The El Paso Museum of Art was created in 1959 thanks to the significant contribution of the Samuel Kress Foundation. He donated many European Baroque and Renaissance works to the city. This collection includes major works by Botticelli, Canaletto, Van Dyck, Zurbarán, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Gradually, the collection reached 7,000 works. In 1998, EPMA moved to its current location in the heart of the Downtown Arts District.

The EPMA Art School is the only space of its kind in the entire Borderplex region. It offers classes for children and adults that combine creativity with the study of original works of art located in the museum's galleries. The institution strives to provide access to the best works of international interest. Every year, the museum organizes about a dozen exhibitions, complemented by a wide range of program initiatives and proposals of the art school. It has been an integral part of the museum space for the past twenty years. Located on the territory of the educational institution, it consists of four classrooms, studios, and galleries of art students. It occupies a huge space of more than 600 square meters. There are three studio classes: one for ceramics, one for printing and drawing, and one for multi-use.

The European collection of the museum is represented by works of the 13-18th centuries. The core of the European collection is Kress, an outstanding collection of 57 oil paintings and two marble sculptures. The Kress collection includes a 13th-century Byzantine Madonna and several famous Baroque images. The collection of Latin American art features Spanish colonial paintings of the 17th-18th centuries and Mexican retablos. They are private religious paintings in tin or copper, usually produced by anonymous artisans. The American collection includes important examples of drawings of the 19th century, still lifes of the first half of the 20th century as well as bold portraits and landscapes of both periods. Art Nouveau style is represented mainly by the works of artists from Texas.