We have another new mural project for downtown Alpine! The Desert Fiesta mural, designed by Ellen Ruggia, will be painted on two courtyard walls in the 100 block of West Avenue E, adjacent to “Art Alley”. The longest wall of the mural faces the current Trans-Pecos Banks parking lot and wraps around the corner on the wall next to the old Parsons Real Estate office on Avenue E.

Ellen and Chris Ruggia partnered with Artwalk Alpine (Alpine’s Gallery Night, Inc.) to do fundraising for the mural, which was introduced at Artwalk’s Mural Sponsorship Party on Saturday, June 19. All donations went to Alpine’s Gallery Night, Inc. and are being distributed as needed for labor and supplies.

As of August 15, this mural project has reached its fundraising goal. Thank you to all of our generous mural sponsors! Click here to see a sponsor list.

The priming and background of the mural will be painted by Ellen and her husband Chris Ruggia. The line work and white fill will be painted by sign painter Carolyn Macartney of Marfa. We hope to finish the mural sometime in October or early November.

Desert Fiesta depicts the outline of Desert Willow branches and some of the insects that might visit the flowers. Desert Willow grows along water courses throughout far west Texas and blooms from April through September.

Ellen and Chris Ruggia have lived in Alpine since late 1994 and have run their own graphic design business, Vast Graphics, since 1997. They both received Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Ellen started drawing native plants of the region when she attended science classes at Sul Ross State University (1995-1997) and worked in the university’s herbarium.