May 16 Street Dance, Town Photo, Film, Memorabilia and History Displays: Jake Wise's 1976 photo of Silver City residents will be recreated on May 16 with past and present Silver City residents at around 3pm on Main Street near the Golden Gate Bar. The day full of nostaligic events for both residents and the public also includes a free street dance on Main Street with live music beginning at 2pm. At the nearby school house/community center at 385 High Street, the public is invited to view Mary MacDonald's Comstock music memorabilia collection beginning at 10am. Refreshments and a screening of Silver City native Mary Works Covington's documentary "Life and Times of the Red Dog Saloon" will begin at the School House at 6pm.
More Details on May 16th Events
Film and “Cultural Repopulation” of Silver City Display May 16th at 6pm: The film and display are both part of Nevada's annual Historic Preservation celebrations. The public is cordially invited to this free event. The screening of "Life and Times of the Red Dog Saloon" will be introduced by the film's creator, Silver City native Mary Works Covington. Her father, Don Works, was one of the founders of the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City. Long time Silver City residents Don Works, Robert Elston, Travus T. Hipp, and Lynne Hughes are among those in the documentary. Covington explains, "The film explores, among other things, the role of the Red Dog Saloon in helping to create and establish the formula for the psychedelic dancehall that became the backbone of the psychedelic music scene later in San Francisco." In the 60's, legendary bands like The Charlatans and Big Brother and the Holding Company played there as well as the PH Phactor Jug Band, Wildflower and Final Solution and many others. At the conclusion of the film, several long time residents will comment on cultural changes they've noted in Silver City during the last 40 years. Covington is also known for her work as assistant sound and/or dialog editor for films like Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, The English Patient, Contact, The Talented Mr. Ripley and many other films. She is currently the community arts development program coordinator with the Nevada Arts Council.
May 16th display on the "Cultural Re-Population" of Silver City 1965-2005: The arrival of some of those interviewed in the Red Dog film marked the beginnings of a "cultural re-population" of Silver City, when the demographics of the town took a sharp turn. Records indicate a shift in the education, occupation, age and population of the town beginning in the early 1960's. In addition to the Red Dog film screening, the evening will also include a display of photos, posters, flyers, essays, artwork, and newspaper columns illustrating a cultural shift in Silver City from 1965 to 2005. For more information about the film screening and the display, call Quest Lakes at (775) 847-0742
Youth Summer Program: Every summer Silver City offers the Comstock region a free STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) program for children and and their parents. The annual program began in 2003 and has been offered each summer since, with varying themes, but always involving key STEAM concepts.The 2015 program will be on Tuesdays from 10am to noon in Silver City's park. Activities this year include 1)art lessons with local professional artist Karen Kreyeski for teens and adults 2)a Tuesday June 23rd "Tune into Kids" arts and science fun fair hosted by United Way for parents and their children ages three to six 3)a June 30th bike safety "rodeo" with Western Safe Routes to Schools where kids will learn road rules and safety, participate in bike maneuvers and exercises, and receive new bike helmets 4) hands-on projects for ages 5-12 that teach engineering concepts with guest teachers from the Society of Women Engineers 4))a family-friendly field trip to see Shakespeare on the beach at Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe on August 4th. In addition to the younger children's activities, this year we'll also have a real treat with artist Karen Kreyeski volunteering to teach two beginning art classes for teens and adults on June 9th and June 16th. Space is very limited for these in-demand classes with Ms. Kreyeski. Please RSVP to Quest at quest@theodata.com in order to reserve your space. The first class will be "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: Drawing Objects the Way You See Them." The second class will be called "Painting with the Spirit of Nature: Free Form Techniques Using Water, Sand and Salt." The yearly youth summer program is possible, in part, by Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey, plus guest teachers from regional groups, and local fundraisers, donations and volunteer work from Silver City residents and groups.
July 18 Silver City Arts' fine art exhibit is planned to coincide with Northern Nevada "Artown" events, and will be in the School House. The show will include work by acclaimed artists that Silver City residents happen to have in their own private collections. Artwork by Walter McNamara; Mick Sheldon; Joan Arrizabalaga; Dick Peitz; Edw Martinez; Gus Bundy; Lucy Nieder; Mike Hess; Jim McCormick; Mimi Patrick; Richard Bodner; Margery Hall Marshall; and many others will be on display rom 10am-3pm
Ongoing:
Poetry Corner at the Silver City Post Office Bulletin Board. You're invited to check the bulletin board in the Post Office for posted poems. Place your poems in the envelope if you'd like to share one of yours. With writers' permission, the poems will be published in a book next year. Sponsored by the Silver City Arts group.
Silver City Arts group meets each month. Contact Carol Godwin for details: godwinsilvercity@aol.com
Silver City Town Advisory meetings: Agendas are posted each month at the Post Office, the Fire Dept, the School House, and the bulletin board at the edge of the park on the corner of High and 2nd Streets.
Tell Me About Silver City, Nevada
(Photo of Silver City by Jake Wise, 1976)
"How do you put a value on air so clean you can make out pinions on a mountain range 60 miles away? Or the last bit of snow on Job’s Peak?" asks Lori Carpenter, referring to Silver City. This thriving and close-knit mountain town, located within a National Historic Landmark, is home to a surprising number of Nevada's highly productive artists, musicians, photographers, writers, actors, artisans, academics and other innovative thinkers and unique souls. In fact, the community was recently designated as an "Arts and Culture Production Center." A 2014 Nevada Arts Council funded report on the arts and cultural resources of the Comstock area showed that about 30% of Silver City’s residents are artists, performers, musicians, photographers, potters, or artisans, and about 20% are writers, academics, attorneys, computer programmers, teachers, web designers, publishers, nurses, etc.
Silver City also attracts unique destination tourism to the region as the site of the renowned Silver City Fireman's Ball, and the world famous, annual Ferrari Races. It's crystal clear views of the Sierras and its irreplaceable historic buildings and sites bring visiting plein air painters and photographers from around the West.
The town has an unusually strong volunteerism ethos, and boasts a voluteer-run library, a shady park, an organic community garden, a bustling community center, an artist in residence program, a post office, an arts group, an historic preservation group, a volunteer fire department, and an enviable arts and science summer program that is free to youngsters in the entire Comstock region.
Silver City enjoys an ideal location - it's less than a two-day drive to just about anywhere you want to be in the West. The town is only minutes from popular tourist attractions in Virginia City, about 50 minutes from both Lake Tahoe and Reno, less than 4 hours from Napa wine country, about 4.5 hours from San Francisco. Carson City, the state's capital city, is just 15 miles to the town's southwest.
The town has become a showcase for unique and diverse architecture - residences in the small community include an incredible range of architecture and design, both historic and modern. Since the 1970's, many residents have re-habed, restored, and rebuilt most of the historic homes in their community, while others have added a number of architecturally unique, visually-striking homes. Today the town is a checkerboard of irreplaceable historic buildings and modern homes perched on hillsides in order to take advantage of the breathtaking views of the Sierras and the Comstock.
It’s hard to encapsulate all of the reasons residents of Silver City love their community so deeply, but advisory board Chair Erich Obermayr captured many of those reasons when he wrote, “Silver City is at the same time a quiet, safe place to live and raise a family, and a town accustomed to standing up for itself. It is a community built on the values of knowing and caring for neighbors and for pitching in when need arises. We care for our kids, for our elders and for all others who can use a hand. Neighbor to neighbor, we stand by our community. Always.”
