Candace Printz and Zulema Macias

[00:01] CANDACE PRINTZ: Hello. My name is Candace Prince. I am 41 years old. Today is January 22, 2023. We are in El Paso, Texas, and I am here with my friend, Zulama Macias.

[00:12] ZULEMA MACIAS: Good morning. My name is Zulema Macias, and I am 48, and I am here. Today is January 22, 2023. We are in El Paso, Texas, and I am here interviewing my good friend Candace Princess.

[00:27] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, I wanted to snag you and get you here because you have been a part of the building of this nonprofit, which is Green Hope project. So when I think back to when we began, it was just an idea. And so what year was that? It's one of the questions I have for you. So when we started, it was just a seed of an idea about how we can help the environment through art and education. So that's the pillar of our nonprofit is art education and environmentalism. So I want to ask you, what is your memory of it, whether it's right or wrong, what is your recollection of how this began? Because it's been so long. I mean, I don't even know how long it's been.

[01:18] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah.

[01:20] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, we're going on year seven for.

[01:22] ZULEMA MACIAS: Trash to trash, and I joined you.

[01:24] CANDACE PRINTZ: On year two, but the idea of it, wasn't it before that.

[01:30] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah, we had sat together at a Jason Sully.

[01:34] CANDACE PRINTZ: It's Jason's deli. Yeah, it was. That's what I remember.

[01:39] ZULEMA MACIAS: Well, we were, you asked me to make a poster for you for the event because you had, you were trying, you were trying to do your second year of trash to treasure, and you wanted to. A bit, I guess, a bit of on the, on the graphics. Yeah. And I have graduated from, with the graphic design degree. And you remember me from UTEP. That's where we know each other from. And so we met because of that, but then we started talking about how we want to change the world and how we've both always wanted to have a nonprofit, and we've just, you know, we have this inside of us that we just want to do something for others, I guess. You know, and I remember that we kind of decided, well, we decided first on just the poster plan, but we kind of strayed off and started talking about imagine if. Imagine if. And I guess the imagine if kind of started coming real, right?

[02:35] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah. So Zulama and I, we met at UTEP, at the university. And so we were both art majors. She was more graphic design, and I was more sculptural in printmaking, and we became educators.

[02:51] ZULEMA MACIAS: What was your first gig at middle school. Henderson Middle school.

[02:57] CANDACE PRINTZ: Okay. And then I went into El Dorado High School. And then as teachers. Yeah. And then we weren't. We didn't super know each other very.

[03:06] ZULEMA MACIAS: Well, but we did because we had uvas.

[03:08] CANDACE PRINTZ: We had uvas. What is Uvas?

[03:10] ZULEMA MACIAS: Well, Uvas started as a group of ladies here in El Paso who graduated together and were, like, clueless when we really graduated to become teachers, because the world of teaching was so different than what we expected. So we got together to kind of help each other, not only in the world of education and give each other lessons, but to not force each other, but to challenge each other. To continue making art. Yes.

[03:40] CANDACE PRINTZ: Be real. We got together so we wouldn't have nervous breakdowns.

[03:45] ZULEMA MACIAS: A little bit of both.

[03:46] CANDACE PRINTZ: So we'd meet monthly to have a meal and do an art project and just hang out and support each other.

[03:53] ZULEMA MACIAS: And paint sometimes and lend each other.

[03:56] CANDACE PRINTZ: So I knew you through Uva's more than I did through college. I mean, we had a maybe in passing classes, but you and I really, I think, began to bond after that first meeting. That additional. I was like, at Jason's deli. Yeah.

[04:11] ZULEMA MACIAS: Cause actually, Ana, our friend, was the one that was like, hey, you can get Zulema Suleima's really good at graphic design. And you were talking with her more than me, and then it's like, oh, what? Yeah, sure, I'll try it.

[04:24] CANDACE PRINTZ: I think Jason Stelli should sponsor us because we became right, because we exist because of them. Now. That's our anniversary. We should have anniversaries there.

[04:33] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, well, I was at that time looking for more graphic design because I was teaching in art, and I was teaching graphic design actually at the college, in the high school level, which is really cool. But at the same time, I was. It's so dynamic. It's so much work to be teaching, and the kids, there's so much variation of what's going to happen in your day. So me having faber Malta. Yeah. Well, I decided to start moving towards more of a graphic design. So I was like, no matter how hard this is to do teaching, I'm gonna help you because I want to start building more of my graphic design portfolio.

[05:12] CANDACE PRINTZ: So after you.

[05:13] ZULEMA MACIAS: But mostly because I want to change the world.

