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Exhibit

I’ll be exhibiting selections from the Bordernote project at JIREH Collective in Tucson during the month of April. If you’re in Tucson on Saturday April 4, please join me for the opening reception at 5PM. — Richard

JIREH Collective
143 N. Stone Ave.
Tucson

Bordernote exhibit announcement

Project overview

Bordernote showcases portraits and stories of musicians from the US-Mexico borderlands. It aims to document the region’s rich expressive culture through personal narratives. This project addresses the superficial stereotypes regularly applied to musicians and highlights their many-faceted identities beyond genre. The project shares individual stories, such as those of musicians who balance their art with professional careers and personal aspirations. Between April 2025 and March 2026, the project included extensive community participation along the Arizona-Sonora border, learning from a diverse range of local individuals, regardless of genre or professional level, to accompany their portraits. Through these personal accounts, Bordernote seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the musicians’ lives and contributions.

Selections from the project

Man playing vihuela
“I think it’s important for people to know that what happens in a classroom setting, in a musical classroom setting is just as important, if not more important, than what these students are learning in their core classes. I’m not downplaying the core classes. Those are essential to succeeding in our society. But music offers a different venue to teach life skills that you can’t teach in an English class, or that you can’t teach in a science or math class.” — Justin Enriquez, 43, Tucson, Arizona
“My favorite period would be the Baroque era. I feel there was a freedom that they weren’t even aware of. Because they invented many things that are still being used today, and I think that in every era, those harmonic and ornamental resources—which are essentially ways of decorating or beautifying things—have been utilized.” — Lilian Calleja, 33, Agua Prieta, Sonora.
Man in beret sits at drum kit
“What defines punk for me is respect for others, mutual support, and solidarity. That’s what punk represents to me. That’s how I see it. I mean, there are people who see it differently, but I don’t criticize or judge them. We simply create our own spaces where we can feel safe.” — Omar Mejía, 47, Yuma, Arizona
“I’ve always lived in a kind of borderland, in many aspects of my life, because my dad is Colombian, but my mom is American, so I’ve always lived between worlds, and for some reason, I think I feel a bit at home in the border region. I think it’s because of this permeability of many things that happen here; it’s like a no man’s land and everyone’s land. I think that sometimes, well, I studied sociology because I’m interested in the experience of others as a motivator in music. It’s really about understanding the experience of others.” — Natalia Serna, 39, Hermosillo, Sonora
“I remember being 18 and wondering whether to become a guitarist or a singer. I took a summer course, specializing in both singing and guitar, and decided that what I enjoyed most was singing. Also, financially, it would be easier to find work as a singer than just as a guitarist. At first, my parents didn’t want me to be a musician because they were worried about the financial aspect, but after they saw that I really wanted to be a musician, they started to support me in this musical dream.” — Roberto Corral, 33, Agua Prieta, Sonora.
“I used to be a mariachi.  I’ve been playing vihuela since I was 12 years old. I was a mariachi for 14 years. Unfortunately, there’s no mariachis here in Douglas, so I got into making vihuelas and guitars, and that way I can stay in the mariachi community. I am a part-time luthier here and a full-time firefighter. This is my passion.” — Joel Gonzales, 42, Douglas, Arizona
“It’s a difficult thing, my job. The truth is, it’s a thousand-headed demon. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know who you’re going to meet.” — Joaquín Fragozo, 73, Puerto Peñasco, Sonora
“If you want to be a good musician, you have to dedicate many hours of your day. Not just sticking with what you have, but continuing to improve your technique, your talent, and yes, investing a lot in it.” — Alfredo “Lalo” Domínguez Martínez, 25, Puerto Peñasco, Sonora.
“My family listens to a lot of mariachi music. When I would listen to it, I would hear the bass playing in the background and I would be like that’s a really nice sounding beefy bass sound and I started liking it.” — Jesus Gonzalez-Medina, 20, Phoenix, Arizona

Along the way

 
Chicano teenager in glasses points a guitar at the viewer

Old Soul

This playlist is home. This is my childhood, my family, my life. This playlist has different varieties of genres ranging from funk to oldies to Chicano rock. That was my upbringing, The upbringing of a Chicano.
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Young trumpet player in mariachi suite in front of an airplane

Air & Space Acapella

Gabriel Harmon is a Tucson High School senior and a trumpet player with the school's mariachi group, Rayos del Sol. In this video, he performs "La enorme distancia"
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Marimba & mate

I want the listeners to get the same feeling I got about four years ago when I began experiencing these different sounds of instruments and music from these countries.
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Man with a guitar and another with an accordion

La güipa

You bring your crew and cooler, and they bring the party.
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man and woman playing metal and singing bowls

Sound Bath

Ivan Limón and Denis Quintero demonstrate the instruments they use in the sound baths offered at their studio and retail space.
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Man in sunglasses with guitar and harmonica

Let’s Dance

"When I got to that show, it was a it was at a bowling alley in Eagle Rock, California, and everyone was dressed like me and they were listening to some cool ass music."
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Young man in front of a Chicano-themed mural

Yeah No

I can't say for certain this has happened to you (but I bet it has).
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Man on steps with banjo

El tranza

Jorge Trewartha performs his composition "El Tranza" on the steps of the Museo Biblioteca at the University of Sonora .
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Priest with a guitar

St. Stephen’s Episcopal

Sunday mass at St. Stephen's includes singing by the congregation and performers invited from the Douglas and Agua Prieta communities.
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Detail of fingers plucking at a guitarrón strings

That big guitar is a guitarrón

Tucson summers linger well into October, and on Hispanic Heritage Day, the University of Arizona’s grassy mall is baked in sunshine and smells like beer and gasoline.
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Man with sousaphone stands against a teal wall

Origin Story

When I envisioned 2023, I imagined my future self doing familiar, predictable things. I didn't do any of those things
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Group of musicians in cowboy hats and red shirts

Proof of concept

In which I learn that no one goes to the beach to help with my homework.
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Contact

For more information and to participate, please contact Richard Whitmer via email: rwhitmer@arizona.edu

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