El Paso Matters – Women in the Arts take center stage at this year’s ChangeMakers event

A native El Pasoan, Christin Apodaca is a visual artist known for her large-scale murals and digital illustrations. Her work can be seen throughout El Paso, including her iconic piece “Contigo/With You” in Segundo Barrio, “The Woman with Sunset Colored Hair” at Montecillo and “Bailar” at the Outlet Shoppes of El Paso. Her projects often involve collaborations, providing opportunities for other women artists and supporting community organizations. Apodaca designed the black-and-white artwork on scarves awarded to ChangeMakers honorees. Last year, she completed “In our Desert, There is Magic,” an immersive 72-by-16-foot mural at La Nube STEAM Discovery Center.

Lee Merrill Byrd is a novelist and publisher who with her late husband, Bobby Byrd, in 1985 founded El Paso’s Cinco Puntos Press – one of the nation’s most influential independent book publishers. Cinco Puntos gave a home to local authors with diverse stories to tell. The publishing house was sold to Lee & Low Books in 2021. A native of New Jersey who spent most of her life in El Paso and the Southwest, Lee Byrd is considered a pioneer in publishing children’s bilingual books. Books she authored include “The Treasure on Gold Street: A Neighborhood Story,” “Juanito Counts to Ten” and “Birdie’s Beauty Parlor.”

Valeria Contreras, an El Paso filmmaker with writer, director and producer credits to her name, serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas at El Paso. She’s a Producers Guild of America Create Fellow, Film Independent Producing Lab Fellow and Fast Track Fellow. Her recent short film, “Oranges,” filmed in El Paso, was selected for the National Association of Latino Independent Producers Director Incubator, sponsored by Netflix. Through her company, Apis Mellifera Productions, she is developing international feature films with emerging directors.

The outgoing director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso, Kerry Doyle is an expert in U.S.-Mexican art and culture. She’s worked at the center for 19 years, the past 13 as its director, and has curated contemporary art by renowned international artists. In her role, she’s earned and managed grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Texas Commission on the Arts, among others. She was instrumental in setting up a partnership with the Gaspar Enriquez Cultural Center in San Elizario, where she will continue working.

El Paso native Amanda Ekery has lived in New York since 2018, but remains connected to her hometown in her music. Last year, she released “Árabe,” featuring 12 original songs that embrace the shared history and culture of Syria and Mexico. The book of accompanying essays behind each track were nominated for a 2026 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes. Ekery teaches songwriting, voice and piano at Fordham University and the New School in New York City. She founded El Paso Jazz Girls, a nonprofit that introduces middle and high school girls to jazz, songwriting and music career paths.

Yvonne Enriquez is the co-founder of Texas Culinary Institute, creating an educational space where she says cooking is not only taught as a life skill, but practiced as a form of therapy, creative expression and human connection. She leads nonprofit initiatives including Feeding Wisdom, which provides scholarships and community-based culinary programs, and Hearts to Be Healed, an organization focused on supporting caregivers through creative and therapeutic experiences.

Soila Hernández Fierro, who grew up in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio, is a visual artist known for her illustrations, clay designs and mural work – as well as her work on the farm at La Semilla. Fierro often shares her knowledge, passion and creativity through workshops in Segundo Barrio and the Mexican American Cultural Center.

Maria Garcia, a former El Paso television news reporter, now serves as executive editor of the New York City-based podcast, Futuro Studios. She is also the host and creator of the “Anything for Selena,” podcast, named one of the best of the year by The Atlantic, Vulture, Time, Vogue and others. She created and hosted “My Divo,” an Apple Original podcast about Mexican icon Juan Gabriel and Maria’s own queer and Mexican roots. It was the first Apple Original podcast released in both English and Spanish. 

Andrea Gates-Ingle is co-founder and executive director of Creative Kids and the oLo Gallery, a nationally recognized creative youth development program. Creative Kids works with pediatric oncology patients, under-resourced and incarcerated youth, as well as families navigating the aftermath of the Aug. 3, 2019, Walmart mass shooting. This spring, she’ll be honored with the prestigious Open Hearts Award, presented by Jane Seymour in Malibu, California, recognizing her lifelong work.

