Cultural Researchers Come to Resident Artist Program in Silver City, Nevada

Silver City, Nevada- The summer 2017 resident artists at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City will be Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas of Marksearch, who describe their work as "cultural researchers, creator of conversations, locators of lost history." Currently in Japan working on a project at Sanki Bunko and the 21st Century Museum of Art to research architectural preservation, they're a wife-husband artist team who create interactive public projects that invite people to reflect upon their communities and increase their awareness of the natural environment.

Their methodology synthesizes their academic backgrounds: Bruce Douglas, a fabricator and professional mechanical engineer, meshes his values of building community and using recycled materials by creating functional, quirky human-powered vehicles; Sue Mark, with a BA in philosophy and linguistics and an MFA from the California College of the Arts, creates national and international projects about local history, culture and community challenges.

Together, they have collaborated with non-profits, community groups, and municipalities worldwide to create projects. Some partners have included:

+ Bulgarian sociologists, historians, and architects

+ Czech anarchists

+ German tour guides & archeologists

+ Oakland Chinatown elders

+ Norwegian fishermen

+ Southern civil rights activists

+ Urban social geographers

For more information about their past projects, see http://www.marksearch.org/marksearch-cv.pdf

What is the Resident Artist Program in Silver City? The visiting artist program began in 2014. It provides a venue for those from other parts of the U.S. and the world to engage with the community and the region through the arts. People creating in the performing, visual, or literary arts are invited to reside for up to 4 months at McCormick House, a geodesic dome designed in the 1970s by Nevada artist Jim McCormick. In exchange, the vistors offer public performances, exhibitions, readings, workshops, etc. in the community. Previous residents have included multidisciplinary Michigan-based artist Brian Schorn; New Zealand artist Sophie Scott; Oakland artist and writer Scott MacLeod; emerging musician Mylo Mccormick; dancer Jessica Sanford of Earlham College; London-based artists Stewart Easton and Claire Scully; photographer Frances Melhop; and poet David Lee. Upcoming residents include cultural researchers Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas and New Zealand arist Sophie Scott. For more information, contact director Quest Lakes at P.O. Box 123, Silver City, Nevada 89428.

Reading by Acclaimed Poet David Lee on Dec 3rd

Silver City, Nevada - David Lee's 23rd book, Bluebonnets, Firewheels, and Brown-Eyed Susans, Or, Poems New and Used from the Bandera Rag and Bone Shop, was published recently, and so he's been on tour, reading poems and teaching workshops at the Cliff Notes Writing Conference in Utah, at poetry festivals in Ohio, and at the university in Reno. It is our great fortune that he'll also offer a reading here on the Comstock on Saturday, December 3rd at 2:30pm at the Silver City School House/Community Center (385 High Street). He’ll read several poems he’s written during the last few months while living in Silver City, as well as selections from his new book.

FREE EVENT: This free, public event sponsored by the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, the Silver City Volunteer Library, Healthy Communities Coalition, and Silver City Arts group will include appetizers and pre- and post-event acoustic blues by Mylo McCormick, and a pop-up show with samples of work by 9 artists from Nevada, Michigan, California, New Zealand and England. Silver City is located within a National Historic District about 3 miles from Virginia City, and about 15 miles from Carson City.

ABOUT DAVID LEE’S POETRY: Lee's poetry is described as "the real deal when it comes to recording hilariously insightful (and linguistically accurate) observations of rural culture—and America at large—while using a host of astute literary allusions and techniques. Imagine Robert Frost simultaneously channeling Will Rogers and Ezra Pound. Imagine Chaucer with a twang."

Lee’s newest book of poetry is focused on "the women of mid-20th century rural Texas: frontier survivors and the daughters of frontier survivors, indomitable women with tastes that run from Baptist preaching to bourbon-and-branchwater. This is an authentic book of the mid-20th century based on actual characters, a paen to women who shaped and molded the poet's life."

ABOUT DAVID LEE: Utah's first and longest serving Poet Laureate and author of 23 books of poetry, David Lee has also been a boxer, pig farmer, seminary student, cotton mill worker, and baseball player. Lee earned a Ph.D. with a specialty in the poetry of John Milton, and served as the Chairman of the Department of Language and Literature at Southern Utah University where he taught for more than 3 decades. In 1999, his collection News From Down to the Café was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, a testament to the wide national interest in his work. Lee was named one of Utah’s top 12 writers of all time by the Utah Endowment for the Humanities, and has been honored with the Utah Governor’s Award for lifetime achievement in the arts. He has been honored with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities and has received both the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award in Poetry and the Western States Book Award in Poetry. In 2001, he was chosen as a finalist for Poet Laureate of the United States.

WORK BY 9 ARTISTS ALSO ON DISPLAY: On the same day, attendees can also view a pop-up show at the School House with samples of work created at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City over the last two years. Pieces will include paintings, assemblages, drawings, essays, music, and photographs by Sophie Scott of New Zealand, Stewart Easton and Claire Scully of England, New Zealand born photographer Frances Melhop, Brian Schorn of Michigan, Silver City native Mylo McCormick, Marielle Toll of Gold Hill, Ava Covington of Carson City, and Scott MacLeod of Oakland.

For more information about the event, contact Quest Lakes at 847-0742.

Quest's Winter Reading Picks

The goal of reading is not always pleasure. Sometimes we need to be reminded of history, and what might yet come to be if we ignore those lessons. Yale Professor of History Timothy Snyder, author of Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, writes, "A final plurality has to do with time. The state endures to create a sense of durability. When we lack a sense of past and future, the present feels like a shaky platform, an uncertain basis for action. The defence of states and rights is impossible to undertake if no one learns from the past or believes in the future. Awareness of history permits recognition of ideological traps and generates scepticism about demands for immediate action because everything has suddenly changed. Confidence in the future can make the world seem like something more than, in Hitler’s words, “the surface area of a precisely measured space”. Time, the fourth dimension, can make the three dimensions of space seem less claustrophobic. Confidence in duration is the antidote to panic and the tonic of demagogy. A sense of the future has to be created in the present from what we know of the past, the fourth dimension built out from the three of daily life." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/16/hitlers-world-may-not-be-so-far-away

Fiction Picks

1984 by George Orwell

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Always Coming Home by Ursula LeGuin

The Windup Girl (2009) by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk

Alone in Berlin (1947) by Hans Fallada

Nonfiction Picks

Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning by Timothy Snyder

The View From Flyover Country: Essays by Sarah Kendzior

The Rebel by Albert Camus

Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel

The Captive Mind by Czesław Milosz

The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev

A Love Letter to Trump Supporters

In her latest essay, Sarah Kendzior, an anthropologist who has been studying authoritarian states for more than a decade, explains, "I wrote this for the Trump supporters who are my neighbors. I wrote this for the USA."

She tells Trump supporters, "I am writing this not for those who oppose him, but for those who support him, because Trump and his backers are going to hurt you too. I live in Missouri, now a bright red state, alongside you. I have faced the same economic misery as you, struggling to stay afloat since the recession, which never ended though many falsely claimed it did. I have the same anxiety over crime and racial tension and corrupt leadership as you. I am an independent, not a Democrat or a Republican, because I am as disappointed in political parties as you.

