Rhetorical Analysis of El Paso Museum of Art

Hugo Almanza

Sol Barraza

Leslie Guzman
 The borderland is rife with culture and diversity. A simple way to experience this is

through visiting the El Paso Museum of Art. Since its founding in 1959, it has displayed a

plethora of assorted pieces for the public to observe and enjoy. One form of advertisement the

museum uses to promotes itself is through their website. The site uses a great deal of ethos,

logos, and pathos to entice their audience into visiting the museum.

Logos is clearly shown through the attractive and user friendly display of their website.

At the top of the page eight links are presented, allowing the audience to browse the website with

ease and find an answer to any question they might have, such as the museums mission

statement or what exhibits are currently being displayed.

The Mission Statement of the El Paso Museum of Art evokes pathos from the audience.

The Museum recognizes the region's diverse cultures through exhibitions, acquisitions,

educational programs. The previous statement focuses on eliciting emotion from the audience

by stating their identities. The majority of the audience visiting the El Paso Museum of Arts

website will be El Pasoans. Since the mission statement affirms the regions great diversity the

audience has a sense of inclusion from the museum of art and will want to experience the exhibit

for themselves.

The EPMA webpage expresses pathos under their Current Exhibitions In 2012, Drake

committed himself to drawing every day. The resulting 1,000+ drawings are tacked together

directly on the wall to make up wall-sized chapters, so that the work can be appreciated as

monumental compositional ensembles and also individually sheet by sheet. In the excerpt

promoting the artist, James Drake, the writer evokes admiration from the audience through
stating the dedication Drake had while completing the piece. The audience is also left curious as

to what these 1000+ drawings would look like, giving the audience an incentive to visit the

museum.

Continuing under Current Exhibitions EPMAs website indorses Gertrude Amelia

Sugar Goodman which induces both pathos and ethos. One of her first important services to

her native city was the establishment of an El Paso Chapter of the Texas Social Welfare

Association. Goodmans generous community spirit earned her many honors including being

named in 1977 the First Lady of El Paso by Beta Sigma Phi and Woman of the Year by the El

Paso Womens Political Caucus. More particularly, Goodman was an avid art collector and

philanthropist; she promoted and befriended many local artists, served as Vice-President of the

first Board of Directors of the El Paso Museum of Art Association, and also began the

Associations Members Guild to support the purchase of EPMA acquisitions. The quote cites

Goodmans credibility through stating exactly where she has contributed to society. The passage

goes on to say how Goodmans greatest contribution was the donation of her immense and

diverse art collection to the museum. Giving the audience background to Goodmans life makes

them feel more invested in the exhibit and will wish to come and visit the museum.

The excerpt promoting the Female Saints and Heroes exhibit reaches out to the

identities of Hispanic women, who are both under- and misrepresented. The El Paso Museum

of Art has become the second largest repository of 19th-century Mexican retablos in the United

States, with a collection of 900. Out of the entire retablo collection only 5% showcase female

saints as the main subject. Though the subject matter is considered hard to find in retablo art, it

is an important theme present in the Museums collection. Female Saints and Heroes celebrates

the piety, wisdom, and physical suffering of female saints and also highlights their influence on
the lives of 19th-century Mexican women. Showcasing an exhibit entirely dedicated to women

will give many people an incentive to visit this exhibit.

The El Paso Museum of art states their credibility in an excerpt under Organizational

History. EPMA has a steady record of accreditation by the American Association of Museums.

The Museum was first accredited in 1972, then re-accredited in 1985 and, most recently, in

2001. Within section of the website they have shown ethos through citing a credible source.

Under Collections the El Paso Museum of Art divides the page into 4 different

sections: American, Contemporary , European, and Mexican. In American it states: Within

this approximately 100-year period the museums collection also holds significant work by the

Taos and Santa Fe schools, which are represented by artists such as Gustave Baumann, Emil

Bistram, Ernest Blumenschein, Gerald Cassidy, E. Irving Couse, Randall Davey, Fremont Ellis,

Sheldon Parsons, Julius Rolshoven and Joseph Henry Sharp. EPMA continues to strengthen its

credibility through naming the many, famous artists they have displayed and through stating the

vast number of years the museum has been open.

The El Paso Museum of Art successfully promotes itself through their website. The page

itself can be easily traversed and the rhetoric used to describe their exhibits gives the audience

great incentive to visit the museum and experience a piece of El Pasos culture.

References:

El Paso Museum of Art Exhibitions. (n.d.). Retrieved October 03, 2016, from

http://www.elpasoartmuseum.org/