El Paso Public Library - Our Libraries - Branches - Richard Burges Regional Library

The mosaic mural, "Blooming Desert" by artists Katie Gelinas and Terry Wright was dedicated July 18, 2009 at the Richard Burges Regional Library. The mural is located outside of the front entrance.

The mural, depicting the Franklin Mountains, poppies and other desert flora, was made with ceramic tiles. Some of the tiles used in the mural were painted by the community at a tile painting workshop the artists conducted at the library on June 6, 2009.

The artists fired and glazed the tiles that were painted at the workshop and used them in the mural. The artists cut the 1,000 tiles to fit, as they installed the mural. The work took about 100 hours to produce and 5 days to install.

The mural is funded by a $5,000 Community Art Project grant sponsored by the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department.

Terry Wright is an art teacher at Hanks High School and Katie Gelinas is an art teacher at Parkland High School.