I am writing down my own good memories, and some of them are with you...You do not deserve what is going to happen to you, and I do not deserve what is going to happen to me, because there is absolutely no one in the world who deserves what may be coming...You can look to the president-elect himself for a vision of what is to come. He has told you his plans all along, though most chose to downplay or deny them...

Authoritarianism is not merely a matter of state control, it is something that eats away at who you are. It makes you afraid, and fear can make you cruel. It compels you to conform and to comply and accept things that you would never accept, to do things you never thought you would do.

You do it because everyone else is doing it, because the institutions you trust are doing it and telling you to do it, because you are afraid of what will happen if you do not do it, and because the voice in your head crying out that something is wrong grows fainter and fainter until it dies. That voice is your conscience, your morals, your individuality. No one can take that from you unless you let them. They can take everything from you in material terms – your house, your job, your ability to speak and move freely. They cannot take away who you truly are. They can never truly know you, and that is your power.

My heart breaks for the United States of America. It breaks for those who think they are my enemies as much as it does for my friends...We are heading into dark times, and you need to be your own light. Do not accept brutality and cruelty as normal even if it is sanctioned...If you are brave, stand up for others. If you cannot be brave – and it is often hard to be brave – be kind."

Read the entire essay here: https://thecorrespondent.com/5696/were-heading-into-dark-times-this-is-how-to-be-your-own-light-in-the-age-of-trump/1611114266432-e23ea1a6

Terrorealismus, Kendell Geers (2003, Switzerland)

Silver City, Nevada Featured in Western Rural Development Magazine

Silver City, Nevada, a community located in the historic Comstock region near Virginia City, was highlighted in the Fall 2016 issue of Rural Connections, a publication of the Western Rural Development Center. The magazine is published to inform the nation on timely research and activities by the West’s land-grant institutions and regional/national agencies as it relates to rural development issues in the West. Contributors include researchers, faculty, Extension researchers, specialists and agents, practitioners, and professionals from throughout the West. To read the rest of the articles in the magazine, follow the link below, or scroll down and click on the images to enlarge the images and read the two page feature on Silver City:

http://wrdc.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/pub__606284.pdf

PHOTO FROM WESTERN RURAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Silver City Newsletter, Summer and Fall 2016

This Silver City newsletter includes a list of upcoming Silver City events, news about the recent Nevada Supreme Court hearing, a link to the results of a recent Silver City town survey, summaries of the annual summer program in Silver City, links to articles about the first big concert at Silver City’s new outdoor stage, and articles about the Resident Artist Program in Silver City.

Fall Events:

Mary MacDonald Memorial Sept 24th: There will be a memorial service for Mary MacDonald, a long time Silver City resident who loved flowers, music, art and beautiful food, at the Silver City School House on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 1pm. Please bring a potluck dish, memories and any photos you'd like to share. Obituary: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/obituaries/24012344-113/mary-cerstvik-macdonald

Acoustic Music Jam Saturday, September 24 from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. If the weather is good, it will be held in the park on the new Silver Pavilion outdoor stage, but if not, it will be in the School House. Bring your instruments and jam. This Silver City Arts event is held on the 4th Saturday of each month. Follow Silver City Arts here: https://www.facebook.com/Silver-City-Arts-618872294885649/

Silver City Advisory Board Applications: Anyone interested in serving on the Advisory Board for the town can go to the Lyon County website to find an application. The next Advisory Board meeting is on Tuesday, October 4 at 7:00 pm at the School House. More about the Advisory Board here: http://www.lyon-county.org/221/Silver-City-Town-Advisory-Board

Oct Silver City Arts group meeting: Thursday, October 13 at 7 p.m. under the trees in the park if the weather holds, otherwise, meet in the School House. Agenda: discussion of possible winter exhibition of paintings by local artist Larry Kotik. FAQ about Silver City Arts here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/silver-city-arts/what-does-silver-city-arts-do/915220355250840

Concert at the School House with Rick Shea and also The Good Intentions on Sunday, October 16, 2016. Doors open at 4 pm, Show at 5 pm. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/516376968532976/

News:

Silver City Town Survey Report Now on Lyon County Website: Silver City Town Advisory Board Chair Erich Obermayr writes, "I am very happy to announce that the Silver City Town Survey is now available on the Lyon County website. On behalf of the Advisory Board, and the Silver City community, I want to express our special thanks and appreciation to County staff and the Commissioners for helping to make our survey a success." The Silver City Citizen Advisory Board undertook a town survey for the purpose of providing the Advisory Board with information about the community, and the issues and concerns important to residents. The survey can be found here: http://www.lyon-county.org/DocumentCenter/View/7129

Comstock Residents’ Association vs. Lyon County Board of Commissioners: Joe McCarthy of the Comstock Resident’s Association said of the Sept 14th hearing with the Nevada Supreme Court that the “Supreme Court oral arguments were an inspiring display of judicial excellence. A significant number of Silver City folks showed up, filling up the room. Daan Eggenberger, Kate Marshall, Bob Fulkerson, John Hadder and others were all in the house, plus numerous UNR students, and several Reno attorneys serving as observers. The justices were gracious, funny and engaging. It was a first class event. Incredibly transparent, open, educational and uplifting. Lawyers from both sides were professional and well prepared. Our attorney, John Marshall, was exceptional. He was flat out outstanding and we're grateful to have him arguing for our side. Even if the outcome of the court ruling is not in our favor, the Comstock Residents Association will continue to explore every legal avenue to head off further desecration of the beautiful Virginia City National Historic Landmark and the vibrant communities of Gold Hill and Silver City with industrial scale mining where it doesn't work or belong.” A decision is expected in one to two months. More about the case in this RGJ article: http://www.rgj.com/story/news/local/mason-valley/2016/09/21/court-panel-hears-oral-arguments-comstock-residents-case-county/90797206/

Silver City Has a New Outdoor Performance Stage: The “Silver Pavilion” Inaugura- Palooza concert on August 20th was a big success with at least 150 folks from near and far in attendance during the 6 hour event. The festival style public event was held to celebrate the much anticipated addition of a new outdoor stage to the region’s arts and music scene. Continuing the long tradition of live music on the Comstock, the new “Silver Pavilion” in the Park will serve as a center for live music and performing arts in a beautiful high desert setting. The event was reviewed in the RGJ, the Mason Valley News, the Nevada Appeal, the Comstock Chronicle, Carson NOW, and This is Reno, as well as Nevada Travel Network News. More about the stage and the concert: http://nevadaweb.com/travelnetnews/new-stage-in-silver-city-adds-to-comstocks-live-music-and-theater-venues/

