Silver City, Nevada Historic Preservation Month Display: Fascinating History; Vibrant Present

Silver City, Nevada - A May 2016 display in Silver City marks Nevada's annual, statewide celebration of "Historic Preservation and Archaeological Awareness." Located on the Comstock a few miles south of Virginia City within a National Historic Landmark, the tiny community of Silver City has a reputation for protecting the sites involved in its historic past, and for contributing to the creation of both art and cultural resources.

The display at the Post Office on Main Street is titled, "Silver City, Nevada: Preserving a Fascinating History; Protecting a Vibrant Present and Future." Silver City combines a dedication for preserving the sites and artifacts associated with its history with enthusiasm for protecting its present day character as an arts and cultural resources production center. The display will illuminate these two intertwined parts of the community using rarely seen artifacts from Silver City's beginnings in the 1800s, as well as samples of some of the historical and archaeological research, plus plays, art, diverse publications, and music that a new wave of residents have produced over the last 50 years.

Although Silver City has roots in the underground mining boom of the 1860s, by the 1950s the town had become a quiet place, a curiosity for passing tourists who saw it as a ghost town. A shift began in the mid 1960s, however, with the arrival of a new wave of residents, and the town's "cultural re-population" continued for the next 5 decades.

The community of less than 200 people produced a remarkable body of work during the last 50 years 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; theater; music; historic preservation; and academic research and projects resulting in technical reports and a wide range of other publications. Many created hand-crafted items in silver, wood, gemstones, clay, etc. and examples can be found in diverse places, from the Smithsonian American Art Museum to the region's historic cemeteries, homes and buildings.

Accordingly, in 2014 the Silver City Advisory Board resolved to recognize the existing character of Silver City as an "Arts and Cultural Resources Production Center", and formally recognized the considerable work residents have contributed and continue to contribute to the production of important work in the areas of arts and cultural resources.

The Board also formally recognized the extraordinary support the entire community has given and continues to give to local arts and cultural resources production, events, and programming. Today the town has active arts and preservation groups, plus a resident artist program and a summer arts and science program. In July 2016, the town will welcome a new outdoor performance stage in the local park so that even more public programming in music and theater can be offered.

The display of historic artifacts (1860-1900) and arts and cultural resources (1965-2016) is sponsored by the Resident Artist Program of Silver City, with special thanks to Silver City resident Ron Reno, PhD, and also to the Comstock History Center for the loan of Silver City artifacts. The display can be viewed at the Silver City Post Office at 270 Main Street, Silver City, Nevada 89428, Mon-Sun beginning May 3rd through May 27.

Sculpture with found objects by Scott MacLeod, Resident Artist Program in Silver City housing and snow-capped Sierras in the background

A small sample of some of the publications by Silver City residents during the last 50 years

Photo from a 2014 retrospective of Silver City residents' art, publications and fine crafts 1965 to present

Nevada turquoise by Silver City lapidaries Canyon and Suzanne Cassidy

Jewelry by Silver City silversmith Larry Wahrenbrock with paintings and ceramics in the background by Silver City artists Karen Kreyeski and Julie LaCroix.

Set Up for Silver City School House concert with legendary blues musician Ray Bonneville, 2016

2013 Fireman's Ball, Silver City, Nevada

May 2016 display for Nevada Historic Preservation and Archaeological Awareness Month

One part of the May 2016 display for Nevada Historic Preservation and Archaeological Awareness Month

Some of the Silver City historical artifacts, and examples of recent contributions to historic preservation and archaeology, in the May 2016 display for Nevada Historic Preservation and Archaeological Awareness Month

Silver City Artist's Portraits of Comstock Women at the Jeanne Dini Center in Yerington

Karen Kreyeski's exhibition "The Womens’ Project " was installed Saturday, March 2nd at the Jeanne Dini Center in Yerington and will remain there until Thursday, May 19th, when there will be a reception at the show's closing from 4-6 PM. More details can be found at Yerington Theatre for the Arts website: http://yeringtonarts.com/gallery-schedule/

The closing for the exhibition on May 19th will coordinate with a slideshow from 6 to 8 PM where Karen and other artists will present brief talks about their work.

Karen Kreyeski's exhibition features extraordinary paintings of women from the Comstock towns of Silver City, Gold Hill and Virginia City.

PHOTO BY SCOTT MACLEOD

Following is an excerpt from Shaun Griffn's review of the show when it was at St Mary's Art Center in Virginia City earlier in the year:

"These portraits, galvanized from friendship and work over 30 years, are tributes to the backbone of a community...Karen Kreyeski's rendering of their faces, their attributes is a singular recognition of this quality...Every oil portrait represents the choice a woman made to create a possible life: painter, archaeologist, educator, actress, gardener, bartender, and all the roles that become an amalgam of women: mother, wife, breadwinner. She honors each of their characters with portraits that bend time. They move away from the literal time of their lifework to reflect upon how these women lasted in their community, the Comstock, a place whose resources have been mined and excavated. Similarly, because of their relationships to Kreyeski, these portraits become testimony: this is how you live in a place, this is how you bridge the personal and public character...

What is it that called them to this place, that asked them to devote a life to its uncovering? The haunting refrain of why do this, why here, emanates from these faces. That it becomes worth their effort and consequently hers, is the unspoken power of these paintings. The women gather you in their stories because they are larger than any individual rendering. It is not important if you know them or the context of their lives; they are present in the room with you, the viewer. They will walk you to the door and listen for what follows and you will go with them..."

About Karen Kreyeski: Karen Kreyeski has been an art educator at schools in both Storey and Lyon School Districts, as well as the resident artist coordinator in Lyon and Storey School Districts. She was also previously a board member with Comstock Arts Council and was president of Nevada Arts Educators for many years. Her work has been shown in exhibits and galleries in Vegas, Tahoe, Reno and beyond, and can also be found in many private collections.

Of her work, she writes, "Living in Silver City in a house on a hill for almost 30 years that overlooks the sculptural shapes of the naked mountains between Dayton and Mound House has affected my vision of the western landscape. This influence results in my search for similar forms throughout Nevada and other western states where water is a rarity but distance plentiful and mountainous shapes loom as children."