The Brownsville Public Utilities Board is hosting its third annual “Resaca” exhibit in partnership with the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art.
The art exhibition is designed to raise awareness of the environmental and ecological impact of the resacas and promote how the water bodies highlight the city’s natural beauty.
More than 10 local artists were selected to be part of this exhibit, which kicked off publicly July 16 at the museum. Artists were invited to interpret resacas and local wildlife through two and three-dimensional artworks to show off the area’s unique ecosystem and the vital role resacas play in the community.
“BPUB is always looking to get involved in events that reflect the kind of work that we do,” Cleiri Quezada, spokesperson for BPUB, said in a previous interview.
“Showcasing our resacas like this is an effective way to make people aware of the work that we’re doing to restore them, and it continues teaching the community and visitors why resacas are not only beautiful but one of the most important natural resources for Brownsville.”
According to Quezada, r esacas play an important role during floods and drought. Resacas provide water storage capacity during times of heavy rain due to the fact that resaca levels can be lowered to make room for stormwater runoff. Also, during drought, they can provide an important alternate resource for water, she said.
“Resacas are a unique ecosystem and play a vital role in our community. They provide multiple benefits to our community as well as native plants and wildlife,” Quezada said.
Liliana Ede, a local artist who is participating in the resaca exhibit, said her work is a little abstract but when she was working on it she had resacas in her mind. She said for these pieces she decided to paint the colors that reflect from the sky on the resacas.
“I believe that resacas are very important in Brownsville. They bring life to the city and have a flora and fauna that are special,” she said. “They bring peace and harmony to the community and I think they are beneficial due to their uniqueness.”
Isabel Valle, a local artist who has participated in the Resaca exhibit for the past three years, said her work was not only inspired by the resacas but also the times that we were living in during the lockdown due to the pandemic. In her work, she features resacas with ducks.
“My work represents two themes: “la reunión de cuates,” something that we missed a lot because we weren’t able to do it and the other one is “en solitario” because that’s how we lived for a year,” she said.
Deyanira Ramirez, executive director at the museum, said the collaboration the museum has with BPUB is very important because it helps create awareness about the importance of taking care of the resacas in the community.
“This our third year working together with this exhibit and it has received a great response from the community,” she said.
“We hope this tradition continues and we invite the community families, students to come see it so they can learn more about the resacas and their importance.”