Comstock Photographs and Stories in Oct 2017 Haldan Art Gallery Exhibition at Tahoe: Internationally acclaimed photographer Frances Melhop writes, "thanks to the Resident Artist Program in Silver City I was awarded a residency in August in order to complete a project that has been in progress for 3 years. The Comstock Portrait Project. The Resident Artist Program in Silver City is a privately funded arts and community project run and supported by Quest Lakes and Theo McCormick. McCormick’s father, the well known Nevadan print maker and installation artist Jim McCormick, built the series of geodesic domes to live and work in in the early 1970s. It is a hobbit house in the desert! For a week I photographed locals in the historic school house studio with the help of Quest, who is a programming and scheduling magician, Mary Works Covington, film maker, who recorded stories from the portrait subjects, and 3 amazing interns, (Ava Covington, Marielle Toll, and Cora Jeffreys). I can’t thank all of you enough! Deep into the night I was editing and listening to the hours of recordings. Amazing stories and recollections of the Comstock in the 60s and 70s to present day." To view some of the photogaphs by Frances and the interns, go to Frances’ website:
http://www.frances-melhop.com/news/

PHOTO BY MARY WORKS COVINGTON

Silver City Summer Program 2016: With collaboration among many groups, the annual free summer program included free events for children, teens and adults. Events included a United Way fun fair for preschoolers and their parents with a theme of literacy; hands-on engineering activities with the Society of Women Engineers and science experiments with University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Jim Barcellos; and a children’s bicycle safety rodeo with Western Safe Routes to Schools. For teens and adults, the summer included a reading by poet Shaun Griffin from his new memoir and a pop-up exhibit and reception for local artist Karen Kreyeski's "Women's Project: The Gift" (both sponsored by Silver City Arts), a music seminar with guitarist Mylo McCormick, dance lessons with Jessica Sanford of Earlham College, an illustration workshop with London-based artist Claire Scully and an embroidery workshop artist Stewart Easton of the United Kingdom (sponsored through the Resident Artist Program). Also, the ship art piece made by Oakland artist Scott MacLeod in collaboration with Silver City residents was on display all summer at St. Mary’s Art Center in Virginia City. More here: http://nevadatravel.net/travelgram/wp/index.php/silver-city-correspondence-june-2016/

Poet Dave Lee, his wife Jan and their dog Jax are staying at McCormick House in Silver City from Aug-Dec 2016 while Dr. Lee teaches a graduate level poetry class at UNR. He'll also be offering a free poetry workshop and reading in Silver City in the Fall or Winter (dates TBD - those events are sponsored through the Resident Artist Program in Silver City with additional support through Healthy Communities Coalition). Utah's first poet laureate, Lee has been a boxer, pig farmer, seminary student, cotton mill worker, and a baseball player. He’s received the Utah Governor’s Award for lifetime achievement in the arts and the Entrada Institute’s Ward Roylance Award, and was also considered as a candidate for Poet Laureate of the U.S. His book Last Call was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. The Utah Endowment for the Humanities declared him to be one of the 12 greatest writers to ever emerge from the state. Dr. Lee is enjoying his time in Silver City, and had these remarks about hiking above Silver City and hearing music from the town's new outdoor stage (during CRA's rummage sale): "I hiked a long way yesterday. Way up. Almost to the point where I could look over and be looking down at VC. Way way up there I heard the music... One of the best concerts I've ever heard in my life....It was a moment of epiphany for me. I sang along with Tumbling Tumbleweeds, deliriously, off key and viva voce and when we finished, all together, in fact, I stayed still for a while, seconds, maybe minutes, time was suspended, and when I came back there were 3 jackrabbits almost within spitting distance of me, staring at me, all, and I could hear them wondering Who and what in the world is this? and 2 hawks directly overhead screeing, and I came back and then walked away, down, and the jackrabbits did not move, and the hawks, for a short way, lead the way, singing. Glory."

Comstock Residents Association’s Rummage Sale and BBQ: The annual Labor Day weekend event to raise funds to preserve the historic landmark was very successful, with music on the new outdoor stage adding spice. CRA kindly donated left over items to the Dayton Food Pantry, the Silver Stage Little Free Library, the Silver City Volunteer Library, the annual Walk in Memory, Walk for Hope suicide prevention event, and other nonprofits. More here: http://carsonnow.org/reader-content/08/29/2016/big-comstock-rummage-sale-and-bbq-live-music-benefits-historic-preservatio

Articles

Silver City has been in the news quite a bit lately. Below are links to a few of the articles:

The Resident Artist Program was featured in the Arts Section of the Reno News and Review! “Rural Retreat” was written by Kris Vagner: https://www.newsreview.com/reno/rural-retreat/content?oid=21873439

The Silver Pavilion: >A review of the first big concert at the Silver Pavilion was included in print and online news in Reno, Carson City, Virginia City, etc. Below are links:

http://thisisreno.com/calendar/silver-citys-new-stage-adds-comstocks-live-music-performing-arts-venues/

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/23674524-113/story.html

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/local/leader-courier/2016/08/16/silver-city-celebrates-pavilion-inaugura-palooza/88872420/

http://nevadaweb.com/travelnetnews/new-stage-in-silver-city-adds-to-comstocks-live-music-and-theater-venues/

Articles about the Comstock Resident’s Associations annual Rummage Sale and concert:

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/local/leader-courier/2016/08/29/labor-day-rummage-sale-benefits-comstock-preservation/89554318/

http://carsonnow.org/reader-content/08/29/2016/big-comstock-rummage-sale-and-bbq-live-music-benefits-historic-preservatio

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/23674890-113/story.html

Articles about the Summer Program

http://nevadatravel.net/travelgram/wp/index.php/silver-city-correspondence-june-2016/

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/sports/22201904-113/story.html

http://carsonnow.org/reader-content/08/02/2016/bike-safety-rodeo-kids-tuesday-august-9th

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/22940991-113/silver-city-hosting-free-engineering-activities-for-children

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/local/leader-courier/2016/06/17/science-fun-kids-june-21-silver-city/86052398/

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/local/leader-courier/2016/06/17/science-fun-kids-june-21-silver-city/86052398/

http://arts4nevada.org/opportunities/15/07/2016/narrative-stitching-workshop-london-based-artist-stewart-easton

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/sports/22836520-113/story.html

New Titles at Silver City's Volunteer Library

Silver City, Nevada- There are lots of new titles at the Silver City Volunteer Library. We've rotated the collection, bringing many from the downstairs collection, and adding completely new titles donated by the Comstock Residents Association from their delightful annual rummage sale. Below are a few of the new titles:

Nonfiction

Enoteca: Simple, Delicious Recipes in the Italian Wine Bar Tradition by Joyce Goldstein

The Glass Pantry: Preserving Seasonal Flavors

The Art Lovers Cookbook: A Feast for the Eye

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff

My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard

Getting into the ACT: Official Guide to the ACT

Fiction

Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner

El viejo y el mar by Ernest Hemingway

Red Dust by Gillian Slovo- Review: "This remarkable exposition of a Truth Commission amnesty hearing in a backwater South African town underscores that "the full truth" is more complex than court transcript or verdict can ever reveal. South African police brutally tortured and murdered at will in their unfettered efforts to crush the "terrorist" acts of black rebels against apartheid. Now those rebels occupy the higher branches of government while the offending policemen are imprisoned... Amnesty hearings are meant to bring closure to the violent period that ended apartheid by forgiving crimes by former officials, where possible. But this powerful novel — full of legal and emotional twists and turns—strips bare the torment forever ingrained in victim and jailer alike, a torment that runs through all segments of post-apartheid society."

