Get Your Kicks on Route 66

June 28 marks the opening of a new exhibit at one of Las Vegas' premier family adventure parks, Springs Preserve. In 1946, the popular song "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" hit the airwaves, immortalizing the road for decades. Springs Preserve is celebrating the iconic road with its new exhibit, "Next Exit: Route 66." The exhibit showcases how Las Vegas artists Su Limbert, Todd Duane Miller, Andreana Donahue, Justin Favela, and JW Caldwell have interpreted Route 66 using a variety of different mediums.

As the most famous road in American history, Route 66 stretches more than 2,400 miles and crosses eight states. Established on November 11, 1926, the road has since become popularized for connecting “Old America” (the East Coast and Midwest) to “New America” (referred to as the “Sunbelt”).

The exhibit runs through September 15 and is open to the public 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are free for Springs Preserve members. Visit the website for general-admission prices. Discount rates are given for Nevada residents, students, military personnel, and seniors.

"Next Exit: Route 66"
Springs Preserve
springspreserve.org
702-822-7700

Great Basin National Park: Revisited

Stella Lake Summer Day, by Lady Jill Mueller

On Friday, June 21, the Nevada Historical Society — Nevada's oldest cultural institution — in Reno will host a free reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. for Lady Jill Mueller, the artist featured in the new exhibit Great Basin National Park: Revisited. There will be refreshments and free admission to the galleries.

Interestingly, Mueller was featured in the February 1990 issue of Nevada Magazine in a department titled, "NEVADA ART & ARTISTS." Click on the image at left to view the 1990 article. Mueller's Reno exhibit, which will be on display until September 20, 2013 and then travel throughout the state, focuses on the beautiful painted landscape of Great Basin National Park.

The Nevada Historical Society museum is located on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Stop the Car, Dad! is First Exhibit at New Laxalt Gallery

"Once a Lake, near Fallon," by Erik Lauritzen

Stop the Car, Dad! is the debut exhibit featured in the new Laxalt Building Gallery at the offices of Nevada Magazine in Carson City, through March 1. The new art space is in the historic building that rings chimes throughout the community at 401 North Carson Street. The gallery is open to the public during normal business hours Monday through Friday, and admission is free.

While traveling the often-deserted roads of Nevada, renowned photographer Erik Lauritzen depicted quirky evidence of humans affecting Western landscape. Thirty of his photographs included in Stop the Car, Dad! capture life across the Silver State.

“From abandoned military installations to roadside architecture that reflects local flair, the sites Lauritzen photographed reveal a certain irony often underlying everyday encounters in the Nevada desert,” says Fran Morrow of the Nevada Arts Council. The council organized the show as part of its Nevada Touring Initiative – Traveling Exhibition Program that brings diverse art projects to communities across Nevada and beyond.

Stop the Car, Dad! is named for the moment of curiosity that often accompanies the discovery of a roadside attraction. The images record places where development gave way to dilapidation. Now abandoned, these way stations are evidence of the “boom and bust” Nevada lifestyle. In the photo collection, solitary signs and deserted buildings emerge as intriguing records of history.

Highly regarded as a representational and landscape photographer, Lauritzen was also considered an abstract artist working with photography. While maintaining a full teaching load, curating a gallery, and conducting workshops throughout Nevada and the region, he continued to challenge himself as an artist until his death in 2007.

In partnership with the Nevada Commission on Tourism and Nevada Magazine, the new Laxalt Building space will house occasional exhibits. Read more about the Traveling Exhibition Program in the January/February 2013 edition of Nevada Magazine, on newsstands now.

Basque Carvings Come to Life in Reno

This rubbing is simply titled, "Cowboy."

I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception last night for the new Basque Aspen Art Rubbings exhibit at the Nevada Historical Society in Reno. In the early to mid-1900s, male Basque sheepherders carved various figures and messages on aspen trees in groves all over Northern Nevada. Most notably the arborglyphs depicted the lives they left behind in France and Spain (the Pyrenees) before they immigrated to the U.S., animals such as deer and sheep, and the opposite sex.

This particular exhibit focuses on carvings that were found in Sierra Nevada groves and meadows by the husband-and-wife team of Phillip and Jean Earl. They began exploring these areas in 1969 and ultimately assembled a collection of more than 130 wax-on-muslin rubbings that preserved the carvings that would otherwise be lost over time due to environmental changes. The Earls have published their findings in a new book, Basque Aspen Art of the Sierra Nevada, published by Baobab Press.

The exhibit is located in the Historical Society's main hall that greets visitors as they walk inside the building located on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. Rubbings of cowboys, women, animals, moons, dates, and an actual carving preserved on an aspen stump are just a few of the items you'll see at the new exhibit, on display until April 14. The image below, taken at the Historical Society, explains the exhibit in more detail. The building also contains a gift shop, library, and museum and is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library hours are noon to 4 p.m. on those same days.

For an intriguing perspective of Basque history in Nevada, read Robert Laxalt's "The Sheepmen," originally published in 1977. Charlie Johnston's story about Basque dining is also an informative, complementary read. Finally, if books such as the Earls' interest you, visit nevadamagazine.com to learn about many more that focus on the state's culture and history.—Matthew B. Brown, Nevada Magazine Editor