Support

Community Leadership

Countless individuals --too numerous to mention-- deserve to be cited herefor their unflinching commitment to this project; Know that we are endlessly grateful to you beyond measure + that your contributions towards completion of this cultural endeavor continue to resonate as an active intervention that can not be defined by simple means nor by time alone . . . . . . our many thanks to each and every one of you.
Armando RascónProject Artist.
  • Border Metamorphosis: The Binational Mural Project is a project of the
  • Calexico Arts Commission, a Committee of the Imperial County Arts Council

  • Project Artist: Armando Rascón

  • Project Manager:
  • Carmen Durazo

  • Community Project Leaders:
  • Ricardo Castro
  • Dr. Carlos R. Herrera
  • Albert Castro

  • Calexico Arts Commission:
  • 1998
  • Carmen M. Durazo, Chairperson
  • Stephen Wong, Vice-Chairperson
  • Hildy Carrillo-Rivera
  • Sheila Dollente
  • Joe Gaxiola Dr.
  • 1999
  • Carmen M. Durazo, Chairperson
  • Stephen Wong, Vice-Chairperson
  • Hildy Carrillo-Rivera
  • Roberto Moreno
  • Dr. Olga Amaral
  • 2000
  • Carmen M. Durazo, Chairperson
  • Stephen Wong, Vice-Chairperson
  • Roberto Moreno, Treasurer
  • Hildy Carrillo-Rivera
  • Dr. Olga Amaral
  • Dr. Carlos R. Herrera
  • Libby Peraza
  • 2001
  • Carmen M. Durazo, Chairperson
  • Stephen Wong, Vice-Chairperson
  • Dr. Reynaldo Ayala, Treasurer
  • Dr. Olga Amaral, Secretary
  • Dr. Carlos R. Herrera
  • Libby Peraza
  • Bill Hodge

  • Advisory Committee:
  • Thomas L. Wacker, Chief Patrol Agent, U.S.Border Patrol, El Centro Sector
  • Randy Stickles, U.S.Border Patrol, Calexico
  • Steve Martin, U.S.Border Patrol, Calexico
  • Henry Rolon, U.S.Border Patrol Public Relations Officer
  • Carmen Durazo, Vice-President, Imperial County Arts Council
  • Mitjl Capet, Executive Director, Imperial County Arts Council
  • Brenda Hinojosa, Imperial County Arts Council
  • Randy Carson, Imperial County Arts Council
  • Tony Tirado, Supervisor District I, Imperial County
  • Wayne Van De Graaf, Supervisor District I, Imperial County
  • Judge Donal Donnelly, Superior Court, Imperial County
  • Victor Carrillo, Mayor, City of Calexico
  • John Renison, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Calexico
  • Gilbert Grijalva, Councilman, City of Calexico
  • Javier Alatorre, Councilman, City of Calexico
  • Frank Montoya, Councilman, City of Calexico
  • Eduardo Rivera, Councilman, City of Calexico
  • Richard Inman, City Manager, City of Calexico
  • Hildy Carrillo-Rivera, Managing Editor - Calexico Chronicle
  • Roberto Moreno, Superintendant of Schools, Calexico Unified School District
  • Emily Palacio, Calexico Educational Foundation
  • Lupita Rios, Calexico Housing Authority
  • Diane Hinckley, Port Director, Calexico, INS
  • Lisa McLellan, INS, San Diego
  • Brad Ramos, Commander - City of Calexico Police Department
  • Benny Garcia, California Conservation Corps
  • Gabriel Aguirre, Americorps, Imperial County Office of Education
  • Antonio Gomez, Americorps, Imperial County Office of Education
  • Lourdes Cordova, Assistant to City Manager
  • Rosalind Guerrero, Projects Director, City of Calexico
  • Mark Esquer, Community Member
  • Joey Moreno, Community Member
  • Jane Sharp, Community Member
  • Louis Wong, Community Member
  • Herschel Hudson, Community Member
  • Marcella Fatemi, Community Member




Primary support for this project has been received through generous grants from:
The California Arts CouncilThe US/Mexico Fund for CultureFideicomiso para la Cultura Estados Unidos/MéxicoCalexico Redevelopment AgencyThe Wells Fargo FoundationImperial Irrigation DistrictImperial County Arts Counciland numerous local service + educational organizations.

