Sorry Nevada, it seems your time has come and gone. This makes us very sad, as we both fell in love with your amazing and inspirational landscape.
Trish and I are full time artists, which means we need to make ends meet though our art. We did indeed make ends meet when we first arrived in Nevada thirteen years ago, but the last few years haven’t worked out so well. We have noted that many of our artist friends are also experiencing similar issues. I think it has a lot to do with the state of this nation, but that’s another story. Neither one of us have a trust fund and obviously we’re not married to someone wealthy who can pay for our art supplies and monthly bills.
From our perspective, many of Nevada’s art organizations can barely support themselves and most do so on the backs of artists, the ones they should be supporting. We are always thrilled to hang a show, however these organizations put the financial responsibility on the artist for delivery of a gallery ready show. Do you have any idea what that costs? Not to mention how much we already have into our works (Education, time, materials, transportation, etc)? Think about it, it’s not cheap! Why do you always want something for free? Most of these galleries/organizations don’t actively work for the artist to make sales, it’s just entertainment for the public and putting their space in the limelight. Many of these galleries often have hours that are not conducive for folks to visit or are simply closed when they say they’re supposed to be open. We have had so many complaints from folks because they were unable to visit one of our exhibits. Exposure is always a good thing, but if they have weird hours, or a location that is difficult to find, what good is that? Artists need to make a living and sales are beneficial to both the artist and the hosting gallery. Years ago, most real galleries and arts organizations would compensate artists for hanging a show. This would help, as now days it’s always money out of our pockets, not theirs. We make these galleries/organizations look amazing, at our expense. The least they could do is work for us, too.
Many Nevada non profits ask us to make art donations, and we have gladly fulfilled their requests many times. While we both received lots of thank you’s, donations have never lead to a sale. It seems to only bring in more requests for art donations. Making an art donation takes time and money to create, frame and deliver. While we like supporting the organizations, our accountant scolds us for doing so. There’s something truly wrong with this lop sided picture…
Apologies for the rant, but folks need to understand that art takes time and money to create.
Please feel free to make comments, we would love to hear from you!
All images © 2018 Deon Reynolds
“7th Street” (1998)
“Diamond Mountain Sky” (2011)
“General Store” (2009)
“Eureka Angel” (2005)
“Snow On It” (2009)
“Two Headstones” (2011)
“Sky Angel” (2009)
“Main Street Cowboy” (2017)
“Walt’s Western Art” (2017)
“Alpine Hotel” (2016)
“No Trespassing” (2009)
“Hardware Store” (2017)
“End of the Road” (2013)
“Mobile Living” (2010)
“Little Trailer” (2010)
“No Outlet” (2013)
“Roper”, our largest mural to date is 9′ high and 22′ across (April 2018). It’s located at the rear of 310 Stewart Street in Carson City, Nevada (not visible from Stewart Street). This image was created with a modified Kodak “Fun Saver Panoramic 35” disposable camera reloaded with Kodak Tri-X black & white film. The panoramic crop is created within the camera, so the negative is really quite small. Yet, I find the quality of this image to be nothing short of amazing, unless, of course you’re standing just a few feet away. At that point you’ll see the grain of the film and the wonderful flaws of a crappy plastic camera.
“Sorting” is another one of my disposable camera images, it’s 5′ x 13′. It is located in the alleyway behind the Western Folklife Center at 510 Railroad Street, Elko, Nevada. The image above was shot just after it was installed in November of 2016.
Same mural in August 2018 almost two years on, it is looking a bit tattered, but it’s deteriorating in such a splendid way, I can’t help but love this wheat paste more as it ages.
“Mustang Windmill” same camera, 5′ x 13′, was located in the alleyway behind the Carlin Trend Building in Elko, Nevada. It didn’t fare so well, as it got tagged shortly after it went up, but then, water from snow melt ran off the side of the building down the wall, mostly destroying the image all together. We removed it’s carcass after three short months.
“Roping”, 5′ x 7′ by Trish Reynolds was created using a 1920’s Kodak Brownie camera loaded with Ilford FP-4 120 film. This was the first large scale public art installation Trish and I collaborated on (Nov. 2016).
“Roping”, almost two years later, has taken on an entirely new look (August 2018).
The alleyway behind the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada (March 2017)
“Antelope Shute” 7′ x 7′ and “Horses at Potts” 7′ x 17′ Elko, Nevada (Feb. 2017).
“Horses at Potts” at 4th & Idaho in downtown Elko, Nevada. This site too, didn’t fare well, as the abandoned building doesn’t have gutters and the water (snow melt) from the roof pours off the side down the walls, making quick work of destroying the murals. Only a small amount of “Horses at Potts” is visible between political signs as of August 2018.
“Roper” is located at 310 Stewart Street, Carson City, Nevada. Look to the rear of this empty building. You’re looking at the mural from the Nugget’s #6 parking lot, just two blocks from the State Capitol.
With one of my many Kodak “Fun Saver Panoramic 35” disposable cameras.
I love how the concrete blocks show through the image in this detail.
One of the RV campers made this sign from a pizza box to make sure no one parked in the way of our installation…
The day prior to installation Trish and I showed up at the site to prep the wall. We brushed off the loose paint, rolled on TSP and sprayed it off with clean water.
I have a show entitled “COWBOYS” hanging at the Northwest Reno Library. Open January 5th through February 24th. You are invited to the closing reception from Noon to 1:00pm Saturday February 24th. Hope to see you there!
