Featured Stories
Thousands of Texans protest border wall at state Capitol
Santa Elena Canyon was an alternate rally for river enthusiasts Austin Over 2,000 Texans stood on the steps of the state Capitol in Austin to sing,…
Big Bend communities band together against border wall ‘man camps’
Valentine out for now; contractors set sights on Presidio As the border wall nears reality in the Big Bend, contractors are scrambling to find places to…
Former Alpine firefighter walks on arson charges
Alpine “The fact is I didn’t do it.” Those were the words that a former Alpine firefighter, accused of setting several brush fires over up to…
Wall contractors stop work to get ‘ducks in a row’
No one told officials about work on Chispa Road Heavy road equipment rolled on to Chispa Road northwest of Marfa on Tuesday, March 31, with the…
Chisos Basin to remain open with construction cancellation
By Kate Bubacz The long awaited overhaul of the Chisos Mountain Lodge in the Big Bend National Park has been canceled, which means the basin will…
A border under a pink moon
Marci and I had a meeting at our house with Bob Krumenaker, the previous park superintendent, and his like-minded friends, Ronny Dodson, our sheriff; Rick Harris,…
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Contratistas del muro detienen las obras para organizarse
Nadie informó a las autoridades sobre las obras en Chispa Road El martes 31 de marzo, maquinaria pesada se desplazó a Chispa Road, al noroeste de Marfa, con el…
Comunidades de Big Bend se unen contra los campamentos para trabajadores del muro fronterizo
Valentine queda descartado por ahora; los contratistas ponen la mira en Presidio A medida que el muro fronterizo se acerca a la realidad en Big Bend, los contratistas se…
La Junta de Turismo busca revitalizar Presidio
Presidio La reunión de la Junta de Turismo en Presidio estuvo abierta a comentarios del público, pero este no asistió. Manuela Ávila, Elvira Hermosillo…
Feds seek access to state parks for border wall
The February access request included 14 parcels in Big Bend Ranch as first steps in a discussion of easement rights, leasing or purchasing the…
Capital Highlights: State on trial for un-airconditioned prisons
The state of Texas is now on trial in an Austin federal court to determine whether it must provide air-conditioning in state prisons, kut.org…
Tourism board seeks to enliven Presidio
Presidio The Tourism Board meeting in Presidio was open to public comment, but the public declined to show up. Manuela Avila, Elvira Hermosillo and…
Radio club hosts open house
The Big Bend Amateur Radio Club (BBARC) is hosting an open house as part of World Amateur Radio Day, Saturday, April 18, at the…
Pride Marfa sets sights on 5th annual celebration this fall
Pride Marfa returns to the high desert for its fifth annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, creativity, and inclusivity. The event brings a weekend…
The smackdown continues: Armed and Generous season 3
The third annual Armed and Generous Community Arm Wrestling Championship is back by popular demand at Planet Marfa on Sunday, April 19, at Planet…
Dark Skies Festival kicks off next week
In celebration of International Dark Sky Week, join McDonald Observatory and community partners for events showcasing West Texas’ famous dark skies. Events will be…
Food pantry announces Harvest Bowl and launches a match challenge
For the second year in a row, the Food Pantry of Jeff Davis County has received a $20,000 matching grant from the Carl C.…
Our Water Matters: The solution to water insecurity is as close as the nearest rooftop
Water insecurity. It’s in the news nearly every day. From Guadalajara, Mexico, where up to 50% of the municipal water supply is lost to…
The community here is insisting that you halt your plans
To the Army Corp of Engineers, DHS, CBP, and IBWC, in response to your request for Right Of Entry on my property to survey:…
Free play, ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba,’ opens at Bullroom Friday
Marfa Ballroom Marfa presents La Casa de Bernarda Alba, directed by Richard Maxwell of New York City Players, at the Bullroom on April 10–11…
Colossal glazed stoneware coming to Ballroom Marfa
Raven Halfmoon’s Flags of Our Mothers, the first major traveling exhibition for the artist, featuring new and recent works made over the last five…
¿Qué hay en un nombre?