[05:15] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, after you did that, then we. At that time, there was no Green Hope project nonprofit. There was a it's your world project high school art club. And so it was my high school students, and the way that came about was that I was working a second job in addition to teaching at Barnes and Noble doing the greeting cards. Well, I'd go all over the city doing greeting cards. And at Barnes and Noble, they had a flyer, and I knew it was for a teacher because it had a freaking apple on it. And they said, can you propose something that you'd like to do to change your community? And so I thought back to the art club kids talking about how disappointed they were with all the trash in the chihuahuan desert. And they thought, this is so awful that this is happening right by our school. We had this pristine desert, and now all these corporations and businesses and people are moving in, but all the debris is blowing into the desert. And so their suggestion at art Club, while they ate pizza, Washington, wouldn't it be cool if we got all the trash and did, like, a giant trash monster? And we put a plaque and we said, you know, don't you know this is, you know, happening in your backyard? And this is 800,000 pieces of trash that we collected? And. And then that was it. And they laughed and then they moved on. But I thought, these kids are talking about advocacy, and they don't even realize it. They're talking about change, and they don't even realize it. And so I think. And I didn't know at the time, but that is our role as a teacher, is to harness that and then turn that thought into action. And so I saw that flyer at Barnes and noble community service project, and I filled it out with their idea, and I tweaked it a little bit. And I said, we'll adopt a section of the highway, take the trash rather than send it to the landfill. We'll salvage what we can, and we'll teach the community how to repurpose these materials. And so the beginning of trash to trash, right? And then, so phase one, cleanup. Phase two, workshops. Phase three, whatever's created, we can have an exhibition. El Paso, Las Cruces, Juarez. So we can have New Mexico, we can have Texas, and we can have Mexico. And I submitted it, and I forgot about it. And, like, eight, nine months later, I got an email saying, congratulations, you're the sole winner in the nation. Your prize is Chelsea Clinton is going to come to your school in two weeks for a kickoff event. And I was like, what the frick? I never looked at what the prize was. It just said, the author of the book will come. And I never looked at who the author of the book was. And I was like, this is like.

[07:48] ZULEMA MACIAS: Like, what versus daughter?

[07:51] CANDACE PRINTZ: And so that's when I stopped sleeping. And so we had to, you know, figure out a PowerPoint, figure out a plan. Figure out who is going to come to the presentation. Should we get potential sponsors? Do we need a brochure? Do we need a website? Like, what are the list of materials we need? And then that's when my army of kids, what their idea was, it became action. And I think because of the notoriety of what was happening, they felt so important and so special, and they rose to the occasion. And I did. I had a little army of kids. And then that grew, and she came and she saw the presentation and we got some backing. And then what happened was she said, I love this idea. I want to come back in a year for your exhibition. And I was like, sure, we'll see. People say stuff. And she did, and she came back. We did the cleanups. We collected hundreds of bags of trash. The kids hosted workshops at the museum, at libraries, at schools, and then we collected the work. And my fear was that when we had the call for submissions, nobody else would enter but my kids. But we had over 600 submissions from all the areas, we said. And we had to narrow it down to like 200 something. And then we had at the opening reception, over 1000 people in attendance, including Chelsea Clinton. And she went and talked to every single artist one at a time, which is phenomenal. And then her book was called it's your world. And they talked about how kids, no matter what age they are, can change the world. So we started our it's your world club. And then they said, we're gonna give you environmental art classes. You can do what you will with them. And I had two classes that filled up with about 40 kids. And we just. The army continued. And then the community said, are you gonna do this again? To trash the treasure? Are you gonna do this again? Are you gonna do this again? And then we did. And then you came on board. I don't remember when it was really like, I stole you.

[09:54] ZULEMA MACIAS: It was the second year.

[09:55] CANDACE PRINTZ: Was it the second year? Yeah, I think.

[09:57] ZULEMA MACIAS: Cause that wasn't the first year I had a poster. That's why I remember.

[10:01] CANDACE PRINTZ: You're right. Cause the first year, one of my kids made the poster.

[10:04] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah. Because I didn't have a clue about what was going on over there. All we were like, candy is doing what? Candy's bringing Chelsea Clinton to El Paso. Oh, my gosh.

[10:13] CANDACE PRINTZ: What?

[10:13] ZULEMA MACIAS: We have to up our game. She's our colleague. Like, what? That was super cool.

[10:18] CANDACE PRINTZ: I think what happened is we were like, hooray. As kids started to graduate, they wanted to keep coming back. And I thought guys, you can't be creepers coming to the high school. You're adults now.

[10:27] ZULEMA MACIAS: Like, you.

[10:28] CANDACE PRINTZ: You want to leave this whole time, and then you get to graduate, and then you keep coming back. And so I think the idea that they kept coming back showed me that there was a need. And so that's when we said, this needs to become a nonprofit. It can't just remain a club because parents want to be a part of it. Business owners, graduates. You came on board, and, well, you.