Mysteries

The Dante Club by Matt Pearl: " Set amidst a series of murders in the American Civil War era, it also concerns a club of poets, including such historical figures as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., and James Russell Lowell, who are translating Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy from Italian into English and who notice parallels between the murders and the punishments detailed in Dante's Inferno."

Poetry

Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens

Blood Sister, I am to These Fields by Linda Hussa

Young Readers

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (Sci-fi)

Valley of Secrets by Charmain Hussey- Review: "Stephen Lansbury, an English orphan who has never known his relatives, receives an amazing inheritance from his great-uncle. Now he owns an estate called Lansbury Hall in Cornwall. He must meet the conditions of the will in order to inherit the property: leave the grounds and house as they are, never invite anyone to visit, and never share the results of his Great-Uncle Theodore's research...Stephen discovers and shares Great-Uncle Theodore's long-ago adventures on the Amazon River by reading his travel journals. In fact, Stephen is soon convinced that reading his uncle's journals will unlock the mystery of his new home. But will it also somehow give him the money he'll need to keep Lansbury Hall?"

Children's Titles

Diez Deditos: Play Rhymes of Latin America

Ready to Read by Rosemary Wells

And dozens and dozens more...

Scott MacLeod's "Spectacularly Unsuccessful Writer's Residency" in Silver City, Nevada

Following is Scott MacLeod's beautifully written summary of his time at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City in the Spring of 2016. Photo credits: Scott MacLeod and Quest Lakes:

"Well, this has been a spectacularly unsuccessful writer's residency. I came to Silver City to isolate myself and write about some of the more exciting moments of my past, but I ended up just creating yet more exciting moments in the present.

Instead of being able to hole up in McCormick House and ignore a bleak, wintery locale populated by aloof eccentrics, I found myself in the middle of an emerging springtime, drawn into lively interactions with fascinating, generous residents who were eager to talk with me, show me around, and help me accomplish what became my overriding obsession: to build as many found-object sailing ship sculptures/models as I could in the six weeks I was here.

Together with about a dozen local full-time, part-time and occasional collaborators, I built the USS Silver Clipper, a three-masted schooner that is a gift from its makers to the City of Silver. I hope that it brings pleasure when you view it here and pride when it's exhibited in other locations next year.

Alone, I built another three-masted schooner that I eventually decided to name the USS Bob McKinney, because that's what these kinds of namings are supposed to do: help us remember people and events that, for one reason or another, should not be forgotten. One week before I left, with the generous help of a neighbor, I "sailed" that ship up into the hills and set it free to wander (metaphorically) the landscape that sheltered Bob McKinney for years. That neighbor shall remain nameless, to protect against curious inquiries about that ship's location.

I also half-built a third ship, the USS Peter W. Blethen, named after my good friend from college days in Colorado. Pete made a good life for himself in Minnesota, with lots of kids and grandkids, but died too young, ie. 60, ie. my age, of brain cancer. Again, the making and naming are essentially acts of loving and remembering. I will bring this ship back home to Oakland CA and finish it there this summer.

I'd built a couple of these sailing ship things before but hadn't realized how apt and adaptable this type of project would be in this type of situation. I'm now looking forward to trying to build ships together with other people in other places. Though it will be hard to find other places with as much readily-available crap - I mean: raw materials - as Silver City, and probably harder to find other places with people as interesting and generous as those who worked with me here these past six weeks.

PHOTO OF FRED SWANSON

I also got inspired to start a new but related project: I started making ghost towns and putting them up in the hills. The shacks and cabins and forts that make up these ghost towns are land-locked cousins of the sailing ships; they are not accurate or exactly to scale, but are somewhat abstract, ramshackle sculptures that hopefully evoke the forlorn mystique of a bygone world of people not entirely unlike us: eccentric, generous, tragic, joyful, alive and, eventually, dead and forgotten.

Our own pasts and presents overlap and intertwine with those of everyone we meet, sometimes creating confusion as contradictory desires and fears and points of view clash. The current state of live, streaming technology is allowing all of us, world-wide, to clash and fear and be confused all day long over the internet, without giving us many resources for resolving those anxieties and antagonisms. I treasure my time spent in Silver City partly because it will always remind me how valuable and satisfying it is to work together with others, strangers in the morning and comrades by evening, face to face and shoulder to shoulder in common cause. Just for the sheer pleasure of it really. I thank all of you, even those of you I didn't meet, for making Silver City a special place and I wish you all the best in the future and in the everlasting present.

Scott MacLeod

Thank you:

Quest Lakes, Fred Swanson, Theo McCormick, Molly Allander, Las Swanson, Susie Crowley, Cyndy Etchegoin, Sheree Rose, Theo McCormick, Johne Behner, Mylo McCormick, Renate Victor, Karen Kreyeski, Bob Elston, Henry Park, Matt Elms, Greg Melton, Will Rose, Cashion Callaway, Lila Lindsay, Brittanie Mullings, Sharon Rosse, Glenn Clemmer, Chad Sorg, Bill Burnaugh/Capitol City Loans, Tony/Nifty Thrifty, Healthy Communities Coalition & the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, St. Mary's Art Center, and Marielle Toll.

Acclaimed Photographer Frances Melhop at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City in August 2016

Silver City, Nevada - Narrative, story-telling visual artist Frances Melhop, voted “One of the World's 200 Best Advertising Photographers 2009/2010″ by Luerzers Archive, will bring her skills and talents to the Resident Artist Program in Silver City this summer. She'll set up a temporary studio at the Silver City School House during August 2016, photographing some of the Comstock’s longtime residents for a 2017 exhibition at the Haldan Art Gallery at Tahoe. As part of the project, portrait subjects are also able to record personal or Comstock stories to accompany their photos. Silver City native Mary Works Covington, known for her film Rockin’ at the Red Dog and for her work as assistant sound and/or dialog editor for films such as Titanic, Saving Private Ryan and The English Patient, will provide technical assistance with the recordings.

Based in Australia for a decade, then in Milan, Italy for the next decade, Frances is well known in Europe and the South Pacific as a creator of extraordinary and unique imagery in the fashion and advertising arena. Her photographs have appeared in European magazines such as Vogue Italia, Vogue France, British Vogue, and Glamour, to Face, ID, Purple, Marie Clarie Italia, Elle, Vogue Pelle, Vogue Gioello, and D della Repubblica.

Photographs from Frances' fairytale inspired series- which she describes as "an imaginary world of tall-tales, dreams, games of scale, surreality and story-telling" - have been exhibited in Paris, Cannes, Rome, Albuquerque, Virginia City, Reno, etc.