Shafter Durante bastante tiempo no me di cuenta: pasaron varios viajes a mi pequeño pueblo fantasma natal, viniendo desde el norte por la Carretera…
Montículo topográfico en un parque estatal suscita interrogantes sobre los planes del muro
Montículo topográfico en un parque estatal suscita interrogantes sobre los planes del muro Un montículo topográfico, clavado recientemente en terrenos del parque junto al…
Group exhibition asks artists to ‘take a position’
MAINTENANT, Marfa’s boxing and gallery space, is presenting What Are You Fighting For, a group exhibition that asks artists to take a position—responding visually,…
Works signal outward and encounter a return
Marfa RULE Gallery presents Signal and Return, two concurrent solo exhibitions featuring paintings by Joe Clower (1937–2024) and Polaroid works by the artist collaborative…
Investigator traces French murder suspect to Alpine
Documentary team explores the Big Bend for clues The Big Bend was abuzz last week when Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson posted a BOLO—be…
Marfa Live Arts showcases playwrights
Marfa Monologues by Marfa Junior High students will come to life at Marfa Lives Arts’ Spring Showcase Theater with local actors at Planet Marfa…
Anyone? Anyone want to join the school board? Anyone?
Marfa The March 23 Marfa ISD School Board meeting came and went without public mention of the lack of potential candidates to join the…
Rescued children
Fort Davis ISD teacher Stessa Miles takes applause with students who performed the one act play Kindertransport on March 23. The play, by Diane…
Checking in on ranch grass
After many years of drought and learning about the difficult decisions ranchers were forced to make as they sold off their herds and breeding…
Capital Highlights: Paxton calls for Hancock’s removal
By Gary Borders Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called for Gov. Greg Abbott to remove acting state comptroller Kelly Hancock, calling him an “incompetent…
Lecturer to tell of his standoff with a mountain lion
James Cornett will be at the Crowley Theater in Marfa, Texas, this Thursday, April 2, for the Roger Conant Distinguished Guest Lecture, sponsored by…
No Kings: March 2026
About 150 people showed up in Alpine for Saturday’s “No Kings” event—down slightly from the last protest. However, national organizers said Saturday’s events across…
Cactus bee springs thoughts of unity in the desert
“but oh my desertyours is the only death I cannot bear” —Richard Shelton, Requiem for Sonora I’m sitting on a piece of ancient volcanic…
Sen. César Blanco highlights key priorities for next session
This week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released the Texas Senate’s interim charges for the 89th Legislative Interim, outlining the policy areas that committees will…
Survey markers in state park raise questions about wall plans
Dozens of mapping markers appear on River Road west to Presidio This story was updated on March 31 at noon to note that CBP’s…
What’s in a name?
Typo on highway sign temporarily renames Shafter Shafter I didn’t notice it for quite some time—several trips into my little home ghost town coming…
Mental Health Series
In a mental health crisis, Big Bend residents have options for help
Direct Hotline 988 is in place, but few know of its existence TRI-COUNTY — Few Americans are aware of a relatively new…
The weight of the badge: Customs and Border Protection responds to rash of agent suicides
US-MEXICO BORDER — As journalists and politicians endlessly dissect the current situation on the southwest border, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is…
Alpine program provides mental health support for seniors
TRI-COUNTY — A program housed in the Big Bend Regional Hospital provides crucial mental healthcare services that brighten the lives of seniors,…
A ‘deficient’ safety net
TRI-COUNTY — Jeff Davis County Justice of the Peace Mary Ann Luedecke picks up her frantically chiming cell phone. “I don’t know…
Hospital district, Big Bend National Park explore addition of mental healthcare providers
BREWSTER COUNTY — The Big Bend region’s dire need for more mental health resources was central to discussion among local political and medical…
Big Bend’s isolation creates challenges to addressing mental health
TRI-COUNTY — Brian Enlow is much different than his brother Greg was. Greg embraced an artistic world, immersed himself in music and lived…
The Big Bend Sentinel partners with Presidio County Community Fund for mental health reporting series
MARFA –– The Big Bend Sentinel is publishing a series of articles on mental and behavioral health starting with next week’s issue,…
Schools play a vital role in student mental health but face several challenges meeting needs
TRI-COUNTY — The need for mental and behavioral health resources in schools has never been more dire, with rates of depression, anxiety and…