City of Calexico Art Commissioners

  • Calexico Arts Commissioners + Friends of the Arts, from left to right:

  • Armando Rascón, Artist;
  • Ricardo Castro, Engineer - Calexico Fire Department;
  • Laura Fernandez, Mexican Vice-Counsel;
  • Dr. Reynaldo Ayala, Commissioner;
  • Gilbert Grijalva, City of Calexico - Council Member;
  • Louis Wong, Advisory Committee Member;
  • Dr. Carlos R. Herrera, Professor of History - San Diego State University + Commissioner;
  • Stephen Wong, Treasurer, Calexico Arts Commission;
  • Victor Carrillo, City of Calexico - Council Member;
  • Carmen Durazo, Chair, Calexico Arts Commission + Project Manager;
  • Haydee Rodriguez, President - Imperial County Arts Council.
A community-involved project such as this requires many minds and even more hands to complete. This photograph captures the leaders that made it all possible. To right. an early portrait of a mixed group of volunteers --from father and daughter, teachers and aides, high school volunteers, and a cross-section of Imperial Valley citizen art enthusiasts. Project Manager Carmen Durazo remained steadfast in her never-bending spirit and true-grit in promoting the project and gathering up the workshop troops. Carmen is in the yellow outfit standing next to Armando in the bottom plate. The Guadalupe and Richard Castro family of Calexico provided lodging and hot meals for the entire scope of the artist's work visits to the Imperial Valley and deserve a proper Kudos Salute! A heartfelt and enthusiastic Thank You to the beautiful people of the Mexicali and Imperial Valleys for your kindness and robust embrace of Border Metamorphosis: the Binational Mural Project. Por Vida, Armando Rascón

The Destruction of Border Metamorphosis

  • In 2017 the Trump Administration collapsed the steel armature of the border fence, replacing it with the infamous Wall promised during the 2016 election cycle. Border Metamorphosis: the Binational Mural Project was scrapped and the work was effectively destroyed.
  • The piece exists in pictures and in memory only now.

But is Border Metamorphosis really destroyed? The images on this site and elsewhere attest to the years of perseverance and hard work that the border community volunteers graciously and joyously delivered towards its creation. In its current state as an ephemeral digital object, all existing digital and material documentation of the work serve to embody the conceptual nature of the effort as an ongoing symbol to the unique people of the borderlands. Border Metamorphosis lives on electronically and in print. and through touch, sight and sound.
In response to the mural's destruction, City of Calexico civic and community leaders erected a public monument in 2018. Situated in Rockwood Plaza Park, in central Calexico, the monument features a fully restored section of the original salvaged artwork, and commemorates the historic achievement of this major community-involved public binational art project.
This website reprises about 99% of the original photography contained in the Rascón's original project website from 1999. Rascón recovered the html site from a Windows 98SE hard drive in 2025.
 Alas, this archive is a work in progress managed by Armando Rascón. Stay tuned for additional overviews and commentary. To right: Rascón at the Arlington National Cemetery, circa 2024. Below, Getty Images' nocturnal view of the art project pre-2017.

During the multi-year course of the project several engagements with the public and cultural activities on the border were staged and delivered by the Calexico Arts Commission, including the off-site mural painted by Armando Rascón for the First Annual Olmec Harvest Festival that was produced during the 1999 Day of the Dead public celebration in downtown Calexico.
Contact
info@binationalmuralproject.comamayaarmandorascon
© Copyright 1998-2025 Armando Rascón, project artist, All rights reserved. All registered trademarks herein are the property of their respective owners. Unless otherwise stated, all photography herein by Armando Rascón ©1998-2025