El Paso Recreation Center Unveils New Peacock Mosaic Floor

BOSTON, MA – March 2023 – Located in El Paso, Texas, the Pavo Real Recreation Center has been serving its community since 1977. In 1988, the center was expanded to include the Pavo Real Senior Center, and in 2021, for the first time since it was built, the community center began undergoing renovations. Through the City’s public art program, which allocates yearly funds towards integrating artworks throughout the City of El Paso, the Pavo Real Recreation Center’s renovation was the perfect opportunity to bring art into an impactful space, elevating the project and bringing art within the reach of its community. The center is a 20-minute drive from downtown, and the addition of this public art piece further solidifies the City’s mission to make public art a part of daily life—the idea that community members can experience art every day without having to drive downtown to a museum or plaza to do so. Since its inception in 2006, the Public Ordinance sets aside 2% of every Capital Improvement Project budget to acquire art for municipal property. The Pavo Real Recreation Center project marked the 85th public art project for the City through this initiative.

As part of the program, a request for proposals was put in place for the recreation center’s art piece and an Artist Selection Panel made the final artist selection. The design guidelines asked that the artwork embrace the history and heritage of the community and of the recreation center, and be beautiful in its own right without compromising functionality and utility.

Local 3D artist Rene Nevarez grew up in El Paso and was an active recreation center member in his youth. Upon hearing of the opportunity, Rene and his wife, Lilia Nevarez, a graphic 2D artist, worked together to create a design for the recreation center. The City put together community meetings where the general public provided input and feedback on Rene’s proposal. Although not required to do so, the duo continued to meet with community members and City officials throughout the design process to ensure that voices be heard and that their creation be a true representation of its community. As local artists, Rene and Lilia’s work is embedded in the community, and they have been recognized for going above and beyond. 

Looking for art that met with functionality, the City determined flooring was the ideal canvas, and mosaic a suitable medium. The artist turned to Boston-based custom mosaic manufacturer and designer, Artaic, to commission the project alongside the winning artists. Spanning 16 x 95 feet, and approximately 1,500 square feet, the long hall is the core of the center and its main corridor. Using Artaic’s Glazed Porcelain tiles, the design is a repeated motif of peacock feathers, a reflection of the recreation center’s name which is the Spanish word for peacock, that holds symbolism in placement and color. Nine tile colors were used to create the design and Glazed Porcelain was selected as the tile choice as it is highly durable and suitable for heavily trafficked areas. Being both Rene and Lilia’s first time working with mosaic, a new perspective on scale, texture, and lines formed. Together, the artists and the Artaic design team worked on blending tiles to create the optimal look, using fewer tile colors to create depth and tones that did not fall flat.

For the artists and the City alike, it was important that the art depicted celebrated success and had a sense of accomplishment to reflect what the recreation center embodies for its community, and that culture was represented within the Pavo Real motif. The design elements embody the City’s culture, history, and the goal of the recreation center—community and success. Within the abstract motifs, yellow and gold rays evoke the El Paso sun, the shapes are reminiscent of Native American headdresses as the center is near the Tigua Indian Reservation, and the gold accents and artwork title are symbolism of the Camino Real which ran through El Paso centuries ago. These touches of gold and yellow serve as illustrations of regality and great purpose—another nod to Camino Real, or “the royal road.”

The Pavo Real Recreation Center’s renovation is reaching completion and is scheduled to reopen to the public in April 2023. The City plans to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the reopening of the center and unveil its new mosaic corridor.

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ABOUT ARTAIC

Artaic specializes in the design, fabrication, and assembly of award-winning mosaics, employing cutting-edge robotic technology and innovative design tools. Artaic’s proprietary Tylist™ software enables its in-house design team to create custom mosaics from source imagery of all mediums—whether drawings, photographs, logos, or ideas and concepts. With a wide range of materials, including vitreous glass, sintered glass, stone, and glazed porcelain, Artaic’s team ensures each creation is distinct and tailored to the client’s vision. At the heart of Artaic’s philosophy is the elevation of the tile mosaic to an art form. Whether introducing a distinctive artistic element to a project or translating an artist’s work into a new medium, Artaic fosters a reevaluation of tile as a powerful element of design and art. Artaic also offers a catalog of preconceived design collections—such as Flourish, Splash!, Lasting Rugs, and Verge—that can be customized to fit projects of any scale and made unique by an expansive material and color palette. The Boston-based company’s tailored approach and unique manufacturing process increase design flexibility and artistic expression while decreasing lead time and cost, making it a go-to resource for architects, interior designers, and artists across the globe.