A monthly roundup of museum events, exhibits and deals you won’t want to pass by!

Sparks Museum and Cultural Center

Through June 14

Wally’s World: The Loneliest Art Collection in Nevada

The exhibit features 35 pieces of art from Wally Cuchine’s collection. In 1987, Life Magazine described US HWY 50 across the center of Nevada as the ―The Loneliest Road in America.‖ The magazine particularly mentioned the 287-mile stretch between Fernley and Ely as ―remote with few points of interest‖ and it urged travelers to have ―survival skills‖ to make the journey.

Sierra Arts Foundation

May 28-June 27

You could say Nancy Pippin, a Twinkies and Northern Nevada enthusiast, creates one-of-a-kind art. The real Twinkies used in the mixed media pieces were purchased on the day that the Hostess Company announced it was going out of business – November 16, 2012. Nancy Peppin is a watercolor painter, known for her images of Twinkies in history and in images of the Nevada landscape. Return of the Twinkies!

Nevada Museum of Art

Linda Besemer: Sine Language

Through May 19

Linda Besemer (b. 1957) is an abstract painter based in Southern California celebrated for her stunning, optical works that upend commonly held notions of what makes a painting. Her work subtly expresses, through formal means, her distinct political outlook. Normally one expects a painting to consist of pigment, whether oil, acrylic or watercolor, applied to some sort of ground, whether canvas, panel or paper. In an exciting subversion of tradition, Besemer creates double-sided paintings (“folds”) of pure acrylic pigment without a ground.

SPECIAL EVENTS

ARTBITE Linda Besemer on Sine Language

Friday, May 3 / noon

Join artist Linda Besemer for an exploration of her optical works that upend commonly held notions of what makes a painting. Cost: Free for members or with paid admission.

Mother’s Day Trunk Show

Saturday, May 11 / 12 – 3 pm

The Mother’s Day Trunk Show features ceramics artist Dane Meier whose pieces celebrate nature and crafting with clay. Cost: Admission to the Trunk Show is FREE.

ARTBITE Tamara Kostianovsky on Meat, Sculpture, and Identity

Friday, May 17 / noon

New York-based Argentine artist Tamara Kostianovsky explores ideas about identity, geography, culture, and history in her fabric sculptures of meat in Voces y Visiones. Cost: Free for members or with paid admission.

Exhibit tracing 100-years of women and auto shows now open

They’ve been called models, sex symbols and eye candy, but the best attribute of these engaging automotive specialists was their ability to sell cars by enticing customers with facts, not just glamour. The fascinating women of the auto shows are featured in the newest exhibit at the National Automobile Museum, Sirens of Chrome: The Allure of the Auto Show Models.

Sirens of Chrome takes visitors on a visual joyride through auto show history and features a treasure trove of rare images of turn-of-the-century goddesses, 1950s sex symbols and today’s highly trained product specialists.  The exhibit showcases posters and photographs of human hood ornaments, fast cars and vintage auto show fashions.

“The talent at auto shows throughout the past century has actually gone through as much of an evolution as the cars themselves,” said Margery Krevsky, founder and owner of Productions Plus–The Talent Shop, a nationwide company that recruits, outfits and trains talent for auto shows. Krevsky is also author of the award-winning book, Sirens of Chrome: The Enduring Allure of Auto Show Models, which served as the muse for the exhibit.  “Auto show models truly morphed from ‘plaster to poster to person’ and now serve as ambassadors of their brand who entice customers with facts and vehicle comparison information.”

Following the format of the book, the Sirens of Chrome exhibit includes many historical photos that have been carefully culled from private collections, auto enthusiast portfolios and the National Automotive Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library together; they tell the larger story of auto show models and the timeless allure of automobiles.

Attendees of the Sirens of Chrome exhibit will discover whose “body” inspired the Rolls-Royce hood ornament and who sat in a “rumble seat” with 1930s silver-screen goddess Joan Blondell.  They will see the depth of information included from the Dagmar Bumpers, gawk at the over-the-top opulence of the Somali leopard pelt-upholstered 1950 Cadillac Debutante and view in wonder at the fur-clad model atop a Soviet-built Lada.  In total, the exhibit features nearly 75 pieces, mostly photographs, posters, auto show programs and automobile magazine covers.

