Since the late 1960's, Silver City has been a magnet for a group economists term the "creative class" - web designers, archaeologists, anthropologists, artisans, teachers, attorneys, economic development experts, artists, musicians, historians, etc. Today, creativity flourishes alongside entrepreneurial initiative - the community is a virtual hive of creative industries and in-home studios, workshops, and offices for artists, musicians, photographers, consultants, writers, and craftspeople.
Over the last 50 years, this community of less than 200 people has been responsible for a remarkable body of work that has had a demonstrably positive impact on the town, the state and beyond. Residents have contributed their diverse talents and skills to produce regionally and nationally recognized work in archaeology; visual art; theatre; music; historic preservation; and academic research and projects resulting in technical reports and a variety of other publications. Many residents have created hand-crafted items in silver, wood, gemstones, clay, etc. and examples can be found in a wide range of places, from the Smithsonian American Art Museum to the region's historic cemeteries and buildings.
Definition
Silver City falls within the definition of a rural arts and cultural production center in that it has a concentration of residents actively producing work in relevant fields and 2)has many home studios, workshops and offices related to these endeavors and 3)has a well -established tradition of public and community programs related to arts and culture 4)has a center for arts and culture activities, i.e., the School House Community Center and public park 5) has a local arts group, a privately funded Resident Artist Program with public programming, and a volunteer library that all show dedication to local arts and culture 6)has an ongoing, long history of cross-sector community support for arts and culture production, events and programming and a record of collaboration amongst local, state, federal and regional groups to support the same.
Concentration of Residents Producing Arts and Culture Work
A 2014 Cultural Resources Inventory of the Comstock region funded by the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts showed that fully 1/3 of Silver City adults are involved in producing work in the visual, theatre, literary, folk, or musical arts or are working in some aspect of archaeology, anthropology, or historic preservation, consulting or publishing, or are skilled craftspeople working with gemstones, metals, wood, etc. During an Arts Townhall meeting in Feb 2014 hosted by the Nevada Arts Council in Silver City, one resident quipped that, "Silver City has more artists than trees."
Production Spaces
In addition, Silver City has an unusually high number of private arts and culture production spaces (at least 28) including specialized workshops used for creating jewelry, leatherwork, basketry, photography, 3D printing, historic restoration, ornamental metal work, music, hand-crafted furniture, [historical preservation],and silverwork, as well as art studios and home offices for residents involved in writing, publishing, historical interpretation and consulting, website design, research, etc.
Collaboration
The term "arts and cultural resources production district" implies collaboration among the arts, individual artists, artisans and scholars, and the local community, and indeed, SIlver City shows a strong collaborative spirit in this regard. Below are just four examples:
1)Silver City Community Receives Nevada Historic Preservation Award: In 2007, the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer presented the town of Silver City and local Dr. Ron Reno with a Nevada Historic Preservation Award. The award honored the entire town of Silver City, and the lead archaeologist for the project, Ron Reno, for their dedicated retrieval of thousands of artifacts associated with the remains of the historic 1860's schoolhouse, which had been used as a community center for many decades. “Ron has done such tremendous work on retrieving Schoolhouse artifacts,” State Historic Preservation Officer Ron James said. “And Silver City residents worked so hard in getting that rebuilt. The whole community pulled together on this,” he said. James said Ron Reno won the same award eight years before for his work with the Comstock Historic District, which usually disqualifies someone from being considered again, but this was such an important achievement that he was again honored for his contributions
2)Annual Children's Arts and Science Program: The free kids' summer program, begun in 2003, is open to any child in the Northern Nevada region and has included lessons in science, math, and engineering, as well as classes and/or workshops on dance, theater, opera, music, beading, painting, mask making, basketry, photography, Chinese language, folk dances, and calligraphy, lyric writing, sound ecology, poetry reading, Surrealistic painting techniques, drawing, mixed media art, found object/recycled art, cooking, Chinese language, folk dances, and calligraphy, plus field trips to art and history museums, Shakespeare at Lake Tahoe, and much more. The program is made possible through a collaboration with local volunteers, plus county, state and federal agencies and regional nonprofits like Healthy Communities Coalition to support the annual STEAM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math).