Salathia M. Graham, a Georgia native and Army veteran, is CEO of the Graham Agency LLC. She came to El Paso in 2020 and has established herself as one of the area’s most recognized professional makeup artists – adopting the moniker the “face architect.” She’s pursuing her master’s in business administration and is training in Lean Six Sigma, a business management system with certifications structured in belt levels.

An iconic El Paso performer, educator and public speaker, Rosa Ramirez Guerrero has long promoted cultural awareness through dance. She founded and served as artistic director of International Folklorico Dance Group – one of the first in the Southwest. A former teacher, she was the first Hispanic woman in El Paso to have a school named in her honor: Rosa Guerrero Elementary School. She’s been inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame and is the recipient of numerous prominent honors, including the LULAC Arts and Humanities Award, the NEA Human Civil Rights George T. Sanchez Award and the Mexican Consulate OHTLI Award. Most recently, she authored “Las Posadas,” a children’s book about the holiday tradition, and co-authored “Colores, Sabores y Dichos,” a collection of photographs, recipes and dichos with Frank Rene Lopez.

An adjunct music faculty member at the University of Texas at El Paso, Abeni Janae is a singer-songwriter, keyboardist, composer, producer and public speaker from El Paso. She’s the youngest composer signed to the internationally renowned publisher Carl Fischer Music and has had her works premiered at Carnegie Hall and in Leeds, England. One of UTEP’s top 10 seniors in 2024, she serves as bandleader of the AJM Collective.

Calling ballet the “defining pursuit of my life,” Marta Katz has danced since she was 9, including in ballets while in the National Company in Mexico City. Now the founder and executive director of El Paso Ballet Theatre, Katz taught in the Gifted and Talented Program under Ingeborg Heuser at the University of Texas at El Paso. She has also taught ballet at El Paso Community College, the El Paso Independent School District, numerous private ballet studios, and directed the first school programs for Kids Excel El Paso.

Born in El Paso and raised in Ciudad Juárez, photographer Monica Lozano’s work has been exhibited internationally and featured in major publications, including Portrait of Humanity by the British Journal of Photography and the New York Times. In 2011, she completed the Photo Global residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York, receiving the Presidential Scholarship. Her work examines themes of migration and the construction of belonging across borders.

A lifelong supporter of the arts and the humanities, El Paso native Adair Margo owned Adair Margo Gallery from 1985 to 2010, where she exhibited 400 artists from 12 countries. In 2009, she founded the Tom Lea Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the legacy of the world renowned El Paso muralist, writer, illustrator and war correspondent. Margo chaired the Texas Commission on the Arts and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and served on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. Last year, she was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame.

A former independent curator, Erica Marin was appointed as director of the El Paso Museum of History in 2021 – becoming the first born and raised El Pasoan, Chicana/Latina to serve in that position. Marin has been a critical driver in pivoting the museum’s direction to community-driven exhibitions, including “Low & Slow: Lowrider Culture on the Border” and “Chicano Power: A Force for Change and Progress in El Paso.” She also teaches part-time at UTEP in the Chicano Studies program.

Gris Muñoz,  an Indigenous Chicana poet, writer and leather craftsman, is the author of “Coatlicue Girl,” a bilingual collection of poetry and short stories. Her book was named a finalist for the John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry by the Texas Institute of Letters. Her writing has appeared in “The Rumpus,” “Huizache,” “Tasteful Rude” and The Smithsonian Latino Center. She has also been featured by the Texas Book Festival and the Big Read New Mexico. 

Rebecca Ann Muñoz, a Chicana visual artist and cultural worker, has more than 25 years of experience across grassroots, nonprofit and public sectors. In August 2023, she was appointed the first director of the El Paso Mexican American Cultural Center having previously served as cultural program manager for the city’s Museums and Cultural Affairs Department. Muñoz has dedicated her career to advancing the arts as a space of storytelling, belonging and civic imagination.

Native El Pasoan Josey Pickett, Ph.D., serves as a fine arts facilitator for the Socorro Independent School District, earning it the designation as a District of Distinction from the Texas Educational Theater Association, Texas Thespians and the Educational Theater Association. She’s also the artistic director of Somos Performance Group, which provides local, diverse and inclusive performing arts experiences. As a freelance stage director, choreographer and performer, Pickett has worked with the UTEP Dinner Theatre, Opera UTEP, El Paso Opera and many more. 

