Recently, members of the public have been questioning what happened to the mural of Bob Ruud painted on the side of the community center named in his honor. The mural has been missing for some months, with town officials reporting that it was removed last winter after it was defaced.
“The artwork was ruined by graffiti,” town of Pahrump Tourism Director Arlette Ledbetter explained for the Pahrump Valley Times. She described the vandalism as “lewd” and noted that the decision was made to remove the piece, rather than bringing in the artist to make repairs.
The mural was added to the Bob Ruud Community Center as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic through an $8,000 grant from the Nevada Division of Tourism. With the entire country still grappling with the results of the public health crisis, the main intention of the project was to provide a space for pandemic messaging that would also relate to tourism potential.
“The project was fully funded during the pandemic by the state of Nevada Tourism Division. This money was specifically for ‘outdoor murals or signage’ that must say ‘stay safe, stay home’,” Ledbetter detailed.
The window to secure the grant and then complete the project was a narrow one, she said, with the grant funding required to be issued by Nov. 8, 2020 and spent in full by Dec. 21, 2020.
“We checked with sign shops and none could meet the deadline,” she recalls. “We checked with local artists and none could meet the deadline – and none wanted to be outdoors painting a mural in November and December during COVID.”
However, the tourism department didn’t give up and after a suggestion from Travel Nevada, the town was able to secure a Reno-based artist to do the job, Bryce Chisholm.
“We only had a short time to make the photo selection and we chose to honor Mr. Bob Ruud on the Ruud building, with horses, honoring freedom to roam and wide-open spaces. Bryce completed the mural, including the ‘stay safe, stay home’ message off to the side, so we could paint over that part later.”
The mural was completed in late Dec. 2020 and had been a part of the community for three years but it is now no more. However, even though the town was forced to remove the mural, Ledbetter said her department is pursuing another project that would bring similar artwork to the area.
“That mural was a nice addition to the town. We have investigated starting a mural trail with additional paintings and still consider that a viable project,” she remarked.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com