3)The Silver City Volunteer Library, established in 2004, is a volunteer endeavor with periodic guest lectures, workshops and shows and a collection that includes thousands of books, many sets of reference works, a large film collection, magazines, etc. thanks to donors from all over the U.S., Silver City, and the county. Most of the collection is stored in the basement of the school house/community center so that plenty of room for other uses remains upstairs. The collection is rotated every 4 months, and new arrivals are added each month so there are always new things on the shelves. The collection includes something for most interests and for every age level. A few examples of library hosted events include an arts townhall with the Nevada Arts Council; an archaeology lecture by Ron Reno, PhD, on Windmill Wash and the Civilian Conservation Corp's attempt at a flood control project for Bunkerville, NV in the 1930's; a Chautauqua living history performance with scholar Doris Dwyer portraying the famous photographer, Margaret Bourke-White who married novelist Erskine Caldwell in Silver City in 1939 when the couple toured Nevada; "Fun with Science"and "Fun with Art"classes approved by the Nevada Registry for child care providers, preschool and elementary teachers, parents and grandparents, etc.
4)The Silver City Arts group has created a remarkable schedule of events in 2014-2015, partly by drawing on the community's own rich resource of artists, and partly by connecting with regional and statewide nonprofits to bring in programming by local, national and international artists. The group also maintains a "Poetry Corner" at the local post office, highlighting the literary work of current and former Silver City residents. The group's first exhibit in October 2014 was an official Signature event of the Nevada Sesquicentennial. The exhibit attracted more than 100 people from near and far, and included respected artists who are also long time Silver City residents, such as Jean LeGassick, Jeff Nicholson, Karen Kreyeski, Larry Kotik, and many others. Also in October, by partnering with St. Mary's Art Center and the Silver City Volunteer Library, the group brought internationally known artist Nes Lerpa of Denmark to Silver City to show his latest, large scale abstract paintings. During the holidays, the group hosted a sale of work by local artists and artisans. In May 2015, the group hosted a photo display showing the cultural repopulation of the town circa 1965-2005, along with a screening of "Rockin' at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock" with commentary by film maker Silver City native Mary Works Covington, whose father, Don Works, was one of the founders of the Red Dog saloon, which became key to the development of the 1960's psychedelic rock scene. Some of the principal subjects of her film are Silver City residents Don Works, Robert Elston, Travus T. Hipp, Lynne Hughes, etc. In July 2015, Silver City Arts hosted a unique art exhibit to coincide with Northern Nevada's July "Artown" events. The exhibit, designed by Michigan artist Brian Schorn, included work from Silver City residents' private collections by acclaimed artists such as Mick Sheldon; Joan Arrizabalaga; Dick Peitz; Edw Martinez; Gus Bundy; Lucy Nieder; Jim McCormick; Mimi Patrick; Walt McNamara; Estelle Peck Ishigo; Bob Adams; Francisco de Goya; Nolan Preece; Ray Obermayr; Lorna Obermayr; Patty Marshall; Barbara Stein; Molly Allander; Susan Stornetta; Brian Schorn; Jon Colin Roberts; Ron Victor; Larry Wahrenbrock; John Wise; Ron Moroni; Bill Germino; Linda Dufurrena; Afton Frederickand many others.
Small Sample of Awards, Research, Publications, Permanent Collections, Awards and Honors:
In the past decade, individual Silver City residents have received numerous awards and honors. A few examples include 1) a 2004 fellowship from the Fulbright Foundation for archaeology research 2)Nevada Archaeology Association's 2014 Silver Trowel Lifetime Achievement Award 3)2012 inductee to the Nevada Women's HIstory Project's Roll of Honor 4)2007 Nevada Library Association Award 5)Nevada Historic Preservation Award.
Artwork in Permanent Collections: Residents such as nationally known plein artist Jean LeGassick have art in the Permanent Collection of the Nevada Museum of Art, while residents such as Cashion Callaway have work in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. These are just two examples of many.
Publications: At least 2 dozen of the community's residents have produced technical reports, computer programs, academic research, and publications on various topics including Nevada history, anthropology, basketry, Nevada tourism, culinary arts, visual art, beads, etc., in addition to publishing fiction, poetry and newspaper columns and features. Some of these publications were on view at the U.S. Post Office in Silver City in September of 2015.
Theatre: Residents like Sheree and Will Rose have produced originial musicals that have been on the stage not only in Silver City, but on stages at Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, public schools in Nevada, hotels and resorts.
Music: The town is home to a number of musicians who frequently donate their time and talents to raise funds for various nonprofit groups in Silver City, Nevada and the West. Residents perform with the Carson City Symphony, a number of bands, and have served on committees with nonprofits such as the Nevada Opera.
Historic Preservation work: 9 residents of Silver City are or have been working professionals (6 with graduate degrees) in historic preservation and cultural resource management, variously employed by the University of Nevada, Bureau of Land Management, Nevada State Museum, and private cultural resource consulting firms. One previously served as the Chair of the Virginia City Historic District Commission. Other residents have served on the board of the Comstock Cemetery Foundation.