[10:49] ZULEMA MACIAS: Asked me because you said, because I think you saw that need. And, I mean, at that point, I was just doing poster for you. Right. But we had already had this conversation about doing something great and doing a nonprofit. So you asked me, well, if you're really serious, would you like to come to this dinner with other people that want to also be part of this?

[11:11] CANDACE PRINTZ: That's right.

[11:12] ZULEMA MACIAS: I I remember that part, but I think you. You had already kind of.

[11:17] CANDACE PRINTZ: I needed help considered.

[11:18] ZULEMA MACIAS: I need help. This is the kids. We need growth in another direction. So then we came together where I can remember. And with who? Do you remember?

[11:27] CANDACE PRINTZ: It was at the fountains. Was it at the fountains?

[11:29] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yes, it was at the fountains.

[11:32] CANDACE PRINTZ: I don't remember what restaurant, but I remember we had a meeting with a bunch of women. What's a strong women?

[11:39] ZULEMA MACIAS: Five.

[11:40] CANDACE PRINTZ: Five women?

[11:41] ZULEMA MACIAS: Six.

[11:41] CANDACE PRINTZ: Six. So it was me, you, Leo, Leonor Sosa, Darlene Guire, and Vero Carbajo.

[11:51] ZULEMA MACIAS: There's five of us.

[11:53] CANDACE PRINTZ: So five women walk into a bar. So five women walk into a restaurant, and the only commonality they had was they each knew me, so I knew you from college. Leonor was the parent of one of my student volunteers. Darlene was the parent of one of my students that was in the club. And Veronica Carbahal, she's a local attorney who also ran for mayor. I met her because our kids gave a workshop how to do trash to treasure at the museum, and she was one of the attendees, and she said she loved what we were doing, and she gave me her contact information and said if she can ever help. And so all these people, you know, wanted to change the world for the better in some way, and they played.

[12:43] ZULEMA MACIAS: Such a big part in green Hope. Like, formulating it, like, building it. Like, each one of us had, like, a superpower, and we kind of came together and kind of, like, boop. Made it happen.

[12:55] CANDACE PRINTZ: And it was just strong women with different backgrounds to help in different ways. And so do you remember the first meeting with these women, how you felt or what happened? Yeah, I remember what happened.

[13:10] ZULEMA MACIAS: I remember what happened? People crying.

[13:12] CANDACE PRINTZ: People started crying.

[13:14] ZULEMA MACIAS: It's because they couldn't believe they found people that are the same minded. Okay. I'm not much of a crier, but I wanted to cry, but I saw them already with tears. That was just kind of a little funny, too.

[13:25] CANDACE PRINTZ: It was within the first 15 minutes. It was just like, hey, you guys want to introduce each other?

[13:29] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah.

[13:30] CANDACE PRINTZ: And they started crying during their introductions.

[13:33] ZULEMA MACIAS: That's right. Yeah. Because, I mean, these people, I think, feel very frustrated that. That, you know, El Paso is a little behind the times for, you know, the green, I guess.

[13:45] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah.

[13:46] ZULEMA MACIAS: For being green. And, you know, I mean, you go to places like Austin and you see all this. Like, you got your. You got all your composting. You got your everything set for you. You know, you go to a trash, and you have three options.

[14:01] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah.

[14:01] ZULEMA MACIAS: You got recycled composting or trash. Trash.

[14:03] CANDACE PRINTZ: It's just a mentality, isn't it?

[14:05] ZULEMA MACIAS: It is. And we. And then we have to change it, and I feel like that's the big thing, that we were all really happy that we feel like we found our tribe. Yeah, we found our tribe.

[14:15] CANDACE PRINTZ: So, yeah, I remember it was a very emotional introduction, and I think from that moment on, everybody knew that there was a connection, and we were hooked. And so then began Green Hope project, and so we were like, how the hell do we do this? I don't know how to do paperwork. How do we do, like, a mission? How do we do the body?

[14:35] ZULEMA MACIAS: Veronica helped a lot with that, so.

[14:36] CANDACE PRINTZ: It helped. Yeah. Thank God. And then Leo was just, you know, positive spirit.

[14:44] ZULEMA MACIAS: Oh, beautiful.

[14:45] CANDACE PRINTZ: And, you know, Darlene just have all the ideas, and she was excited.

[14:49] ZULEMA MACIAS: So much information in her brain, and.

[14:50] CANDACE PRINTZ: She'S, you know, she's. She's a historian and an educator.

[14:54] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yes.

[14:55] CANDACE PRINTZ: And then you bring with you, like, a whole gamut of skills.

[14:59] ZULEMA MACIAS: Graphic design, mostly.

[15:00] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah. And I'm just like, hey, what if we do this? And then, like, that's my contribution and.

[15:05] ZULEMA MACIAS: No, you're a people person. You get people moving.

[15:08] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah.

[15:09] ZULEMA MACIAS: You're the glue. You. We were all there because of you.

