The Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens is a

cultural history Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing t ...

and natural history museum on the campus of the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

in El Paso,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

.The museum was built in 1963 to commemorate the centenary of Texas independence, making it the oldest museum in El Paso. The Centennial Museum is an academic support and outreach unit of The University of Texas at El Paso focusing primarily on the natural and cultural history of the Chihuahuan Desert. It promotes and shares knowledge and understanding of the natural diversity of the region and its people. The museum meets its responsibilities through the presentation and curation of the permanent collections, including the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens. Furthermore, the museum promotes the scholarly research of UTEP students, faculty, and alumni, and supports the general mission of The University of Texas at El Paso.

Collection

The Centennial Museum is located on the UTEP campus. Its cultural focus is on the indigenous, colonial, pre-urban, and folk cultures of the border regions of

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. The natural history focus is on the geology and biology of the Southwest and Mexico, with particular emphasis on the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

. The permanent exhibits include

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

, and regional higher

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

. The Museum has a collection of

Casas Grandes Casas Grandes (Spanish for ''Great Houses''; also known as Paquimé) is a prehistoric archaeological site in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Construction of the site is attributed to the Mogollon culture. Casas Grandes has been design ...

pottery, with many items displayed on its website as well as on exhibit. Temporary exhibits cover a wide range of subjects apropos to the Museum's mission or to that of the University of Texas at El Paso. Emphasis tends to be on the El Paso Border Region of the United States and Mexico.

Chihuahuan Desert Gardens

The Chihuahuan Desert Gardens on the museum's grounds feature over 600 species of native plants. The gardens are intended to demonstrate that the use of native plants in landscaping can be fulfilling in terms of beauty and water conservation. Over 600 species of plants native to the Greater

Region are cultivated in a series of "theme" gardens. The gardens also serve as a resource for informal and formal botanical and environmental education. An extensive database of plant images and associated information is associated with the gardens. The Chihuahuan Desert Gardens cooperate with th
University of Texas at El Paso Biodiversity Collections
to develop and curate exhibitions related to the research being performed in the UTEP Biodiversity Collections as well as to provide specimens and information for community outreach. The Chihuahuan Desert Gardens'

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...

is one of the most extensive educational resources for the

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...

of the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion on the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

for the layperson. Other web material includes transcripts of over 1300 short radio presentations concerning Southwestern subjects aired by the local

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

station, KTEP. Courses on the website include ''An Introduction to the Chihuahuan Desert'' and ''Mammalogy on the Web''.

Gallery

Image:Nook in Chihuahuan garden at UTEP.jpg, Nook in Chihuahuan Desert garden at UTEP. Image:Chihuahuan desert garden at UTEP.jpg, The Contemplative Garden. Image:Meditating pool at Chihuahuan Desert Garden.jpg, Pool in the Contemplative Garden Image:Garden walk at UTEP.jpg, Garden walk Image:Chihuahuan Desert Gardens UTEP 1.jpg, Chihuahuan Desert Garden walkway

Admission, hours

Free to the public, with special needs access and limited parking. Tours are booked in advance. Open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Closed on university holidays and UTEP home football game days.

References

External links