By Petit Monstre Odyssey of the artist, a blank canvas is where you started  picked up a pen and the begin was actually the end of the old you,  dearly departed.  Now we have gathered here today not to lay rest to the soul but to set it free, strap on your seatbelt, things might get a lil unsettling.  Meddling in the affairs of the heart, effigies always rough when you start but just keep on moving,  hammer and chisel to chin and keep on smoothing,  oozing self love at every turn,  perusing creative outlets like  shopping racks at the outlets  I’m o ..read more

By Dustin Howard Photo by Dustin Howard. Reno has been my adopted home for six years now, and in those six years, I’ve developed a true love for the beauty of the untamed West and the drama of the natural landscapes around us. The history of our state, and indeed, our country, is a brutal one. We are born from war–even Nevada’s state motto, “Battle Born,” acknowledges this provenance. We live on stolen land and grow wealthy as people and a nation from its resources, and many people experienced great tragedies trying to scratch a living in this high desert. And yet, Nevada became a place of qu ..read more

By Donald M. Scott In April MGM+/Amazon Studio will begin filming a mini-series version of George R. Stewart’s ecological novel, Earth Abides—a milestone in the rediscovery of the pioneering ecological author who was inspired by Nevada. Earth Abides was recently re-printed with an Introduction by award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson, who wrote a fine summary of Stewart’s life and work. Similarly, 2023’s re-issue of Stewart’s Storm by the New York Review of Books Press (originally published in 1941) has an excellent Introduction by environmentalist author Nathaniel Rich. Doug Nichol, whose ..read more

By Sally Denton A year ago, I returned home to Nevada after many years in New Mexico. I came to Reno seeking answers to a serious health issue, and I found the medical specialists who helped save my life. I am a third-generation Nevadan born in Elko, raised in Boulder City, and educated at the University of Nevada, Reno. I laughingly tell my friends that I should call my memoir “Three Hundred Miles in Seventy Years”—from my birthplace in Elko to my end-of-the-trail home in Reno. I am better now and grateful for every day of wellness. Photo courtesy of Sally Denton, James Swinnerton’s artwork ..read more

By Ann M. Wolfe My colleague Pamela Chadwick and I were approaching Middlegate, headed east on Highway 50 to visit an artist in eastern Nevada. For at least a few years at this point, we had been immersed in research for the exhibition that would become Sagebrush and Solitude: Maynard Dixon in Nevada. Suddenly, Pam yelled, “Stop!” There it was, just north of the highway: Fairview Peak. The mountain was immediately recognizable as the one in Dixon’s 1935 painting, Elements of Nevada. Although Dixon left no documentation confirming the location, the visual evidence was undeniable. From left to ..read more

By Hue Chen Back in 2022, I got to meet Richard and Astrid, members of the Esmeralda High Desert Institute (EHDI) in Goldfield, Nevada. Astrid and I met online when I blurted out on a Nevada Arts Council discussion panel about how it’s important to just start making the community spaces you want to exist here in Nevada, even if you don’t know what you’re doing. Since then, Astrid and I have had a genuine and nurturing friendship, and even met up during the 2023 Basin to Range Exchange (BRX) conference hosted by the Nevada Arts Council in Ely. Together we dreamed up my artist residency at the ..read more

By Candace Garlock Dear Friend, I feel like I can call you my friend since you are reading this short letter that is now in your computer. As my friend, you will connect to my story of living in that “other” land, that space of illness that we all venture into during our lives; some for a short time, but for many it’s a permanent address. Susan Sontag, in  Illness as a Metaphor, wrote “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship in the kingdom of the well and the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for ..read more

By Jeannie Hua When you google “Lunar New Year,” you would see that for 2024, it’s February 10, when the first new moon of the lunar calendar year reveals itself to us. This is the Year of the Dragon based on the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. The holiday is popularized with dragon dances, firecrackers, gifting of red envelopes as well as meals including fish (the word for “fish” in Chinese sounds like the word “surplus”), puddings (symbolizing advancement), and dumplings (because they resemble gold ingots) with families. It’s a colorful, vibrant holiday that all cultures can relate to b ..read more

Por Genevy Machuca Hola a todos, mi nombre es Genevy Machuca y estoy encantada de compartirles el emocionante inicio de mi viaje de pasantía con Nevada Humanities. Como estudiante de primer año en la Universidad de Nevada, Reno, estudiando dos carreras, una en periodismo televisivo y la otra en español, mi camino hacia esta increíble oportunidad comenzó con una pasión por la poesía y hablar en público. Mi introducción a Nevada Humanities se produjo a través de su festival de poesía juvenil, Spark! Youth Poetry Competition, ”Spark” es celebrado anualmente en Las Vegas como parte del Las Vegas ..read more

By Emilee Wirshing Photo by Heather Lang-Cassera. you may have noticed something missing, an inventory of your guest rooms will tell you  someone kept a souvenir  and while your kind,  no-questions-asked policy of covering the shipping on the bronze stamped diamond tags is often an invitation to return them… my grandfather had no intention of giving back your keys; and why would he? He couldn’t reimburse the time spent in your unfamiliar sheets. I never met my father’s father, but I can picture him dapper in a secondhand gray flannel suit peddling the latest greatest whatever ..read more