Candace Printz, who now serves as assistant director of fine arts for Socorro ISD, taught high school art for 15 years, earning the SISD Teacher of the Year Award. She has promoted environmental awareness through the arts, receiving the Texas Environmental Educator of the Year Award. In 2019, she created the nonprofit Green Hope Project, which focuses on art, education and environmentalism. In 2022, Printz spearheaded the creation of “Trash to Treasure,” a 64-foot recycled plastic mural, depicting a mountain lion in Downtown El Paso.

El Paso author Yasmín Ramírez is perhaps best known for her memoir, “¡Ándale, Prieta!: A Love Letter to My Family,” which received the International Latino Book Award and the Southwest Book Award. Her work centers bilingual storytelling, cultural memory, and the lived realities of border communities. Ramirez serves as a professor of English and creative writing at El Paso Community College, empowering emerging writers to tell their stories with authenticity and intention.

A lifelong community leader and philanthropist, Judy Robison has dedicated decades to strengthening El Paso through education, arts and civic engagement. She’s a longtime board member of the El Paso Museum of Art Foundation, and most recently led the fundraising campaign for the nearly $6 million Star Ceiling installation just outside of the museum. Her leadership has supported organizations including the El Paso Symphony, Paso del Norte Community Foundation, Texas Cultural Trust and the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence Foundation. She was named the 2025 El Pasoan of the Year by El Paso Inc. 

Rodriga Rockmore, a vinyl DJ born and raised in the Borderland, has for decades created and led disc jockey workshops for women and youth, fostering safe spaces to explore and master the art of vinyl. Her sets capture the rhythms of cumbias, rancheras and Mexican folklore, honoring the music that defines the borderland and celebrates the identity of fronterizos. Rodriga’s sets have reached international stages through her work on Twitch, NTS, YouTube and Mixcloud.

Rubí Orozco Santos, a Borderland poet and cultural organizer, is the author of “Inventos Mios,” an award-winning documentary poetry book that received the Tejas Poetry Book Award from the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies. She serves as director of storytelling and development at La Semilla Food Center, where she leads several regional initiatives. Among them are the Chihuahuan Desert Cultural Fellowship and the zine “Food, Land, and Us: A Look at the Farm Bill from the Paso del Norte Region.” She is also the editor of the anthology “The First Year of Life: Recipes of Care from the Frontera.”

Stacey Hunt Spier, who has long been committed to strengthening the region’s cultural landscape, serves as board chair of the El Paso Museum of Art Foundation. She also serves on the board of the El Paso Opera, where she previously served three terms as board chair. Spier has received the National Trustee Recognition Award in 2019 for her leadership and service, as well as the Maestro Award in 2022 honoring her contributions to the arts. She is also a board member of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute and a member of the Leadership Cabinet of the Paso del Norte Center.

A professor emerita in UTEP’s Department of Art, Rachelle Thiewes is an internationally recognized metalsmith whose jewelry is in the permanent collections of many U.S. and European museums. Among them are the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2009, she was named Texas Master by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and in 2014, the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts honored her with the Access & Excellence in the Arts Award. She’s also the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowship and designated the 2023 Master Metalsmith by the Metal Museum.

Janace LaShell Walker, a U.S. Air Force veteran who’s known creatively as JunkDredz, is a children’s book author, painter and fashion designer originally from Jacksonville, North Carolina. She’s the founder of the independent clothing brand Junk Approved, known for its alternative, edgy custom-designed apparel. Walker is also the founder of the El Paso Black Arts Association.

Bobbie Welch, who’s been entwined with the El Paso area music scene for almost 50 years, now serves as a co-vice president of the El Paso International Music Foundation. The organization works to empower musicians in the El Paso, Ciudad Juárez and Las Cruces communities and promote the local music scene through education, advocacy and awareness. A veteran events producer and former owner of Tricky Falls in Downtown, Welch is the former events director at UTEP and concert coordinator at New Mexico State University. In her roles, she was instrumental in bringing iconic shows to the Borderland, including U2 to Sun Bowl Stadium and Metallica to the Pan Am Center.