[15:11] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, it wouldn't have been what it is without you guys.

[15:15] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah. I think everybody played their part to, like, push it to where it's at, even though, I mean, currently we're just us two.

[15:22] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah.

[15:22] ZULEMA MACIAS: You know, people moved away.

[15:24] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah.

[15:25] ZULEMA MACIAS: And everybody got a bigger dream, and life happened. Life happened.

[15:28] CANDACE PRINTZ: So, from the moment we met, can you think of what some of our accomplishments have been? Like, what if you had a checklist?

[15:35] ZULEMA MACIAS: We've done. I don't want to, like, be like. But I think I remember, like, since veronica made us, like, a nonprofit, like, I think in may, I felt like, this drive to be like, oh, my gosh, this is serious. I have to be serious about designing for this group. Like, I can't just be like, oh, maybe tomorrow, because that's my typical.

[15:57] CANDACE PRINTZ: So you started our website.

[15:59] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yes. And I think, for me, honestly, that really broke down in my mind what green hope was, because I was able to, like, really dissolve the three pillars that we had have, you know, which is art education and environmentalism. And so how do we combine those? And we had to, like, I really felt like, oh, this is good. Like, this is, like, solid. And if we stick to these three and what belongs to these three, I think we can really grow, you know? And I felt like building the website felt really organic for me because of that. Because of that feeling of, like, not only do I understand it, but I believe this.

[16:36] CANDACE PRINTZ: So what community things do you remember participating in with us? What have we done?

[16:41] ZULEMA MACIAS: Oh, we've done so many, but I feel like the biggest, biggest things that we've done. I'm gonna go, like, biggest, biggest. I think we did the environmental summit. That was pretty huge.

[16:50] CANDACE PRINTZ: Do you remember how?

[16:53] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah, well, it had to be virtual because it was during COVID and we were gonna do it in person. Can you remember that?

[16:59] CANDACE PRINTZ: That would have been crazy. Our keynote was gonna be Michael Reynolds, who is the architect of the earthships and Taos, New Mexico. So they build houses from trash, like wood, tires. And they are off the grid, I think they're the largest off the grid community in the world, I think. And so this guy just designed, you know, the linings of the walls are with tires. The decorative stuff are with wine bottles and beer bottles. They have solar panels. They grow their own food. They, you know, you know, really capitalize on greywater infiltration system and using everything. And I went and saw one, and I thought, oh, my God, this is amazing. And my husband's like, well, why don't you have him come here? And I was like, would he really? All of these things that have happened was like, would that really happen? It was like, let's just apply. And so we asked him, and he said yes. And this was before COVID so we were hoping to have him in prison person. And we just thought, there's so many amazing environmental and education and art groups in the city. Why don't they all come together and network and be stronger as one instead of, you know, doing their own thing. And so for a while, I feel.

[18:12] ZULEMA MACIAS: Like we felt like we were going to be the, like, vent, like the glue for all of these spaces. Like, that green hope could be there.

[18:20] CANDACE PRINTZ: We just thought at least once a year, we can help organize that. At least once, once a year, come together. You know, our missions are also similar. And I think it's not that people don't want to do that. I think it's just everybody's time. It's so hard to find the time and the money. So if somebody can just kind of spearhead it, they'll follow. But for them to do that on top of their, you know, already so heavily loaded missions, it's hard.

[18:50] ZULEMA MACIAS: And then we wanted to take it on.

[18:52] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah.

[18:53] ZULEMA MACIAS: But, you know, we did.

[18:55] CANDACE PRINTZ: I honestly, we're excited and naive.

[18:57] ZULEMA MACIAS: I feel like so many people participated in it. We got made. We made so many network connections because of it. I mean, like, we know so many people in the city because of it.

[19:07] CANDACE PRINTZ: And we're not science people, but we know the science people now. Yeah, the environmental people.

[19:11] ZULEMA MACIAS: The environmental people are a lot of. Mostly science people.

[19:14] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, science, engineering, you know, biology, the park rangers. There's so many of them. But so as a result of that, that environmental summit, we thought, again, what if nobody participates?

[19:28] ZULEMA MACIAS: They did.

[19:29] CANDACE PRINTZ: When you call the community, they come.

[19:31] ZULEMA MACIAS: Oh, my gosh. We had how many workshops?

[19:34] CANDACE PRINTZ: So we had between 50 and 60 workshops, and they were all virtual. So we stretched it out over a month so that people could attend. And that's how we met dirty girl compost. That's how we met. No lost food insights. We got a little closer with it was from composting to solar cooking to environmental justice to recycled art, it was just a phenomenal water conservation.

[20:00] ZULEMA MACIAS: Honestly. It's still online.

[20:02] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah. Yeah.

[20:02] ZULEMA MACIAS: On our YouTube channel.

[20:04] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah. You type in Greenhouse greenhope website.

