Sunday Funday Moment: Meet the local artists hoping to provide an artistic escape at Casa Ortiz
EL PASO, Texas-- Last Sunday ABC-7's Iris Lopez gave us a tour of Casa Ortiz and Casa Apodaca which is located on the historic Mission Trail in Socorro, Texas.
This weekend's Sunday Funday Moment introduces you to a few artists who are calling Casa Ortiz their new art space.
"This particular building, Casa Ortiz, is hundreds of years old. There’s so much history here and it's really a privilege to be making art somewhere with such a unique history,” said Nico Antuna Cooper, a local artist who is using Casa Ortiz as his work space alongside Diego ‘Robot’ Martinez and Bryan Holt.
“Having the opportunity to have Jonathan really have these great buildings to put some life in it, for me as an artist that’s kinda like our dream come true,“ said Martinez.
Jonathan Hernandez hopes to soon create an artistic renaissance within the historic El Paso Mission Trails. Martinez's signature robot art is a way for him to show his love for the city he calls home.
"Despite COVID, art is growing and that's allowing artists to create and to let their emotions out through this time,“ said Martinez.
For Cooper, being able to create art in Casa Ortiz brings back fond childhood memories.
"When I was a little kid my grandpa lived down the road. I would always drive past this building wondering what it was and now life has brought me back over here to be able to see and work inside here so it's pretty cool,” said Cooper.
His art skills include a variety of different art forms including street art to abstract art. he is also a musician, graphic designer and a writer.
For Bryan Holt, his art form is geared towards bringing awareness on mental health.
“I like to talk about the struggles that people go through whether it’s with ptsd or depression or anxiety,” said Holt who also goes by the name EmberFlow as an artist.
The doors of Casa Ortiz are not open to the public yet, but all three artists are hopeful that soon these historic doors will be able to open and provide the community with something new.
For more information on how you can rent out a space in Casa Ortiz you can send a message to Hernandez through Instagram by Clicking Here.
