Judy Elaine Ritschard was a big fan of art.

Just ask her sister Faye Edwards.

“Every minute that she wasn’t doing art, I think she felt like she was missing out on something,” Edwards said.

Almost a year ago, Edwards gave a $10,000 donation to the Montgomery County Arts Council to create an art mural in honor of Ritschard, who passed away. The mural was created in not only the Arts Council building, but in several other communities in Montgomery County. 

On Oct. 19, a mural dedication ceremony at the Arts Council building was held with 45 people in attendance, including Ritschard’s family members and State Rep. Bruce Sassmann.

The event also displayed arts exhibits from several local residents, including Alice Runzi, Susie Keithley, Gale Burch, Pat Moore, Gary Eskew, Carole Harness, Kalin Dempsey, Joan Treis and Walt McQuie, Jr.

“While it is true that art is a universal language, it also needs a safe space to thrive,” Edwards said. “(My sister Judy) would admire this arts council’s commitment to nurturing local artists in every medium, giving them a sense of belonging and belonging to a special village like this is.”

During her four-minute speech, Edwards talked about her sister’s love for art as well as her love for the Pointer Sisters for their vintage wardrobes and Halloween.

“I don’t think there’s any sentence that better says what my sister Judy is about or better describes her,” Edwards said. “She was constantly creating, whether it was drawing, painting, making miniatures and macrame. She was always finding an outlet for her creativity.”

Edwards said when her sister got ill, she would always have art to look forward to.

“Even when she was in the later stages of her disease and undergoing treatment, her best days were when she could sit at a table and actually work on something artistic,” Edwards said. “Those are the kinds of days that kept her going.”

In the summer of 2024, Edwards visited the Arts Council building. She shared the news to board members about her sister’s passing and came up with an idea in which the Arts Council can help out with a memorial in Judy’s name.

The donation was given to the Arts Council and was presented during Hometown Christmas in December. Afterwards, the Arts Council formed a mural committee so it could select artwork for the mural. There were 23 submissions and all of them were based on variety, color, shape and size.

One of the selected art pieces came from Runzi, who lives in Bellflower. It’s a picture of pink roses.

“I heard that she loves pink roses, so I was thrilled to share some of the floral paintings I’ve done,” Runzi said.

At the end of the ceremony, Sassmann’s wife, Jan, shared her experience with the arts. She taught art in public schools for three decades.

“I spent my time with 12 year olds, helping them find a way to express themselves,” she said. “I always told them that all of us are born with a gift in the arts. Our challenge is to find that gift. What a shame for us to go through a whole life and not knowing that their gift is dancing, our voice, our instrument, painting. It’s our job for ourselves to figure out what our gift is.”

Jan said she not only enjoyed the mural ceremony, but the Arts Council building. The Arts Council was established in 2013.

“We have traveled around through all kinds of counties looking at all kinds of activities,” Jan said. “My hats off to (Montgomery County Arts Council). This is an exceptional place. I would love to come back and take a class sometime.”