[20:05] ZULEMA MACIAS: Right.

[20:05] CANDACE PRINTZ: Greenhelp project environment.

[20:07] ZULEMA MACIAS: But, yeah, people actually have gone on the website and said, we want to participate in your environmental summit. And it's like, oh, I don't know. It's so hard to put together.

[20:17] CANDACE PRINTZ: So that was a big one. And I think it would be beautiful if we did it in person one year and everybody could meet. So we also do annual trash cleanups. So we adopted a highway, and it sounds like nothing, but we'll do sometime some years, eleven to twelve a year, and collect hundreds and hundreds of bags of trash. And some of the kids were so disappointed because they'd go and say, miss, like, we did this. And then the next week, it's back again. And then I said, you know, it's easy to get disheartened. And I know it's the tip of the iceberg, but part of this is more than just how much you collect. It's the community seeing what you're doing and you're inspiring them. It's the educational part, because when you're driving, you don't see this, but when you have feet on the ground, you now you know that there's a problem. And you're never going to forget that throughout your life. And you might teach your kids that, your parents that. And so education is maybe slower moving, but it's longer lasting and it's stronger. And so that was the point of it. Yes. And can you imagine, and then, b, can you imagine if we weren't here the week before, there would be double. So, I mean, you have to think of it differently. So we've done the summit, we've done the cleanups. We have continued trash to treasure, which is the annual art competition, which happens with. Are we going year seven?

[21:39] ZULEMA MACIAS: Year seven.

[21:40] CANDACE PRINTZ: Year seven.

[21:41] ZULEMA MACIAS: It's an earth day. We try to keep it to Earth day, the exhibition, but the actual. The concert's already on. We're gonna probably open our entries soon.

[21:53] CANDACE PRINTZ: So what is the age levels?

[21:56] ZULEMA MACIAS: It's every. Also, we start with elementary. We have a section for elementary, middle school, high school, and adults, because it.

[22:04] CANDACE PRINTZ: Doesn'T matter what age you are, everybody should be a part of the change.

[22:06] ZULEMA MACIAS: There you go.

[22:08] CANDACE PRINTZ: And we, you know, sometimes we give out merchandise, sometimes we give out cash. But I think everybody's just happy to be a part of it.

[22:15] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah. And to show their work and to have the children's work in a museum, it's beautiful. And it's so interesting. It's beautiful thing people come up with.

[22:24] CANDACE PRINTZ: And, yeah, you can go to our website if you want to see it. Cleanupproject.org. so we've done the cleanups. Trash to treasure. We do tons of workshops within the community at festivals and events and schools.

[22:38] ZULEMA MACIAS: With. With the Girl scouts. With the community. What was that?

[22:43] CANDACE PRINTZ: Mom's on board. We've done it with the Girl scouts. We've done stuff with insights. We've done stuff at chalk the block. We've done stuff directly going to campuses and doing workshops with kids at the museum. It's been crazy. And so let's talk about our grand finale. We never.

[23:04] ZULEMA MACIAS: Oh, my gosh. We imagine this. Okay, so I'm gonna tell you real fast, because I remember one of the first times all, I think four of us were in the vehicle oh, I think we were going to Taos.

[23:15] CANDACE PRINTZ: Taos. We were staying in the earthship so you guys could experience.

[23:18] ZULEMA MACIAS: We had to stay in the earthship. And you had mentioned to us that you've always wanted trash animal. You gave us that opening with the kids that they wanted to see all the trash on a wall. And then when a trash mural. A trash mural. And then the kids had looked up an artist, but we were driving by, like, the Franklin mountain park.

[23:39] CANDACE PRINTZ: You remember that?

[23:39] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah. This is when I remember the first time that you mentioned it to me, and I was like, like, oh, my gosh, that's huge. I love it.

[23:49] CANDACE PRINTZ: I think a lot of what we've done has been like, hey, what if we do this? I don't know. That might be hard. Oh, so. Well, let's try.

[23:56] ZULEMA MACIAS: Well, we were looking, maybe we could do it at the Franklin mountain. We were thinking, where could this big idea be? Go. You know, so it's, like, super cool. Something we left in the back burner because we had so many ideas and things to develop and do.

[24:11] CANDACE PRINTZ: So what happened was, when I had that environmental art class, I tasked the kids with researching environmental artists, and one of the ones they found was Bordalu Iihdeme, who is an artist from Lisbon, Portugal. And he does this whole series called big trash animals. And so he depicts animals that are being harmed by pollution, with the actual pollution. So he takes plastics and he puts them on walls, and he depicts the animals. And so.

[24:37] ZULEMA MACIAS: And sometimes, usually, it's with the materials that have endangered the animal.

[24:41] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah, exactly. And so he's this, you know, I call him a young kid. He's 35, but, I mean, he's 35 now, and he's done calling on walls.

