On October 28, 2014, the City adopted the “2014-2024 Public Art Master Plan,” which was administered by the Managing Director of Quality of Life of the City of El Paso. That would be Ben Fyffe, who is the 24th highest paid employee of the City of El Paso, earning $191,445 plus benefits as of March 2025.
Every couple of years, Fyffe presents a “Public Art Plan” with a list of projects to be executed and a budget.
The 2024 Public Art Plan was approved February 13, 2024 and cost $8,593,000. The list of projects included $1,250,000 for an “Artist Pool” at the Police Department Headquarters, $800,000 for an “Artist Pool” at the Police & Fire Training Academy, and $600,000 for “Water Wall Improvements” next to the Plaza Theatre.
On Tuesday, City Council is expected to approve the 2026 Public Art Plan, the first phase of the “2026-2036 Public Art Master Plan” that was unanimously approved this past February 17. It calls for commissioning 23 artworks and restoring several others at a cost of $8,348,000 plus the (unknown) cost for staff who administer the program.
The budget includes $1,200,000 for “Site Amenities, Infrastructure, Relocation, & Restoration.” We don’t know how much of this figure is for restoration but our guess is that it is substantial, given the constant maintenance many of these artworks require.
The Public Art Program is funded by 8 certificates of obligation issued between 2010 and 2020, the 2012 Infrastructure and Quality of Life Bond, the 2019 Public Safety Bond, and the 2022 Community Progress Bond.
Moreover, Section 2.40.070(C)(1) of the City Code (Ord. No. 17424, § 1), enacted September 21, 2010, earmarks 2% of the value of all expenditures on capital improvement projects, “whether funded by general obligation bonds, revenue bonds or certificates of obligation,” for public art.
All these sources are debt instruments that directly impact our property tax, and that means the 2026 Public Art Program will cost approximately double its advertised price, somewhere in the neighborhood of $16 million.
So If you were wondering how we got $7.5 million worth of twirling eggbeaters at the Airway exit on Interstate 10, the blueberry martini sculptures on Airway Blvd. ($750,000), and the “Yellow Door” on El Paso Street ($250,000), the answer is we paid for them.
While we support the maintenance and operation of existing museums and libraries, we do not need government to provide us with entertainment, public artworks, or anything else that is a reckless expenditure of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.
We are against publicly funded arenas, stadiums, water parks, trolleys, and gigantic twirling eggbeaters that glow in the dark! All this should be paid for through private investment and non-profits.
We demand that our City focus on its core functions and stop spending our money on projects that are not within its purview.
We urge City Council to eliminate the Public Art Program completely and reallocate its funding to the street repair and maintenance budget, which is underfunded by about $35 million each year.