Also on display are several costumes, which add sizzle to the Sirens of Chrome theme from space age tech to Hollywood glamour, on loan from Karen Burns Productions’ collection of more than 1,200 authentic costumes from the world-famous MGM stage show, Hello Hollywood Hello.

An Evening with Margery Krevsky: Sirens of Chrome

Sirens of Chrome: The Enduring Allure of Auto Show Models author Margery Krevsky will share behind-the-scenes insights and personal anecdotes while telling her story of defying trends in the auto industry to celebrate the opening of the newest exhibit at the National Automobile Museum based on her book. She co-founded Productions Plus in 1981 and the agency rapidly became one of the major players in selecting, outfitting and training talent for auto shows across America. Krevsky, dubbed “The Queen Bee of the Car Show Models” by Forbes, will wrap up the evening by signing copies of her book, Sirens of Chrome: The Enduring Allure of Auto Show Models.

When:  Thursday, March 14, 2013 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Where: National Automobile Museum, The Harrah Collection

What: Presentation and book signing with Margery Krevsky. Wine and hors d’oeuvres.

Cost: Free for members; $10 for the public.

National Automobile Museum

Special Delivery

Imagine a time when the customer ruled and deliveries were commonplace. Fresh dairy and bakery goods, starched and pressed laundry, and boxes of groceries were brought right to your doorstep. Delivery trucks hit the road with the invention of the motorcar. Many were simply modified cars until demand called for light-duty trucks to meet the needs of communities across the country for both residential and commercial services. Just blocks from the museum, at 627 Mill Street, a french laundry offered delivery service in a 1912 Ford Model T featured in this exhibit, along with other historical “Special Deliveries.”

For more info, call 775-333-9300 or visit www.automuseum.org

Nevada Art Museum

EXHIBITIONS

Voces y Visiones: Highlights from the Collection of El Museo del Barrio, New York

Opens March 2
A wide ranging and diverse survey of the stellar art collection from New York’s El Museo del Barrio, the leading Latino cultural institution in the U.S. dedicated to Latino, Latin American, and Caribbean art. This lively exhibition presents over fifty objects, including sculpture, painting, prints, photographs, and mixed media installations addressing themes such as identity politics, colonialism, emotional connections to homeland, and contemporary visual culture. Artworks created by living artists are contextualized with a concise selection of ancient Taíno stone carvings.

This exhibition was jointly organized by the El Museo del Barrio and the Nevada Museum of Art.

SPECIAL EVENTS

ART BITE Meet the Artist: Frohawk Two Feathers

Friday, March 15 / noon

Frohawk Two Feathers presents mixed media paintings filled with real and imagined colonial histories. Cost: $10 / FREE for MEMBERS Funded in part by Nevada Humanities.

Art Night

Friday, March 15 / 7 – 10 pm

Join us for an all-ages night of live performances featuring Frohawk Two Feathers of SUPERDELUX, art projects, a hands-on printing workshop. an interactive photo station and more! Cost: $5 Presented in partnership with the Holland Project.

ART BITE Meet the Artist: Cecile Chong on Voces y Visiones

Friday, March 29 / noon

Join Ecuador-born, New York-based artist Cecile Chong as she discusses the entanglement of culture, history, place, and interpretation, and how we are all more alike than different from one another. Cost: $10 / FREE for MEMBERS Funded in part by Nevada Humanities.

The Discovery

Leprechaun Chase 5k Run/Walk

Are you faster than a leprechaun? Your chance to find out happens Sunday, March 17th at the inaugural Leprechaun Chase through Reno’s Midtown District. The race starts and ends at The Discovery!

A portion of the proceeds from the race benefit The Discovery, so gather your family and friends and help make this race a success.

Date: Sunday, March 17th
Time: 8:30am
Register: www.race178.com/leprechaunchase

Wilbur D. May Museum

Creatures

Visitors will come face-to-face with amazing full-size animatronics of wooly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, dinosaurs and sea monsters. The Creatures exhibit features educational and interactive elements for kids, including a fossil dig, a glacier simulation display, and several touch stations.