Now living in Nevada, Frances has continued to produce outstanding work on the Comstock and beyond, including portraits of Virginia City residents, and panoramic portraits of the Burning Man arts and music festival. She explains that as a resident of Nevada for the last 5 years, her attention has turned to "portraiture and its geographical and biographical content."

Born in New Zealand, Frances attended the University of Canterbury where she studied Psychology, German language, Philosophy and Political Science, then the Sydney Institute of Technology, Australia where she studied technical photography for three years. With courses soon to be completed at the University Nevada Reno School of Fine Art, she plans to teach at the university level in the U.S.

"Frances has also been the inspiration for the design of the visiting artist program here in Silver City," said Quest Lakes, director of the resident artist program in Silver City. "While director at St. Mary's Art Center in Virginia City, Northern Nevada Development Authority named Frances "Innovator of the Year" within a 5 county region. The well-deserved award stemmed from her extraordinary work through the Art Center. She introduced new talent to the region, showcased Nevada artists, and found grants and donations for programming, artists and restoration of the historic building. During her time at St. Mary's, she revitalized the Art Center with a new website, a high quality Resident Artist program, and curation of more than 30 exhibitions each year. She's a role model for some of the things my husband [Theo McCormick] and I would like to develop at the Program in Silver City."

What is the Resident Artist Program? A multi-faceted visiting artist program is developing in the small but vibrant community of Silver City, providing a venue for those from other parts of the U.S. and the world to engage with the community and the region through the arts. Silver City is located on the Comstock, within one of the nation's largest federally designated historic landmarks. Recently declared an "Arts and Culture Resources Production Center," Silver City is already home to a surprising number of Nevada's highly productive artists, musicians, photographers, writers, actors, artisans, historians, and archaeologists. Those creating in the performing, visual, media, or literary arts are being invited to reside for up to 4 months at McCormick House, a geodesic dome designed in the 1970s by Nevada artist Jim McCormick. As part of the residency, visiting artists offer free public performances, exhibitions, readings, workshops, etc. for the Northern Nevada community.

Acknowledgments: The project is sponsored through the Resident Artist Program of Silver City, with added assistance from photography interns Marielle Toll, Cora Jeffreys, and Ava Covington, and additional support from Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey.

Look What You're Missing!

Silver City, Nevada-For a town of less than 200 souls, the historic community of Silver City offers a remarkably rich variety of free, public events for all ages. Below are photos of some of the events that have been offered June through July 2016. Watch for announcements about future events at the bulletin board at the Post Office in Silver City, on the bulletin boards at the Silver City School House, and in Northern Nevada Newspapers and Silver City groups Facebook pages.

A summer full of free events kicked off with the Silver City Arts group hosting a reading by Shaun Griffin from his new memoir Anthem for a Burnished Land. Shaun is not only one of the West's highly admired poets, he's also been a great friend to rural communities across Nevada through his work as director of the social justice agency Community Chest Inc. He'll be reading from his memoir, a vivid record of his life in Nevada that describes the state's spectacular scenic beauty, and efforts by he and his wife Deborah Loesch Griffin to bring about social change.

Silver City Arts hosts acoustic music jam sessions on the 4th Saturday of each month from 3pm-5pm. This summer, the dates are June 25, July 23 and August 27. If you like to sing, or you play a musical instrument, or if you simply enjoy music, come to the Silver City School House.

In June, Mylo McCormick offered slide guitar demo for adults and teens. Now living in Carson City, emerging artist Mylo McCormick was born in Silver City, Nevada. Today he's lead guitarist with Mo'z Motley Blues, a Tahoe/ Carson Valley/Reno area "rockin' bluesy funky dance band" that performs everything from originals to covers of Jimi Hendrix, Patsy Cline, Elle King, Dwight Yoakam, James Brown, Meghan Trainor, Prince, Van Morrison, etc.

As part of the Resident Artist Program in Silver City's support for young emerging artists, 16 year old Mylo McCormick facilitated a music seminar for teens in June. Youths from Northern Nevada were selected for merit-based scholarships to attend the 3-day seminar at McCormick House. Participants shared their favorite music, including their own, and discussed issues connected with trends and compositional techniques over dinner. With instruments available at the seminar, plus their own, they had a chance to try free improvisation. The end product was a collaborative creation of an original composition.

On July 6th Silver City Arts presented Karen Kreyeksi's The Women's Project: The Gift at the Silver City School House. Kreyeski's exhibition featured paintings of women from Lyon and Storey communities.

London-based artist Claire Scully's well-attended illustration workshop in July focused on visual semantics and semiology, the signs and symbols people use to visually communicate an idea. Scully is a senior lecturer at Brighton University in London who has also been working as a freelance illustrator since graduating with a Masters in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in 2006, with an ever expanding client list including the New York Times, The Guardian, penguin books, Random House, National Maritime Museum, Adidas, etc. Some of her incredible drawings are on view at an exhibition at University of Nevada Reno Galleries July through September 2016. Visit the Sheppard Contemporary gallery at UNR Monday through Thursday 1pm-4pm to see her work.

Jessica Sanford offered dance lessons and progressive relaxation exercises in July. She studied dance and social work at Indiana State University and teaches dance at Earlham College Wellness Center in Richmond, Indiana. With a Masters in Social Work from Indiana University, Sanford is also Director of Earlham College Counseling Services.

For Newcomers: WELCOME TO HISTORIC SILVER CITY, NEVADA!

Silver City: Fascinating Past, Vibrant Present

Silver City is located within one of the nation's largest federally designated historic landmarks, just 4 miles from Virginia City, 12 miles from Nevada's capital (Carson City), and 30 miles from Reno and from Lake Tahoe. The town's irreplaceable historic buildings and sites, and its crystal clear views of the Sierras and the Comstock, attract visiting plein air painters and photographers from near and far.

Where do I find out what’s going on in Silver City? Local events are usually posted at the US Post Office in Silver City on the bulletin board next to the service window. Town advisory board and other agendas are posted on the post office bulletin board, and also at other spots in Silver City such as the bulletin boards at the School House/Community Center. Events announcements and articles about Silver City can also be found frequently in the Nevada Appeal; the Mason Valley News; I Love Carson City (Facebook); CarsonNow.org, the Reno Gazette Journal; silvercityreads.blogspot.com; and arts4nevada.org. Also check The Save Silver City website, which offers information about Silver City and the challenges it faces with regard to mining. The site provides updates tracking legal, political, and regulatory mining developments, in addition to basic information about Silver City, its residents and history.
SaveSilverCity.org

Direct Services such as food banks, housing assistance, senior services,utilities, etc: see Lyon County's 2017 resource guide for the region:
http://www.lyon-county.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/5966

Also, follow all of the groups below for information about their organizations and/or town events:

The Silver City Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1863. More here: http://www.silvercityfiredepartment.org/

The Save Silver City website offers info about Silver City and the challenges it faces with regard to mining. The site provides updates tracking legal, political, and regulatory mining developments, in addition to basic information about Silver City, its residents and history. SaveSilverCity.org

“Silver City Neighbors” - Quest Lakes' new weekly Mason Valley News column on local news, events, history, and trivia.

