ALPINE — The City of Alpine is pleased to announce a new permanent gallery in the Alpine Visitor Center, dedicated to the display of all of the first place winners from the city’s #AlpineTXPhoto Contest.
At 5:30 p.m. on Friday, November 22, the Visitor Center will host an opening reception for the gallery. The winners of the 2024 #AlpineTXPhoto Contest, selected by contest judge Barbara Richerson, will be revealed at the event.
The photography contest started in 2011 and is now in its 14th year. Each year, a different judge is invited to select the winning photographs. “I love the fact that each year’s winner is coming from a completely different artistic sensibility,” said Chris Ruggia, Alpine’s director of tourism and administrator of the contest since its inception. “That gives these selections an incredible variety; you never know what kind of image is going to win from one year to the next.”
Notable contest judges have included Marathon-based photographers James H. Evans and E. Dan Klepper, Alpine-based photographers Rachael Waller and Michael Howard, and internationally-known art director and designer D.J. Stout. 2024 judge Richerson has had a lengthy career in news photography, serving for more than 25 years as Assistant Director of News & Publications at Sul Ross State University as well as freelancing for multiple newspapers and magazines.
The community as well as visitors to Alpine’s Artwalk are invited to enjoy the Visitor Center’s new gallery at Friday’s 5:30 p.m. reception with light refreshments. “The photo contest has been 100% online since it began,” said Ruggia. “And now, thanks to the hard work of Heather Yadon at the Visitor Center, the winners are being recognized in the real world for the first time.”