Art Beyond Fronteras

Arizona’s Santa Cruz County has a rich history – to make it more relatable to our young people, the Santa Cruz County School Superintendent’s Office partnered with local artists to bring this story to life. Rio Rico High School art teacher and noted muralist Miguel Grijalva painted various scenes of our county’s history for permanent exhibition. Mr. Grijalva’s commissioned paintings inspired the topic of his 2024 community mural at the Nogales Public Library – “The Present Meets the Past.”

Retired bullfighter and local artist Armando Moreno worked with young people elementary, middle, and high school during the summer 2024 “Arts History Academy” program to create artwork illustrating key moments in our community’s history.

The stunning artwork by Mr. Grijalva and Mr. Moreno is on permanent display in the “Beyond Fronteras: Treasuring an Arizona Border Community’s Past and Present” museum exhibition at the Historic 1904 Courthouse in Nogales, Arizona. Miguel Grijalva and Armando Moreno’s art illustrate the different topics covered by our museum exhibition.

Santa Cruz County’s mountain ranges mark part of the northern edge of jaguars in North America. A jaguar watches a dragonfly (or libélula in Spanish) with the Santa Rita Mountains – our county’s highest peaks – in the background. We are lucky to have as unique of a big cat species like jaguars roaming our high desert habitats.

…and many more at the “Beyond Fronteras: Treasuring an Arizona Border Community’s Past and Future” exhibition at the Historic 1904 Courthouse in Nogales, Arizona

The “Beyond Fronteras” exhibition and multimedia project was curated and coordinated by Carlos Francisco Parra, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arizona and a born-and-raised native of Ambos (both) Nogales.