The Silver City Town Advisory Board normally meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 pm at the Silver City School House (Community Center) located at 385 High Street, Silver City. Recently, the Lyon County Board of Commissioners, rather than residents of Silver City, began making the final decision regarding who is appointed to the Silver City Town Advisory Board.

Silver City Town Survey 2016 In 2016, a town survey with residents’ detailed responses to a broad range of questions, with brief overview of the community’s past and present, was completed and presented to county commissioners. The survey can be found here:

http://www.lyon-county.org/documentcenter/view/7129

The Silver City School House (community center) use/scheduling is managed by the Silver City Historic Preservation Society (SCPS), a non-profit group created by residents of Silver City. The school house is the center of many community dinners, holiday events, and art, music, poetry, and science events throughout the year. The building's maintenance, heating, cooling, etc is maintained by Lyon County. More here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Silver-City-School-House/1511886055743937

The Silver Pavilion Outdoor Performance Venue: Silver City offers live music and other public performances on the new outdoor stage in the Silver City Park during warm months. For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/TheSilverPavilion/

Silver City Organic Community Garden and Compost: A dedicated group of local volunteers keep the beautiful garden thriving. Located across from the School House. Summer 2016 was the garden's 8th growing season! It is listed as a true "people's garden" by the USDA.

Silver City Arts group is composed of local volunteers who organize free public programming in arts and culture throughout the year, including fine art and photography exhibits, artisan shows, lectures, poetry readings and displays, music performances, and more. They've hosted pop-up shows with internationally known artists like Nes Lerpa of Denmark, as well as shows highlighting the many skills and talents of local residents. For instance, the arts group's Nevada 150 Exhibit, an official state endorsed event for the Nevada Sesquicentennial, featured work by locals such as Jean LeGassick, Karen Kreyeski, Larry Wahrenbrock, Jeff Nicholson, Larry Kotik, Julie LaCroix, and many others.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Silver-City-Arts/618872294885649

US Post Office in Silver City was established in 1860 and includes historical photos of Silver City, a special collections display case with changing displays, and a community bulletin board where you’ll find posts about local events. Collections displayed have featured publications by Silver City residents; artifacts and art from Silver City; photos from the annual children’s program in Silver City; photos and artifacts from the Comstock Cemetery Foundation, including Silver City's historic cemetery; antique toys of local residents; music by past and present Silver City residents, etc.

Silver City Summer Program: Silver City launched the popular summer series of arts and science activities for youths in the Comstock region in 2003 (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) programming). Over the years public programming for adults has also been added. The program is an example of multi-sector partnerships, with work and/or funding contributions from many Silver City volunteers and donors, nonprofits like Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey, county departments such as Lyon County Parks, Buildings and Grounds, and many regional groups, such as University Nevada Cooperative Extension, Western Safe Routes to Schools, Society of Women Engineers, the D.G. Menchetti Young Shakespeare Program, United Way, Resident Artist Program in Silver City, Silver City Arts, etc. Contact Quest Lakes at Healthy Communities for more info: 287-7598 or see healthycomm.org.

Resident Artist Program in Silver City: Those creating in the performing, visual, media, or literary arts are invited to apply to the Program. Inquiries: quest@theodata.com. Silver City was recently declared an "Arts and Culture Resources Production Center" due to the high output of visual art, music, publications, and historic preservation resources by residents over the last 50 years. The Resident Artist Program provides an opportunity for artists from other regions of Nevada, or from other states or other countries, to reside in the town at Resident Artist guest housing for periods of up to 4 months, in exchange for offering free public performances, exhibitions, workshops, etc. in the northern Nevada community. Visiting artists have included New Zealand-based artist Sophie Scott (Fall of2015 and Fall of 2017); multi-disciplinary artist Brian Schorn of Michigan; widely exhibited and published writer and artist Scott MacLeod of Oakland (spring 2016); London-based artists Stewart Easton and Claire Scully (summer 2016); internationally acclaimed photographer Frances Melhop (Aug. 2016); Utah’s first poet laureate, Dr. David Lee (Sept-Dec 2016 and May 2017); Danish writer Peter Krogh Andersen and Danish designer Christina Balsvardé (March 2017); the international cultural -research team Marksearch, which will come to Silver City after a 6 month project in Japan (visiting in both April 2017 and summer 2017); etc. The visiting artists are always quite prolific. For example, Brian Schorn created 22 mixed media assemblages while he was at the Resident Artist Program -those works were in a solo show at St. Mary's Art Center in August, and then on display in Reno at 50 West Liberty Street, and in a solo show at the Microsoft campus in Reno for 6 months in 2017. More info on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silvercitynevadaresidentartistprogram/

Silver City Volunteer Library is located within the Silver City School House/Community Center. It includes a collection of thousands of books, many sets of reference works, a large film collection, magazines, music CDs, 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 so that there is plenty of room for other uses upstairs. The collection is rotated every 3 to 4 months, and new arrivals are added each month so there are always new things on the shelves. Borrow on the honor system when the School House is open for meetings and events. The library has its own blog site with local news: http://silvercityreads.blogspot.com/

Silver City Cemetery, and the Comstock Cemetery Foundation: The Comstock Cemetery Foundation Board formally took up the responsibility of co-managing the historic Silver City Cemetery with Lyon County and welcomed a new representative from the Silver City community in 2009. The Comstock Cemetery Foundation, a non-profit organization, was established in the year 2000. The Operating Board comprises members of organizations represented within Virginia City, Silver City, and Gold Hill Cemeteries. More here: http://comstockcemetery.com/meetthefoundation.html

How Do I Find Community and Social Services For the Silver City Region? Check these resource guides online:

Lyon County Community Resource Guide 2017:
http://www.lyon-county.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/5966

Lyon, Carson, Douglas Region Family Resources: http://nv-douglascounty2.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/829

Short Overview of Past and Present Silver City, Nevada:

Below is a general overview about the past and present of Silver City from the rough draft of the 2016 Silver City, Nevada Town Survey document.

“During the 1960s, Silver City and the Comstock were portrayed, accurately or not, as a ghost town. New residents arrived to take advantage of vacant, low-cost property, alongside the remaining families who traced their tenure to Silver City’s mining days. This consummated Silver City’s change from a mining town to a residential or bedroom community, and reflected a similar change in the Comstock as tourism replaced mining as the economic driver of the region. The new arrivals also brought their own brand of activism, and a number of them and their family members continue to influence and participate in Silver City community life. The once-neglected buildings they refurbished are also among the most valuable residential properties in Silver City. The transformation of Silver City into a strictly residential community is long since complete, with residents either working from home or commuting to jobs in Reno, Carson City, and Dayton...(page 7).

Silver City’s population as of the 2010 Census was 180... Residents include a full range of white-collar and blue-collar workers, professionals, and retirees. Interestingly enough, a fair number of archaeologists and historians live in Silver City. In the 1980s, Intermountain Research (IMR), one of Nevada’s first Cultural Resource consulting firms, was based in Silver City. This attracted not only IMR staff but employees of other consulting firms, government agencies, and the Nevada State Museum.