Creatures opens at the Wilbur D. May Museum on Saturday, March 2 and runs through Sunday, June 2. Tickets are $9.00 for adults and $8.00 for children and seniors.

Saya Fine Art – Grand Opening!

New medium, New works and new subject.
Opens in Reno’s Arts District along the Riverwalk We are delighted to announce the official opening of SAYA FINE ART STUDIO: Recent Paintings By well known artist, Somboun, on view beginning February 23, 2013.

The grand opening of the SAYA FINE ART STUDIO studio is the first solo gallery by artist and painter Somboun Sayasane in Reno, Nevada. The opening of the gallery follows Somboun’s very successful career in San Francisco. Open Monday to Wednesday 11 a. m. to 5 p. m. and Sunday by appointment only.

“I love it here in Reno, I have met many talented artist and decided to open this gallery in the Riverwalk because I love art and enjoy being surrounded by the talents of other painters.” Somboun explains.

The Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum (The Discovery) recently added several new exhibits focused on early motion picture techniques in its Da Vinci’s Corner gallery. The additions include a tabletop praxinoscope and zoetrope and a large, free-standing zoetrope that measures more than six feet in diameter. A humorous animated introduction to the inventors of these animation devices is also featured as part of these new exhibits.

“The Discovery’s Da Vinci’s Corner gallery focuses on the intersection of art and science,” said Will Durham, exhibits manager. “One of Da Vinci’s early works was the projector, or “magic lantern,” so these early movie making devices feel right at home amongst the other exhibits in this hands-on gallery.”

All of the new exhibits in this unveiling were designed and built on-site in the museum’s workshop by museum staff and volunteers. Exhibits designed and built in-house are just one of the ways The Discovery keeps each visit to the museum engaging and new.

For more information about Da Vinci’s Corner and other galleries at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum, visit www.nvdm.org.

A monthly roundup of museum events, exhibits and deals you won’t want to pass by!

National Automobile Museum

A superstar has returned to the National Automobile Museum: genius Buckminster Fuller’s famed 1934 Dymaxion. Newly restored in the U.K., this car was so far ahead of its time, it’s scary! (And ours is the only one left in the world!)

Wilbur D. May Museum

From the clay pottery in the parlor to your son’s growing rock collection, you’re slowly amassing a collection worthy of any natural history museum. Save 50% on tickets if you buy before 11/8 with this Living Social Deal!

Nevada Museum of Art

Always a worthwhile stop, this sleek museum is even more so between now and February 10. Check out, “The Light Circus: Art of Nevada Neon Signs,” an exclusive trip down memory lane, featuring restored examples of Nevada’s bright (neon) past.

The Discovery

Cocktail chemistry meets culinary creativity at Chemistry of the Cocktail, November 17! Hands-on mixology demonstrations pair with delicious fare from local favorites. Add to that, clever art projects, a feverish raffle and an exciting live auction and you’ve got a recipe for an exciting evening. All to benefit Reno’s favorite hands-on place for children and their families.

A monthly roundup of museum events, exhibits and deals you won’t want to pass by!

The Discovery

Happy 1st Birthday, The Discovery!

September 6 – 9, 2012

The celebration will include birthday themed art projects, science demonstrations, a discounted admission day, exhibitions of Denny Daniel’s “Museum of Interesting Things,” a performance by Whitney Myer and more. For a complete calendar of events, click here.

The Museum of Interesting Things is a traveling interactive demonstration/exhibition of antiques and inventions. The museum inspires creativity and innovation in adults and children by providing a hands-on introduction to inventions that have shaped modern society.     

International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame

Funded by the City of Reno Arts & Culture Commission, Reno artist Eileen Gay created the 700-pound sculpture, Pin Setting, in less than four months. Gay worked seven days a week for the last two months of the project, constructing the eight-foot pin, perfecting the bowling ball which is five-feet in diameter and covering approximately 120-sqaure-feet of space with detailed mosaic. Pin Setting puts the final permanent touch on Reno’s International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame.

