Dedication of Miller Library Mural and WNMU Permanent Collection Additions

Diana Ingalls Leyba's "Wolf Spirit IV" was unveiled as one addition to the WNMU Permanent Collection in August 2021.

© Western New Mexico University

On Friday, August 27, a few community members gathered to celebrate art on campus, dedicating the “A Community Reads” mural gracing Miller Library’s north entrance and also unveiling new works in the WNMU Permanent Collection.

The Silver City Youth Mural Program’s Diana Ingalls Leyba discussed the ideas behind the book-based mural design, and one of her iconic paintings was also introduced as part of the WNMU Permanent Collection.

Community members heard the story behind the 9- by 6-foot painting recently donated to WNMU by her relatives Bob and Nancy Phillips, heirs of Aunt Bonnie’s portrait by a one-armed artist of some regional renown. The Phillips said Bonnie Bledsoe Ramos had run away to Mexico to marry her handsome picador and lived with him on his substantial ranch in Mexico, where Ximénez painted her. When Mexican authorities deported Bonnie after her husband died, she moved to Roswell New Mexico, where lived until being killed by a driver who ran into the back of a hayride wagon that she was riding.

Linda Brewer of Bear Mountain Lodge facilitated the donation of this piece to the WNMU Permanent Collection.

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