Few options available for substance abuse treatment in the Big Bend
FAR WEST TEXAS — Big Bend residents are no strangers to tackling problems posed by the physical isolation of their home turf.…
New community-based therapy offers benefits for rural areas
TRI-COUNTY — A series of articles on mental health published by The Big Bend Sentinel the past two months has highlighted both…
Visuals
The ARTS
Greeson captures raw beauty of the natural world
Bobby Greeson is a multidisciplinary artist equally comfortable with photography, filmmaking or design. His parents enrolled him in painting classes at age 6 and bought him his first…
Ballroom Marfa to present ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba’ in the Bullroom
When Federico García Lorca was only eight years old, he began eavesdropping on neighbors’ conversations from the shared well that served his aunt Matilde’s home in Valderubbio, Spain.…
Artists to collaborate on pieces reflecting on a border wall
Artists are invited to gather and create at “Artists Against the Wall” on Saturday, March 28, from 1-9 p.m. at the Rio Grande Village group campsite in Big…
Art meets music: Rubinstein’s ‘Bonus Tracks’ opens in Marfa
Marfa Country Clinic is hosting Bonus Tracks, the first exhibition in the United States by French artist Sivan L. Rubinstein, featuring paintings on wood and canvas from 2000…
‘Brush and Bronze’
Museum visualizes ‘The New American West’ The Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine has brought together two very different artists—a sculptor and a painter—to visualize The New…
Dim Zayan: ‘A Three-Quarter View of the Future’
Artist’s first solo exhibit engages questions about time, erosion, and human intervention. Envisioning the future, we stare directly into the past. Zim Dayan’s debut solo exhibition, A Three-Quarter…
Students come out on top at cowboy poetry contest
On Saturday, February 21, 15 students from the Big Bend Area gathered with family and friends at the Event Center of the Museum of the Big Bend to…
Marfa Studio Arts hosts SITES exhibit
Marfa Studio of Arts invites the public to attend its latest art show, which will showcasethe work of the elementary students in the SITES program. This year the…
One-Act Plays on Wednesday, March 4, at Crowley Theater
Marfa Live Arts presents the 15th Annual Marfa High School One-Act Playsshowcasing four award-winning student plays at the Crowley Theater onWednesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. (doors at 6:30…
Last chance to view Valverde’s vibrant paintings
The Museum of the Big Bend will hold a closing reception for Desierto Peregrino with acclaimed visual artist Miguel Valverde of Chihuahua City, Mexico. With over two decades…
Anaglyphs offer a whole new dimension
This month, Galeria Raices in Presidio exhibited Luis Ramos, known as Lucatero, with his collection Anaglyphs: Three-Dimensional Studies—an exhibition that explores depth, color, and perception through oil paintings.…
Marfa Live Arts presents ‘Por La Ventana’ in San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende Marfa Live Arts Director Jennie Lyn Hamilton will present Por La Ventana at the Teatro Santa Ana in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico,…
RULE presents seven-artist exhibit
What Repeats, Holds brings together work by Sasha Alexandra, Amy Hoagland, Jim Johnson, Richard Kallweit, Matt Larson, Frances Lightbound and Clark Richert—artists who approach pattern not as surface…
Presidio kids win big at consulate drawing contest
Presidio Seven schoolchildren in Presidio were named winners of the global drawing contest hosted by the Mexican Consulate. Their drawings will be exhibited throughout Presidio through the end…
Cody Barber’s latest ‘Moiré Work’ pays homage to early chair restoration
Artist experimented with ‘psycho color’ chairs When artist Cody Barber graduated from Texas Tech with a mass communications degree in 2009, he applied for jobs in television and…
MAINTENANT inviting submissions for group exhibition
Marfa Founded in 2020, MAINTENANT is an art and fighting laboratory in the Chihuahuan High Desert, with two gallery spaces—one also a boxing gym—and outdoor sculptural works embedded…
Guitar in the Big Bend features Bokyung Byun
“Here is a simple fact: with artistry such as Ms. Byun’s, the state-of-the-art of guitar performance has reached a new level.” —Soundboard Magazine Guitar in the Big Bend…
Shinyribs comes to Valentine festival
TUB GUTSTOMP andRED-EYEDSOUL forVALENTINES Flamboyant entertainer tells how he could wear any color suit that suited him. Kevin Russell—the front man for the Austin-based band Shinyribs—knows how to…
Melendez exhibits assemblages
Marfa Country Clinic announces Aquarius Rising, an exhibition of new works by Natalie Melendez, featuring recent collages, reliefs, and a video installation. The works will be on display…
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