Nevada Museum of Art

Tim Hawkinson

Totem: Internationally-acclaimed artist Tim Hawkinson is known for his complex sculptures. Made from bronze, this single sculpture Totem evokes the forms of discarded plastic bottles or jugs, inviting conversations about water, land, and the challenges Native American cultures have faced related to these natural resources.

Click here for more featured exhibits inside the Nevada Museum of Art.

The Discovery

August 18, 6 – 9pm

Social Science:

A 21 and over event fare from local food trucks and libations from local brewers and bars; including, Dish Truck, Full Belly Deli, Mamasake, Red Truck, Lazy Sundae and Island Ice with drinks provided by Craft, Great Basin Brewing Co. and St. James Infirmary. Be a kid and enjoy science demos, art projects, and open museum exploration!

Tickets for Social Science are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online at www.nvdm.org or at the museum’s admission desk during normal museum hours. The ticket price includes admission to museum, a commemorative cup, two drinks and participation in the art activities and science demos.

Don’t forget, the museum is just $4 after 4pm on Wednesdays!

Nevada Museum of Art

Andrew Rogers Contemporary Geoglyphs

Australian sculptor and photographer Andrew Rogers began making large-scale geoglyphs in 1999 to create meditative spaces on each continent of the globe. Geoglyphs are large-scale designs made on the ground by either removing materials such as surface soils, gravel, and small rocks, or by rearranging preexisting stones and natural materials.

Museum Store Yard Sale

August 1 – 12

Look for up to 40% off on selected items from the store covering a wide range and variety of products. Admission to the Sale is free.

PREMIERE LECTURE Photographer Richard Ross on Juvenile-In-Justice

Thursday, August 23 / 6 pm

Photographer Richard Ross presents his work in Juvenile-In-Justice, relating the stories and interviews of juvenile offenders that he has collected over the past five years.

Tickets: $20/$15 Museum members

This premiere lecture is sponsored exclusively by RBC Wealth Management.

NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART

Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky

June 30 – October 28

Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, is a composer, multimedia artist, and writer who creates bridges between sound art and contemporary visual culture. Through music, photographs and film stills from his journey to the Antarctic, along with original artworks, and re-appropriated archival materials, Miller uses Antarctica as an entry point for contemplating humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

Live Performance: July 21, 7 – 10pm

A BIG live music performance is coming up at the Museum: world-renowned DJ Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid. Paul has a huge international following and plays around the world in venues from France to Japan to Mexico City. He is a featured artist on Syfy Channel’s “Imagine Greater” series, and an Artist-In-Residence at the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in New York City. Tickets are $15 / $10 Museum members. Local food trucks and two cash bars will be open during the event. DJ Frkse opens the show.

THE DISCOVERY MUSEUM

New Summer Hours (through Aug. 26):

Monday and Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m.

Enjoy daily art activities in Art Alcove and a seismic challenge for two different age groups called “Make Your Own Quake” set for July 21^st, 28^th and 29^th. For more information about these and other activities at The Discovery, visit the calendar of events on the museum’s website at www.nvdm.org.

NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM

Movin’ & Groovin’ Party at the National Automobile Museum

Friday, July 20, 2012, 7 – 10 p.m.

Don’t miss your chance to see and party with the Mutant Rides exhibit before it closes.

This will also mark the first day of the first ever ArtCar Fest Reno!  Art Cars from around the country and Canada will be featured in the National Automobile Museum parking lot and Harrod Blank and the artists from the fest and in the exhibit will be introduced.  An endless loop slide presentation of art cars & mutants will be presented.

Mutant Rides: Origin of a Species

They began a spontaneously, a change in the genetic code, and evolved from the assemble line to an emerging species on the Black Rock Desert.  These rolling works of art are now deeply entrenched in the culture of Burning Man. Imagine a world of motorized vehicles where boundaries are limitless, imaginations rule and the bizarre becomes the norm.