[24:50] ZULEMA MACIAS: And he's jumping off.

[24:52] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, for a 35 year old to have made almost 300 of these murals all over the world is incredible. So when the kids did the project on him, I said, well, why don't we get him to come here? And then the kids were like, we can do that. And I was like, I don't know. Just send them an email. And they were like, we can email famous people. Yeah, they're real. And they might even respond even if you offer money. And so they drafted this email, and we went back and forth until it sounded just right. And then they emailed him, pretty much pleading and doing the sweet little kid bit. And, you know, we really need this, and we're a border city, and we're kids trying to change the world. And he responded. And he replied and said, yeah, I'll come to El Paso. And so from that moment when he said yes to when he actually came in August of 2022, which this just closed out, was five years. And it took so long, because when you tell kids, I'll come, but here's my fee. We're high. I mean, they're high school kids. We have to raise the money. You know, this was a labor of love. And so at that time, we were not a nonprofit. That's when the baby group just started. That's why that seed of Bardalo II was in the back of my mind when we became a nonprofit, I was like, we're getting bigger.

[26:18] ZULEMA MACIAS: You might be able to pull this.

[26:20] CANDACE PRINTZ: And so then that was five years, and then in the middle of that five year Covid hit, so then that was another hold for about two and a half years. It was a hold because El Paso shut down, right?

[26:35] ZULEMA MACIAS: Everybody shut down.

[26:36] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, yeah, especially at the beginning. He's from Portugal. People were not wanting to fly, and the city was not wanting outsiders to come in. And so, I mean, gosh. And then he was willing to make.

[26:51] ZULEMA MACIAS: It over there and ship it, though. No, he was going to make it there.

[26:55] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, part of the experience is watching him do it. Yeah.

[26:58] ZULEMA MACIAS: As art teachers, this is a big thing for us to see the artists develop.

[27:04] CANDACE PRINTZ: So then fast forward to Covid. Restrictions have been lifted. We are a nonprofit. You know, some of our kids have graduated. They've come and gone, but they're adults now. And then I just thought, oh, this guy. Is he never gonna come, or is this ever gonna happen? And then I emailed him, and he no longer responds for himself anymore because he's so big now. He has people responding for him. And so I was like, hey, remember us? And I think I replied to the original email so they would remember. And they were like, yeah. And I was like, will you still come? And he said, yeah, I'll still come, but I have a window. Cause I've got to go to Canada. I've got to go to Sao Paulo. I've got to do stuff in Portugal. Like, I'm everywhere. And we didn't have nearly enough money raised. And he said, you know, I can come here. And so my fear and not doing it, when he asked was that a, he's gonna move on as an artist with his design concepts. Cause he's already changing. That trash animal series has gone on for decades, and I think he's kind of over it. Yeah, maybe over it. And I thought, I really wanna get him before he changes his style. And I wanna get him now, because this may never happen again.

[28:29] ZULEMA MACIAS: Right.

[28:30] CANDACE PRINTZ: And so I blindly said, yes, come and we'll figure out the money. I didn't tell him that. I said, we'll figure out the money stuff later.

[28:39] ZULEMA MACIAS: I know.

[28:40] CANDACE PRINTZ: And then the key to all of this was Tracy Yellen. I know Tracy Yellen from Paso de Norte Community foundation. So Tracy adopted us. Yeah, because, we mean, their foundation.

[28:58] ZULEMA MACIAS: We were with them already before. Right.

[29:00] CANDACE PRINTZ: But she had no idea. Yeah, we wanted to.

[29:03] ZULEMA MACIAS: Well, as. As a small nonprofit, we didn't really want to handle all the monies. So we. We have a nonprofit that does that for us. Right.

[29:13] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, because if you get. If you let me handle money, I'm gonna give everything away.

[29:17] ZULEMA MACIAS: I know. Prizes all over the place.

[29:19] CANDACE PRINTZ: I just want to give everyone surprises.

[29:20] ZULEMA MACIAS: Let's use it for prizes. I was like, wait, we gotta do some.

[29:24] CANDACE PRINTZ: We gotta make some money.

[29:26] ZULEMA MACIAS: Then put a plaque on it.

[29:28] CANDACE PRINTZ: So we're under the umbrella of the foundation as a baby nonprofit. So they're our fiscal sponsor. They guide us. They're mentors. So Tracy.

[29:41] ZULEMA MACIAS: Tracy became. Became a greenhole project mama.

[29:45] CANDACE PRINTZ: Oh, she is our mama. So we panicked because we didn't have the building for one to start with. And it was like I knew I wanted it somewhere busy. I didn't want it to be lost.

[30:04] ZULEMA MACIAS: Like somewhere in the. Which is cool.

[30:07] CANDACE PRINTZ: You can hunt for something, but I wanted people to stumble upon it downtown.

