Like so many others, I’ll always miss and fondly remember Fred, who passed away on Dec. 24, 2017. He was a supporter of all things creative and an extraordinarily kind, thoughtful, generous, intelligent, skilled, and talented human being, a lover of good -natured fun, and a secret doer of unsung good deeds.
His earth-sheltered, energy efficient home, which he carefully designed and built himself in the 1980s, sits just south of McCormick House where visiting artists with the Resident Artist Program stay during their Residencies, which last anywhere from two weeks to several months.
Fred was key to the success of the Resident Artist Program in Silver City. In my role as Director of the Program, I witnessed Fred’s neighborliness and enthusiastic involvement with the Residents, who come from across the U.S. and the world. As a man with an extraordinary range of skills and talents and endless curiosity, Fred appreciated the particular skills, talents and interests of each visitor. He welcomed them with challenging, high desert walking tours of Silver City's "outback", useful tips on local history and culture, use of his well-appointed workshop, help with transporting their artwork, gifts of rare found objects, and much more.
Fred giving a mountain hiking tour of Silver City to writer Peter Krogh Andersen and Christina Balsvarde, both of Denmark, 2017. Photo courtesy of Peter Krogh Anderson.
Fred’s connection with the artists began through his love of all living creatures. Michigan artist Brian Schorn arrived at the Resident Artist Program in 2015 just after a feral cat gave birth to four kittens under McCormick House. He helped Brian tame the mother cat and the kittens. Good homes were found for all of the kittens, but not for the tiny but fierce and not-quite-tame mother cat. Fred adopted her, giving her the life of a cat princess with her own room, saying, “She’s suffered enough.” Later, this cat, who he named Sweetie Pie, was immortalized as "Fred's rattlesnake killing cat" in Pulitizer-Prize nominated poet David Lee's 2016 poem, "Silver City Dawn Psalm." Althought she became a pampered indoor cat, she still ventured outside now and then to kill some of the town’s enormous rattlesnakes, sometimes leaving them at the door of McCormick House as a gift (or warning?) to our visiting artists.
In addition to helping Brian tame the kittens, Fred took him on long hikes around the Comstock, showing him where to find the fascinating historical detritus – bits of old bottles, dishes, toys, and medicine bottles from the 1800s – that Brian incorporated into more than 20 artworks that became his “Comstock Wabi Sabi” series. The exhibition has since been shown at St. Mary’s Art Center in Virginia City, and three locations in Reno, including Truckee Meadows Community College. Brian dedicated his January 2018 newsletter to Fred, describing him as “my dear friend,” and noting that “the work I created while a Resident Artist in Silver City would not have been possible without the kindness of Fred. I am so grateful for our friendship and the good times we shared."
After Brian left, Fred had a burst of creative energy, creating dozens of assemblages from Comstock found objects that he left along a popular local walking trail in the hills surrounding Silver City. One of the most photographed is his kinetic trailside artwork, made with pieces of green desert glass ingeniously woven into the remains of a 19th Century ore shoot. Fred’s assemblages have inspired local artists, and visiting artists, who have added their own pieces to the trail over the last few years.
Fred also shared friendship with Oakland-based artist and writer Scott MacLeod. He helped Scott install a tribute to Comstock legend Bob McKinney high in the hills above Silver City. Startled hikers sometimes happen upon the beautiful ship model art piece and post their find on Instagram. Scott created the ship with found objects in 2016 while he was at the Resident Artist Program. Fred also created the unique name plate for another ship, the USS Silver Clipper, a collabortively made artwork created by Scott and Silver City locals in 2016 that was later on display at St. Mary’s Art Center.
The artists and writers who’ve visited were equally smitten with Fred, and they photographed him and his artistic creations, recorded his stories and wrote about him. For instance, some of Fred’s stories about Silver City and why he chose to make it his home, and a large scale portrait of Fred, are preserved in Frances Melhop's Comstock Portrait Project which was presented as a solo show at UNR and at the Haldan Gallery at Lake Tahoe Community College in 2017. Fred's portrait was taken, and his stories were captured, at the Silver City School House in 2016 while Frances was a Resident Artist in Silver City.
Over his lifetime, Fred expressed his own artistic skills through the creation of unique homes, vehicles, jewelry, woodworking, glasswork and more. When he graciously gave tours of his home to our visiting artists, they photographed the astounding range of beautiful things he built, such as a reclining Morris chair with clawfeet, a bright orange Ford Model A truck with wood paneling, an imitation Victorian Cottage he built for his daughter next to his own unusual earth sheltered home, jewelry made with things such as bits of broken dishes left by the Chinese men who built rock walls in Silver City in the 1800s, etc.
Today we keep photos and a number of mementos of Fred at McCormick House - one of his beloved Christmas cacti, a colored bottle, a tiny glass Buddha. We’re working on a spring garden in memory of Fred; it’s on the west side of McCormick House and includes a purple lilac, honeysuckle bushes, and an ever-expanding number of tulips. Thank you, Fred, for the beauty you brought to the world.
Memorial: Fred’s daughter Las writes that “a service will be held to honor the memory of Fred Swanson’s life, his humor, his contribution as a whole and to each of us individually, to comfort each other in our loss and say our good byes. Dessert and coffee will be served. All whom he had the good fortune to know or were touched by him are invited to attend. Please feel free to dress casual, burning man or formal; whatever suits you. The colors purple and orange were his favorites! Please bring an interesting, inspirational or funny story or memory if you would like to share. No flowers please. If you wish to make a financial remembrance, please donate to the NEVADA HUMANE SOCIETY-Spay/Neuter Program, 549 Airport Rd, Carson City, NV 89701.” The memorial takes place on
Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 1 p.m.
at the Carson Plaza Hotel Event Center
211 E. 9th Street
Carson City, Nevada 89701
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