Tom Ryan

Following is an obituary of the artist from mywesttexas.com, posted December 15, 2011, and written by Georgia Temple.

The longhorns appear to be busting out of the west wall of the Midland County Public Library. The mural, In the New World, was designed by Tom Ryan, a well known and highly respected Western artist honored in 1996 by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City (now the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum) with the Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Ryan, who had lived here since 1982, told the Reporter-Telegram in 1996 when he received the award. “I never expected it, and I guess that’s why it made me feel so good.”