[30:11] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yes.

[30:13] CANDACE PRINTZ: You know, and then more audience then began the hunt. And so driving around, photographing, talking to people.

[30:19] ZULEMA MACIAS: Lots of people.

[30:20] CANDACE PRINTZ: Lots of dead enders. Yes, lots of dead ends. Things kept falling through.

[30:25] ZULEMA MACIAS: Well, in between the. In between that, we did a racial harmony mural. Mural.

[30:31] CANDACE PRINTZ: Because we got sidetracked.

[30:32] ZULEMA MACIAS: Because we got sidetracked. And I was like, no, no, back to the three pillars.

[30:35] CANDACE PRINTZ: I was like, oh, my God.

[30:36] ZULEMA MACIAS: And humans are part of the earth. Yes, we are. But, you know, we got our three pillars.

[30:41] CANDACE PRINTZ: We got so upset already, so thin. Racial violence kicked back up again, and we got emotional. We made a contest and we made another contest, and it was like, okay.

[30:51] ZULEMA MACIAS: Wait, wait, wait, wait.

[30:52] CANDACE PRINTZ: Go back to environmentalism. That's a problem with me. That's a problem with creatives.

[30:55] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yes, we want to. And I know, but as a graphic designer, I have to do the same thing and pull myself back into the space where do do do do do. So then I feel like I do that a little bit with us.

[31:06] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah, I think I need it, though. You wrangle me because I'm dreamy. So then we had. We got sidetracked with racial harmony mural, which was incredible.

[31:15] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yes. But we did. It was actually a sidetrack in itself. I'm here right now. But we were talking about how we were looking for buildings for our big lion.

[31:24] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah. Well, at that time, we didn't know what it was, but Tracy Yellen, we had a meeting and said, listen, we are just at our wits end. We don't know where to go, but we know what we want it to be. And then she, boom. Within a week, man, she started making phone calls to building owners and people she knew and contacts I would never dream of. And then she had the option of two great buildings. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the one we ended up with was perfect. The Franklin Mountain properties, which is the one, San Jacinto Plaza on Mesa. It's right across from the plaza, the heart of the city. Anybody who comes as a tourist and sees, you know, the plaza, it's right.

[32:04] ZULEMA MACIAS: There from the Chihuahua stadium.

[32:06] CANDACE PRINTZ: You can see it from the base stadium, you can see it from the freeway, you can see from the plaza itself. And so I could not have asked for a better team in environmental services department providing the material, Franklin Mountain properties and guiding me through the process of how to make sure it safe on the building, Tracy yellow and pass it in our tech community foundation just for being the rock. And then we also had Rof and a bunch of contractors that just really guided us to make sure that this, I mean, the structural bent over building.

[32:44] ZULEMA MACIAS: The structure of the building, is not damaged.

[32:46] CANDACE PRINTZ: And they were so professional, and it's.

[32:47] ZULEMA MACIAS: Going to stay up.

[32:48] CANDACE PRINTZ: So then we find the building, and then I. The meeting, after meeting, after meeting with these entities and the artists, I mean, we met so much online, so then we had to coordinate it to make sure Portugal was awake. And then it was just like. And then they said, well, what is the image? And I said, here is a list. I've met with local biologists, and these are the animals that are either threatened, endangered, or species of greatest conservation need. Because we didn't want the message to be lost on something that wasn't relevant. We needed it to be something that needed an eye on it. And so we gave him a short list. And really, I wanted the burrowing owl or the horned lizard, the horned toad, because their numbers are declining rapidly in Texas. But he looked at the list and was like, I've done a million owls. No. And then the horn toad, he said, it's really cool, but the spikes on everything on it, it's not going to translate the way you think it is. And it's not the right shape for the building. So then we gave him more animals, and then ultimately he chose the mountain lion. And so that's a species of the greatest conservation need in Texas. Their numbers are declining pretty rapidly. Under 100, I think, by 50%. There's still a lot of them. And it's not that their numbers are super low, it's that their numbers are declining quickly. So there's still a lot of them.

[34:15] ZULEMA MACIAS: And why are they declining quickly?

[34:17] CANDACE PRINTZ: Which. It's a lot of things. So it can be. It could be hunting, it could be pollution. It could be environmental or habitat encroachment. So it's a lot of stuff. And so I said, okay, I'm gonna trust this guy. I was like, this is either gonna be, like, really awesome, or this is gonna be, like, nailed it. Like, epic fail. And then I also thought, you know, I've seen his work. It's beautiful. But I didn't know how the community was gonna respond. I thought they're going to be like, what are you doing putting trash on our wall? And so then he comes. We have Felix Joo Bordallo. These, I think they're young kids, and they knock out this incredible mural. Seven truckloads of plastics that environmental services has intercepted before it ends up in a landfill and they power washed. Thank you so much to Jesus Yamaguchi. Seven truckloads of plastics. Six stays 10,000 screws, 100 hours, and then you have a 64 foot, multiple story mural that is just incredible, depicting this beautiful animal that needs our attention, but also addressing. I mean, why was it so easy for us to get that much trash? It should not be that easy for us to get that much trash.