The Reno Tahoe region boasts 32 museums! Between river rafting, spa days, and nature hikes this summer, check out the featured exhibits and events at one of the awe-inspiring museums in Reno Tahoe USA.

NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART

Edward Burtynsky: Oil

One of the most well-known contemporary photographers in the world – Edward Burtynsky – is featured at the Nevada Museum of Art, June 9 – September 23. Burtynsky will be at the Museum for the opening of the exhibition on June 8 and giving a lecture on June 9. Such a great opportunity to get to meet with an artist and discuss his work!

Arthur and Lucia Mathews: Highlights of the California Decorative Style

Arthur and Lucia Mathews are widely acknowledged as two of California’s most prolific artists working in what is widely known as the California Decorative Style during the early twentieth century. The aesthetic they fostered incorporated classical references, idyllic landscapes and a muted tonal color palette applied to a variety of works from murals and paintings to wooden frames and decorative objects. Visit their exhibit, June 16 – October 14.

NATIONAL AUTOMIBILE MUSEUM

$1 Night at the National Automobile Museum

On June 13^th, 4 – 9pm if you bring one can of food the National Automobile Museum will admit you for $1! The food will be donated to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. This is a great opportunity for families with multiple children and an easy affordable way to give back.

THE DISCOVERY

June 9-10: Use recycled materials to make your own robot and explore simple circuitry to make parts of your robot light up!

June 16-17: Learn about all the cool things there are to do outside in the great state of Nevada and make your own journal to record your adventures.

June 20 and 23: Make your own paper by using traditional paper-making techniques and a very unique extruding process.

NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART

Exhibitions:

Celebrate Art of the Tiffany Era – Three unique exhibitions open through May 20

The Tiffany family design legacy is celebrated in this unique mix of exhibitions featuring Louis Comfort Tiffany’s stained glass of the art nouveau era and a rare collection of Tiffany & Co.’s decorative firearms. Charles Lewis Tiffany established Tiffany & Co. in 1837; his son Louis Comfort Tiffany later founded Tiffany Studios, renowned for exquisite decorative objects.

Special Events:

Mother’s Day Trunk Show

May 12, noon – 3 pm

Find the perfect gift this Mother’s Day from the work of ceramics artist Barbara Glynn Prodaniuk and jewelry artist, Gail Rappa – both Wild Women artists. Admission to the Trunk Show is FREE.

TALK: BRDI and BRAF Present: Candy Chang | Before I Die

May 17, at 6pm

In collaboration with the Black Rock Arts Foundation and the Black Rock Design Institute, the Museum welcomes artist, designer, urban planner, and wanderer Candy Chang as she presents her project Before I Die. Recognized as a leader in developing new strategies for the design of our cities, Chang will also discuss her installation of Before I Die in Reno. Networking and social hour with beer provided by Silver Peak Brewery at 5pm. Talk follows at 6pm.

Cost: $10 / $8 Museum members.

ART BITE: Meet the Collectors: The Bloms on Southwest Pottery

May 18, at 12 pm

Brenda and John Blom discuss the range of pottery they have collected from every era and pueblo in the Southwest.

Cost: $10 / FREE with admission and for Museum members

THE DISCOVERY

Biodegradable Art

May 12, at 11am, and May 12– 13, at 11am and 1pm

Combine art and science when you create your own piece of art made from biodegradable packing peanuts.

Cost: $3/Members Free

Eclipse Viewer

May 19, at 11am, and May 19– 20, at 11am and 1pm

Learn about solar eclipses and view the upcoming eclipse through the safety of the home made viewer you’ll create in this intriguing class.

Cost: $3/Members Free

SPARKS HERITAGE MUSEUM

May 16, at 4 – 10pm

Fiddle and Banjo Workshop, a Nevada Arts Council Folklife Education Program and a free concert to follow!

NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM

Mutant Rides: Origin of a Species

They began a spontaneously, a change in the genetic code, and evolved from the assemble line to an emerging species on the Black Rock Desert.  These rolling works of art are now deeply entrenched in the culture of Burning Man. Imagine a world of motorized vehicles where boundaries are limitless, imaginations rule and the bizarre becomes the norm.