EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The City of El Paso’s Aug. 3 memorial by El Paso-based artist Albert “Tino” Ortega was selected as one of the top 100 public art pieces around the world in this year’s CODAwards, the City said in a press release on Monday, June 30.
The public is invited to help elevate the memorial by voting for it in the People’s Choice Award category. To vote, click here: https://codaworx.com/projects/august-third-memorial-20025.
“Presented annually by CODAworx, the CODAawards celebrate projects that seamlessly integrate commissioned art into interior, architectural, and public spaces. Selection for the Top 100 places the August Third Memorial in the top third of all global entries, as determined by a panel of design and art professionals,” the City said.
The memorial was unveiled last year and honors the lives lost during the mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart on Aug. 3, 2019.
The memorial features seven granite pillars arranged in the shape of a crown, an “emblem of power symbolizing the restoration of agency,” the City said.
Surrounding the pillars are 23 palo verde trees. The names of those lost, along with a poem by El Paso Poet Gris Muñoz, are etched into the memorial’s pillars, the City said.
“The August Third Memorial was commissioned through the City of El Paso’s Public Art Program, part of the Museums and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD). Since its launch in 2006, the program has completed nearly 100 projects and earned 15 national awards, including multiple recognitions from the CODAawards,” the City said.
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