The Ardovino family represents all that El Paso can be: warmth, charm, amazing food and hospitality. Marina Ardovino joins us this week to talk about what it means to be Italian, El Pasoan, a mom, daughter, sister, wife and purveyor of beautiful hospitality. Marina also lovingly recalls her mom: Maria Vincenza Rosaria Dibonito Ardovino’s outsized influence as a community member and mom to all who came into her restaurant and her life continues to resonate.

In many ways, Dov Kupfer personifies the LGTQIA+ experience in the Borderland. A decade’s long mainstay in our community, this conversation recounts how he has negotiated his place in the Jewish faith while living authentically and taking a million photos and changing lives by arranging flowers. Like our Borderlands, Dov defies definition in the most beautifully liminal ways.  

Niko used theatrical rage to heal from trauma. “I think we look at anger as this big, bad emotion. It’s not. And you can have good anger, you can have bad anger, you can have anger that hurts people, you can have anger that hurts yourself.” In a specific angry scene in a recent theater production Niko says, “It was actually a lot harder than I anticipated, because even though me and anger and rage are bed buddies…it was something I never show people. It’s a part of myself that I have kept well-hidden in my 34 years.”

My friend, Stephanie Valle, says it best when it comes to this week’s guest, Felipa Solis: “Ever meet someone who exudes so much energy, you float off the ground a few inches? When Felipa says hello, she says it with her whole self. Her eyes light up, her smile is 1,000 watts…Passion for the arts is in her blood. Have a question about a classic film? Felipa has the answer. What did she think of the latest film in theaters? Felipa watched the screening and has the review.” 

Ready for a great conversation about how Craig Culley does not use art to heal himself? I tend to believe his ability to accurately and creatively craft figure drawings and help students pick up this craft must feed a sense of accomplishment and nurturing that he has in him. But listen to his take on his practice of art and see if you agree with him or me. Oh yeah, and hear whether I have finally convinced Avery that soccer is an art.

Ale’s who are you question included playing electric guitar in her band, Jane Like Fire, running cross-country track and being a young person in a close-knit and supportive El Paso family. “I call myself a sponge to my friends…I feel think right now as a young person it’s my responsibility to just take it all in...Like, I have my school curriculum but it’s also my job to branch out and learn as much as I can right now, because my frontal lobe is growing, right?” Spoiler alert: when I asked about her trauma, she couldn’t identify one and then later off-handedly mentioned she recently fractured her pelvis while running. Talk about a resilient!

The vibrations in his cello have worked their way into Zuil’s core. “The day you can embrace the uniqueness of who you are is the day you no longer have competition. All of us are so different. How we view colors, how we hear sounds. How we register our past. Chemically, our presence. How we register and hope for our future. How we balance all of that. How we accept that all of it is ok. But are awake to flex and fight fear...Everything makes us stronger.” And those vibrations have worked their way into all of us.  

What does it mean to come from the Border? Joe Moody says,“This is an incredibly accepting culture. It’s bi-national, an intersection of so many different people. You have got, I don’t know, 50, 60, 70 thousand people in El Paso that go to work every day across the border. And vice versa. People have family there or they go for medical servcies over there. And back and forth and so there’s this vibrant bi-national culture. It just seeps into who you are when you are born here.”  

The Borderland’s own Gloria Aguilera Terry leads the Texas Council on Family Violence, one of the most effective anti-violence agencies in the county. She splits her time between El Paso and Austin: “First and foremost El Paso will be home…I lived in El Paso my entire life to my mid-forties and took this leap of faith – you know go run this statewide organization and see what comes of it.” But what’s this 5 foot tall powerhouse doing in her spare time? Triking.

“I fell in love with storytelling early in life.” The leader of Teatro Neplanta and the Borderland Players, Adam came back to El Paso to practice his art. In a world in which everything seems like it’s already been done, actor and theater trouper Adam Zarowski knows how to innovate.