[35:40] ZULEMA MACIAS: So not only that, even our artist was going to paint on it, but decided not to because we brought him.

[35:47] CANDACE PRINTZ: Such colorful trash, and so he left it bare. So it's the second largest mural he's done in the world. It's the first largest mural that he's ever done where he's left it, not spray painted. It's the first largest one in the world. And it's just. It's phenomenal. And it's the only one in Texas.

[36:10] ZULEMA MACIAS: It's the only one in Texas.

[36:12] CANDACE PRINTZ: Out of his 300. All over the world, it's the only one in Texas.

[36:15] ZULEMA MACIAS: There's only, like, two other ones here in the US, or three.

[36:19] CANDACE PRINTZ: I think there's 15 in the US.

[36:21] ZULEMA MACIAS: Oh, that's a lot more.

[36:22] CANDACE PRINTZ: But most of them are, I think are in Europe and, you know, all over. But they were amazing. The city was a buzz, and everybody. The reception, I think, has been majority pretty positive.

[36:34] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah. Everyone was so excited when he was here. People kept dropping by. It was so cool and honking.

[36:40] CANDACE PRINTZ: Like, part of it was because it was so exciting to see it happen, and part of it is because the guys kept taking their shirts off.

[36:48] ZULEMA MACIAS: That's why the ladies were there.

[36:50] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I saw the comments online. And so I think what people need to remember is that art can be positive change in the world, and you don't know who's going to walk by that and be inspired to do a new creation or to also, in turn, do more artwork that's going to perpetuate that. And so the power of education and art, like I said, are a little bit slower, but they're longer lasting because you get into the mind, and that's what you need to change. You can do so many cleanups, but if you change your lifestyle, your culture, and your habits, that's stronger. Do you want to add anything about the mural or this whole. It's been a pleasure working with you, because I think, like you said, you and I are the remaining, and you keep me going, and this was a big one for us.

[37:48] ZULEMA MACIAS: I just always feel like, oh, if candy wants it, we'll get it. But if she doesn't want it, I'm not going to push for it. I'm not going to. I keep thinking of all these ideas, we should do this. Oh, we should. That. No. Nope. I'm gonna wait for candy to be on board because, you know, first of all, nothing gets done if you're not there, because you're the. You're like, the. You know, the pool. But. And I love it. And I just like to go through all these things with. With you, you know, because. Because you do. You inspire me. Because I wouldn't do anything, honestly, with. With anything at all anymore because of, you know, I'm just tired all the time.

[38:24] CANDACE PRINTZ: You know, it's because we're getting old.

[38:26] ZULEMA MACIAS: Is that what it is?

[38:27] CANDACE PRINTZ: I think it is. We need to pass the baton.

[38:29] ZULEMA MACIAS: Yeah. Baton throwing.

[38:30] CANDACE PRINTZ: Well, but you think with how much we've done in that short amount of time. But, you know, and everyone always thinks.

[38:36] ZULEMA MACIAS: We'Re a lot larger groups.

[38:37] CANDACE PRINTZ: I know they think we're just as tall. Yeah, it is. But I just. I have to say that without those founding members and currently without you, I don't think you realize how much of a pillar you are for me and how much you've helped. I'm gonna stop talking. Cause I'll start crying? Cause I'm a cry baby cry baby man I'm a cry baby cause I.

[38:58] ZULEMA MACIAS: Cry baby oh, man. Not only that, let me just mention that Tracy Allen was a super awesome pillar. She also got us funding from Helen of Troy, and she got us so much, you know, she's amazing. She's also inspired us to be and allowed us to keep going because of, you know, her. Her assistance with all of that.

[39:18] CANDACE PRINTZ: Yeah, she's a mentor to me for sure.

[39:20] ZULEMA MACIAS: She blew us up, too. And I feel like every little person that every person that's come through has, they played their part, made us grow to this part, and let's see what happens next. I mean, I don't know where we're going next, but it'll be exciting.

[39:33] CANDACE PRINTZ: And thank you to husband. Both husbands.

[39:35] ZULEMA MACIAS: Both husbands.

[39:36] CANDACE PRINTZ: Tony Duenz.

[39:38] ZULEMA MACIAS: Tony Duenz. For you and me, Rey Macias. They have to put up with something.

[39:42] CANDACE PRINTZ: They do have to put up with us.

[39:43] ZULEMA MACIAS: Honestly, my husband drives me almost everywhere.

[39:46] CANDACE PRINTZ: But thank you, Zulema

[39:48] ZULEMA MACIAS: Thank you, Candy.