Today, Silver City is home to several nationally and internationally recognized archaeologists and historians. Silver City also has a strong artistic and literary tradition, and includes several very prominent Nevada artists, along with writers, columnists, and the publisher of a local newspaper. Most recently, the town has established the Silver City Arts Group and an artist- in-residence program, which attracts visiting artists and coordinates exhibits and performances. The Silver City Advisory Board has declared Silver City an “Arts and Cultural Resources Production Center” in recognition of the town’s commitment to the arts.

Silver City’s sense and strength of community is widely acknowledged throughout Lyon County. Our relatively small population includes a high proportion of community minded citizens who have a strong sense of empowerment and civic responsibility. Silver City residents have served, and continue to serve, on the Lyon County School Board, Planning Commission, Citizen Advisory Board, Parks Board, and volunteer fire department.

The community has also been recognized for its activism and accomplishments on a number of occasions. In 1986, the American Planning Association gave the Silver City Residents Association its Outstanding Citizen Contribution to Planning in Nevada award for its successful opposition to the Nevex Gold Company open pit mine.

In 2007, the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office officially recognized Ron Reno and the Town of Silver City “For a remarkable effort, donated to excavate and document the Old School House.” In May, 2008, the Board of Lyon County Commissioners passed a resolution congratulating the citizens and community of Silver City’s “contribution towards the quality of life in the community through the completion of the Schoolhouse and subsequent dedication of the State Historical Marker 264.”

Silver City Town Survey 2016

Excellent, high quality work by the town advisory board resulted in a very useful document - the Silver City Town Survey 2016. When the full document is posted on the County's website, we'll provide a link. In the meanwhile, here are a few highlights from the DRAFT document:


"The Silver City Citizen Advisory Board undertook a town survey for the purpose of providing the Advisory Board with information about our town, how we see ourselves, and the issues and concerns important to us. The survey asked residents and property owners what they valued most about living in or owning property in Silver City; the status of these values; their opinion on development in Silver City; goals for the town; expectations regarding the Lyon County Land Use and Development Code and the Silver City Community Plan; and what additional issues concerned them. The surveys will be used by the Advisory Board in discussions and recommendations to the Lyon County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) regarding land-use policy and issues, including the Lyon County Land Use and Development Code (Title 15), the Silver City Community Plan, and any development projects within or near Silver City...


The survey begins by establishing how Silver City residents and property owners perceive themselves and their town. It asks what is important about living in Silver City, and
how residents and property owners assess the current state of these important elements. The survey asks respondents to evaluate more specific types of potential development in light of these broader concepts. It then asks for an expression of overarching goals, and concludes with questions aimed at examining official land use code, plans, and land usedecisions in light of Silver City’s values and goals... (page 66).

The Advisory Board learned from the Silver City Town Survey that: (page 66 -69 )

• Silver City has both a strong sense of community and a self-awareness of what it
means to be citizens in a community. This is shown by the number of residents and
property owners (close to half the adult residents) who took the time to respond to
a survey which asked not only for their opinions, but for written explanations of
those opinions.

• Silver City residents and property owners see this sense of community, the people
in the community, its physical setting, and “peace and quiet,” as the things they
value most about living in and owning property in Silver City.

• Residents and property owners see their community and its values as threatened,
primarily by mining development but also by Lyon County’s failure to protect the
community from this threat.

• Silver City residents and property owners are neither pro- nor anti-development.
They favor development when it is seen as appropriate for the community in nature
and size, and oppose it when it is seen as conflicting with the community, or
harmful to its setting and environment. Slow, small scale residential growth and
small, “mom and pop” businesses are seen as beneficial development. Mining and
industrial development are seen as harmful, with mining singled out as the most
threatening form of development.

• The overarching goal for Silver City residents and property owners is to maintain the
sense of community and quality of life, and to fend off mining and industrial
development. Other important goals include maintaining and improving
infrastructure and safety, and changing the town’s relationship with county
government.

• The residents and property owners of Silver City would like to see the Lyon County
Land Use and Development Code and the Silver City Community Plan further the
goals of maintaining the sense of community and quality of life.

• Finally, development issues aside, Silver City residents and property owners
recognize the importance of maintaining streets and proper drainage, improving
Silver City’s representation and relationship with county government, and a number
of other issues regarding the post office, community events, dogs, and weapons...

The Silver City Town Survey shows the advisory board should consider future residential and commercial projects in light of residents’ and property owners’ advocacy of slow paced, single family residential development and small scale, “mom and pop” commercial development. It also shows support for opposition on the part of theAdvisory Board to mining and industrial development projects within Silver City.

To the question, "Do you feel safe in Silver City": (page 59)

• Yes I feel safe from personal harm
• I feel very safe in Silver City.
• Yes.
• I do not have many fears about my safety from crime in Silver City.
• I’ve lived in Silver City since 1989 and never needed to lock my home or my cars – it
is a remarkably safe place to live.
• I feel safer in S.C. than in most places
• I have always felt safe in S.C.
• Yes. I feel safe.
• I feel very safe in Silver City.
• Mostly safe
• Yes
• I feel safe here.
• Yes and always I have felt safe, even though the; police [sheriff] and fire department
[CLCFD] don’t have a current and accurate mapping of town.
• Yes.
• Overall I feel safe in Silver City
• Yes I feel safe in Silver.
• Yes I feel safe
• For the most part, yes!
• Yes.
• Yes.
• Yes.
• Yes
• Yes
• Yes.
• I feel very safe in Silver City.
• Yes.
• Feel safe now.
• We have had no problems here for years (six or seven).
• Yes.
• No Opinion
• Yes, I feel safe.
• No threats.

July 12 Illustration Workshop with London Artist Claire Scully

Silver City, Nevada - London-based artist Claire Scully, known for her meticulous, nature-based illustrations, is one of 5 visiting artists this summer at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City. She’ll offer a workshop for adults and teens on July 12th from 10am – noon at the Silver City School House at 385 High Street.

The workshop will focus on visual semantics and semiology, the signs and symbols people use to visually communicate an idea.

In addition, some of Scully's incredible drawings are on view at an exhibition at University of Nevada Reno Galleries this summer. Visit the Sheppard Contemporary gallery at UNR Monday through Thursday 1pm-4pm to see her work.

Scully is a senior lecturer at Brighton University in London who has also been working as a freelance illustrator since graduating with a Masters in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in 2006, with an ever expanding client list including the New York Times, The Guardian, penguin books, Random House, National Maritime Museum, Adidas, etc. In her own work, Scully "draws upon a detailed love of the observed." Using photographs as a starting point, she creates a fantastical world with intensely detailed, beautiful drawings highlighting the natural patterns in the environment.

