Nevada Arts & Artists – July

by Dana Nollsch

There is an elephant in the northern Nevada room, and its name is Artown.

July is truly a special month in Reno, about 500 Artown events over 31 days, so let’s dive right in!

I have looked at every event and read each event description; in a word “overwhelming”. So if you pick out a few interesting events over the 31 days will it seem more doable?

Here is my take on opening weekend.

Downtown Reno will be abuzz with CIRCUS CIRCUS 24-HOUR MURAL MARATHON, RENO ART FEST, CONTROLLED BURN PRESENTS: FIRE FEST, BASS CAMP IN THE PARK, SUNDAY MUSIC BRUNCH AT THE MUSEUM, OPENING NIGHT: BANDALOOP, OPENING NIGHT: LOS LOBOS all within walking distance of each other.

That’s a lot, but let’s take a closer look at just one of the weekend events.

The Circus Circus 24-hour Mural marathon is an event that I like to visit several times during the weekend to see the progress. Here is the video I made two years ago —  It is fascinating to see the progression of the works over the 24 hours. These artists take their work very seriously and the fact that these 24-hour works will be up for the next year is important to the Reno art community.

The month-long event at the Wilbur D. May Center, Dragon Lights is a spectacular event in the arboretum with Chinese dragons, elephants, tigers, pandas, and many more figures represented by detailed fabric sculptures lit up creating a magical stroll through the park. Along with the sculptures there is a show featuring traditional Chinese Dancing. Tickets are $17 adults; $12 children.

The Headliner series at the Robert Z. Hawkins Amphitheater features musical performances every Thursday evening. Anat Cohen, Blind Boys of Alabama with Paul Thorn, Jake Shimabukuro, and Deve Mahal, are the performers that make up the lineup for this year.

The Monday night music series performers take the stage at Robert Z. Hawkins Amphitheater as well, and that line up is; We Banjo 3,  Hot Club of San Francisco, Tumbledown House, Bria Skonberg, and Marcia Ball.

This is just a small sampling of what will be happening in Artown in July. Whatever you want to explore in the arts, Music, Visual, Crafts, and more there will be something for you, just take a few moments and check out Artown’s events calendar.

This great Event is lovingly put on by a handful of very dedicated people. Working with them this year I have seen firsthand what it takes to put on an event of this magnitude.

There is a comprehensive list of events in a Little Book that can be found just about everywhere in the Reno area and this list is also online in the Artown Calendar on the Artown website: https://renoisartown.com/

If you are looking for a historic backdrop for the Fourth of July Fireworks check out Virginia City this year. The celebration starts at noon on Wednesday, July 4, with a parade and the fireworks after dark. Throughout the day there will be food, music, the V&T Railroad, and much more Virginia City fun.

Get out and enjoy the summer nights.

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