El Paso Museum of Art to close upstairs galleries for upgrades. Selena exhibit stays open

The El Paso Museum of Art's second-floor galleries will be closed for about eight weeks while the museum's temperature controls undergo an upgrade. The galleries contain Kress, American Art, Contemporary Art and Latin American Art collections.

The museum in Downtown El Paso, which is 27 years old, will be replacing and maintaining its temperature and humidity control systems, according to a city news release. The work is needed to protect the museum's art collection from fluctuations.

“Environmental upgrades are critical because rapid changes in heat and humidity can damage artwork, especially works as old as some in our collection,” said El Paso Museum of Art Director Edward Hayes in the release.

"This summer maintenance project — a complete overhaul of our aging systems — will allow the EPMA galleries to be available to the community for decades to come,” he added.

During maintenance, gallery pieces most vulnerable to environmental fluctuations will be stored in the EPMA’s climate-controlled archives.

'Siempre Selena' exhibit remains open

While upstairs galleries are closed, the “Siempre Selena” exhibit in the lobby and mezzanine will remain accessible to visitors. It will be up through February of 2025. The exhibition features photography and video of Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, in addition to ephemera and reflections provided by the El Paso community.

The first-floor galleries and exhibitions remain open, and the EPMA will continue offering programming, including summer camps, film screenings and special events.

Stay tuned for the reopening of the second floor, which will include a Tom Lea exhibition in September and a feature traveling exhibition in October on loan from The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture.

The El Paso Museum of Art is free and open Wednesday through Sunday. For more information about the museum, including exhibitions and events, visit www.epma.art.

More: Spotlight on Selena: television documentary and El Paso art museum exhibit unveiled

María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; [email protected], @EPTMaria on Twitter; eptmariacg on TikTok.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Museum of Art second-floor galleries close for upgrades