lowenfield, who with his brothers are the third generation of family leadership of the El Paso-based Casa Auto Group.
“I said, ‘If they don’t want it, I don’t know what I’m going to do with it.’ He said, ‘Well, if they don’t want it, I’ll buy it.’ I wasn’t even trying to sell it to my friend. I said, ‘Really?’ He goes, ‘Yeah,’” Marcus said.
Marcus said the next day, county officials – who are dealing with budget challenges – told him they could store the painting for now but couldn’t make commitments about future plans.
On July 29, a day after the county meeting, the Marcuses met Lowenfield and his wife, Stacey, at the Chamizal in South-Central El Paso.
“He hands me a check and says, ‘My crew will be here tomorrow with a big truck,” Hal Marcus said.
“El Paso Gracias a Dios” now hangs in the showroom at Casa Ford, 5815 Montana Ave., in Central El Paso.
“To me, it felt like an honor, it felt like an opportunity. It felt like, wow, because I’m friends with this person who did this amazing thing 32 years ago, I’m having a chance to display a piece of El Paso’s history in this dealership that’s been part of the community since 1969,” said Lowenfield, who declined to disclose the purchase price.
Marcus and his daughter said the Ford dealership is better than a government building as a home for “El Paso Gracias a Dios.”
“So many different types of people are going to go see it,” Leilainia Marcus said.
“It’s the common folks,” her father quickly interjected.
A friendship forms
On the surface, Lowenfield and Marcus may look like unlikely friends and collaborators. Marcus is 74 and something of a bohemian. Lowenfield is 41 and helping his brothers to run a growing business founded by their grandfather.
Surface impressions can be deceiving. Both men run successful businesses. Both are creative. Both are deeply passionate about El Paso.
They met in 2019 when Lowenfield was in an online graduate degree program in children’s literature at Penn State University.
“I had written some children’s books,” Lowenfield said. “My kids were 2 and 4 at the time, and so I was having some fun connecting with them in that way. But when I took the class and had spent a little bit more time developing some stories, my wife encouraged me to see if there was an artist that would be willing to illustrate these and if there was something more we could do. That was when I reached out to Hal.”
Lowenfield said he knew Marcus as an art gallery owner who represented a number of El Paso artists.
“I went to his gallery just unannounced and said, ‘Hey, do you know of any artists? I know you represent a bunch of local artists with your gallery here. Is there any chance that you could connect me with somebody that can be an illustrator for a children’s book?’”
Marcus responded in a very Marcus way.
“I said, ‘Let’s go over to my studio, and I’ll lay down on the floor and you read me the poem.’ Well, I didn’t know who Luke Lowenfield was from the man in the moon. Just some kid walking in. He said, ‘It’s called “Buenos Nochas, El Paso.”’ I was sold right there. And he read me the poem. I said, ‘I’ll do it.’ We shook hands. Now we have three books under our belt.”
“It was just like magic. It was like a spark where we just clicked. I just felt comfortable with him, and he felt comfortable with me,” Lowenfield said.
The value of friendship
As they worked together, Lowenfield and Marcus became more than collaborators.
“Now, I consider him one of my closest friends. He’s somebody that I spend more time with than most of the people, and I really enjoy being around,” Lowenfield said.
“I believe in Luke. I believe in my friends,” Marcus said.
As Marcus tried to find a home for his painting that has been displayed in a government building since its creation three decades ago, he sought help from other governments. He felt that while well-intentioned, government officials didn’t understand his urgency that one of his signature works needed to be seen and enjoyed.
“Obviously, deep down inside, it hurt my feelings, and it wasn’t right,” Marcus said.
But where government officials couldn’t sense or respond to his anxiety, a friend did.
“And if he hadn’t read the poem to me, we wouldn’t have this relationship. It all came from wanting to write a poem for his children. So, it came from just having a good heart,” Marcus said.
Marcus said Lowenfield’s actions reminded him to depend on friends, not institutions. It’s a sense that has been reinforced in recent weeks as he has struggled with health problems. He’s awaiting biopsy results for a more complete diagnosis.
“Our friend Jon Gore, when he heard I was in the hospital, he came over here. He’s been working in the flower garden just because he’s my friend. He wanted to help clean up the weeds while I was in the hospital. Things like that, you can’t buy,” Marcus said Friday afternoon.
Earlier that morning, Lowenfield brought a painting he had created, just to brighten his friend’s day.
“It’s a story of friendship, a story of community, a story of El Paso,” Marcus said of his friends helping him in times of need.
“I know that through my life and through my work, I have friends who will step up to the plate. That’s worth billions of dollars.”
Disclosure: Hal Marcus and Luke Lowenfield are financial supporters of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters’ journalism. The news organization’s policy on editorial independence can be found here.
The post When institutions stepped back, friendship stepped up: ‘El Paso Gracias a Dios’ painting finds new home appeared first on El Paso Matters.
Read: Read More