About Silver City and the Resident Artist Program: Silver City is located within a national historic landmark on the Comstock, 4 miles from Virginia City and 12 miles from Carson City. Recently declared an "Arts and Cultural Resources Production Center," Silver City is home to a surprising number of Nevada's artists, musicians, photographers, writers, actors, artisans, and other innovative thinkers and unique souls. And for a town of less than 200 souls, the historic community offers a remarkably rich variety of free, public events in the arts. For example, the Resident Artist Program hosts 5 visiting artists this summer who offer free programming in dance, music, photography, illustration, poetry, and embroidery. The Program provides a venue for those from other parts of the U.S. and the world to engage with the Northern Nevada community through the arts. Visiting artists reside in the community at the Resident Artist guest housing in exchange for offering free public performances, exhibitions, workshops, etc.

For more information about workshops offered by the Resident Artist Program, contact Quest Lakes at 847-0742

PHOTO BY FRANCES MELHOP

Silver City Nevada is an Art Town All Summer Long

For a town of less than 200 souls, historic Silver City, Nevada offers a remarkably rich variety of free, public events in the arts each summer. This summer, the season kicked off with a June 5th reading and book signing by acclaimed poet Shaun Griffin, followed by guitar lessons for adults and a music seminar for teens by musician Mylo McCormick later in June.

If you missed the first events, don’t despair. There will be many more arts events in July and August in Silver City.

July 6 Exhibition and Reception: On Wednesday, July 6th from 5pm to 8pm, Silver City Arts presents Karen Kreyeksi's The Women's Project: The Gift at the Silver City School House. The public is cordially invited to attend, enjoy appetizers, and take advantage of this last chance to view dozens of remarkable portraits of women from Storey and Lyon communities in one spot. Kreyeski's exhibition features paintings of women from Lyon and Storey towns. You'll recognize many of the faces. Kreyeski is a long time resident of Silver City who 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 be found in many private collections.

July 12 Illustration Workshop: London-based artist Claire Scully, known for her meticulous, nature-based illustrations, will offer a workshop for adults and teens on July 12th from 10am – noon at the Silver City School House. The workshop will focus on visual semantics and semiology, the signs and symbols people use to visually communicate an idea. Some of Scully's incredible drawings will be among the fine exhibitions at University of Nevada Reno Galleries this summer. Visit the Sheppard Contemporary gallery at UNR Monday through Thursday 1pm-4pm to see her work. Scully has been working as a freelance illustrator since graduating with a Masters in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in 2006, with an ever expanding client list including the New York Times, The Guardian, penguin books, Random House, National Maritime Museum, Adidas, etc. In her own work, Scully "draws upon a detailed love of the observed." Using photographs as a starting point, she creates a fantastical world with intensely detailed, beautiful drawings highlighting the natural patterns in the environment. Scully is one of 5 visiting artists this summer at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City.

PHOTO BY FRANCES MELHOP

July 26 Embroidery Workshop: Stewart Easton, an illustrator and embroiderer who hails from Coventry in the United Kingdom, will offer a workshop for adults and teens on July 26th from 10am – noon at the Silver City School House. His July 26th workshop will focus on narrative stitching, teaching participants how to design and stitch their own folkloric family stories. And during all of July, his unique work will be featured at Sierra Arts Foundation in Reno. On July 14th from noon to 1pm at Sierra Arts, there will be a "Lunchbox Lecture" with Easton, who will describe his conceptual framework and process as he gives a tour of his exhibition at Sierra Arts Gallery. On July 21st from 5pm-7pm, there will be a reception at Sierra Arts for Easton’s exhibition, with hors d'oeuvre by Wild River Grille. Working in thread, ink, paint and digital, Easton is a master of visual storytelling whose work "straddles the lines between Craft, Illustration and Fine Art. Using folk song and story as a starting point, Easton weaves story-based narratives, utilizing the space of a single panel to explore time, movement and transition within his tapestry based works." Easton is one of 5 visiting artists this summer at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City.

Dance: Jessica Sanford will offer dance lessons in July (time TBA). She studied dance and social work at Indiana State University and teaches dance at Earlham College Wellness Center in Richmond, Indiana. With a Masters in Social Work from Indiana University, Sanford is also Director of Earlham College Counseling Services. She recently returned from St. Kitts where she learned about Kittitian dance, a fascinating combination of historic African and European dances, such as the 17th Century French "Quadrille" and African dances with ancient roots. Sanford is one of 5 visiting artists this summer at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City.

August Photography Project: New Zealand -born photographer and illustrator Frances Melhop, voted “One of the World's 200 Best Advertising Photographers 2009/2010″ by Luerzers Archive, will bring her skills and talents to Silver City in August 2016. She'll set up a temporary studio, photographing some of the town's longtime residents for a future exhibition at the Haldan Art Gallery in Tahoe. Based in Australia for a decade, then in Milan, Italy for the next decade, Melhop is well known in Europe and the South Pacific as a creator of extraordinary and unique imagery in the fashion and advertising arena. Her photographs have appeared in European magazines such as Vogue Italia, Vogue France, British Vogue, Glamour, Marie Clarie Italia, Elle, Vogue Pelle, etc. Photographs from her fairytale inspired series- which she describes as "an imaginary world of tall-tales, dreams, games of scale, surreality and story-telling" - have been exhibited in Paris, Cannes, Rome, Virginia City, Reno, etc. Now living in Nevada, Melhop has continued to produce outstanding work on the Comstock and beyond, including portraits of Virginia City residents, and panoramic portraits of the Burning Man arts and music festival. Melhop is one of 5 visiting artists this summer at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City.

August 20 Concert in the Park: Save the Date - on August 20th, a concert and dedication event for the new Silver City outdoor performance stage will be held. Silver City will invite the public to join in celebrating the completion of a new outdoor performing arts stage that has been constructed in the town park this summer. Time and date for the dedication, concert, and other festivities to be announced.

2016 Poetry Workshop: While in Nevada teaching a graduate level course on poetry at University Nevada Reno, renowned poet David Lee, former poet laureate of Utah, will stay at McCormick House in Silver City and offer poetry workshops in the historic town (time TBA). Dr. David Lee, professor emeritus of language and literature of Southern Utah University, was named Utah’s first poet laureate in 1997. His doctorate degree is in literature with a concentration in the poetry of John Milton. Author of numerous poetry collections, he’s received many awards, including the Utah Governor’s Award for lifetime achievement in the arts and the Entrada Institute’s Ward Roylance Award. A former nominee for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, Lee was also considered as a candidate for Poet Laureate of the United States.

About Silver City: Recently declared an "Arts and Cultural Resources Production Center," Silver City 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. Silver City is located in Lyon County within one of the nation's largest federally designated historic landmarks, just 4 miles from Virginia City, 12 miles from Carson City, and 30 miles from Reno and Lake Tahoe. The town's irreplaceable historic buildings and sites, and its crystal clear views of the Sierras and the Comstock, attract visiting plein air painters and photographers from around the West.

Event Locations: All events take place at the Silver City School House or the adjacent Silver City Park at 385 High Street. Public arts programming in Silver City is offered through a number of groups, including the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, Silver City Arts group, Silver City Historical Preservation Society, Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey, Silver City Volunteer Library, and other groups.

For more information about art events, contact Quest Lakes at 847-0742, or see https://www.facebook.com/silvercitynevadaresidentartistprogram/