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An internationally recognized artist who has studied lions for decades, John Banovich has created a body of work that is also an homage to these animals. King of Beasts features more than 30 artworks that explore questions about humankind’s deep fear, love, and admiration for these creatures. The exhibition spans nearly 25 years of work and assembles his body of work focused on African lions for the very first time. Join Banovich as he discusses his advocacy and love for these magnificent creatures.

*Doors open at 5 pm with a cash bar and book sales. Book signing to follow.

Drawing inspiration from Georgia O’Keeffe’s floral paintings, dramatic gestures and inspired lines, choreographer Eve Allen Garza presents Flower, Magnified a contemporary ballet. This short six minute ballet will be performed live followed by a presentation by Allen Garza that traces her creative process in drawing inspiration for movement from O’Keeffe’s artwork, persona and fashion. Following the presentation, visitors are invited to view the exhibition Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern. 

Eve Allen Garza is a dancer, dance educator and choreographer based in Reno.  She received her MFA in ballet from the University of Utah and BS in business administration with a dance minor from the University of Nevada, Reno. Allen Garza is the founder and director of the Downtown Dance Collective, a collaborative dance organization that aims to bring together local talent and present accessible performances to our community. Allen Garza performs locally with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre, Belle Contemporary Dance Company, and Rosie Trump | With or Without Dance. She has choreographed for Municipal Ballet Co. in Salt Lake City, the Nevada Opera, Sierra Nevada Ballet, and the University of Nevada, Reno.  Allen Garza is a lecturer for the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

Community-made murals elevate neighbor pride and revitalize public spaces. Join Mark Salinas, Arts & Culture Coordinator of Carson City, as he discusses his New York based non-profit 7Train Murals and how volunteerism can bring art and community together. 

Sponsor: The Art Bite series is supported by Nevada Humanities.

Reno launched into the 21st century on a wave of the economic, cultural, and technological currents that are reshaping American cities. But this is nothing new. Architect Alan Hess will explore how Reno took advantage of similar trends in the mid-20th century by creating its own unique Modern architecture that spread the fruits of those trends to all its citizens and visitors.

Alan Hess is an architect and historian and is the author of twenty books on Modern architecture and urbanism in the twentieth century; his subjects include John Lautner, Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Lloyd Wright, the Ranch House, Googie architecture, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs. He has been the architecture critic of the San Jose Mercury News, a contributor to The Architects Newspaper, grant recipient from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Clarence Stein Foundation, and a National Arts Journalism Program Fellow. He is a Commissioner on the California State Historical Resources Commission, and serves on the boards of Preserve Orange County and Palm Springs Modernism Week. Awards for his work conserving Modern architecture include the Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Docomomo/US’s Award of Excellence, and the President’s Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy. His newest book, “Hollywood Modern: Houses of the Stars,” was published by Rizzoli International last October. 

This program is presented by Reno Momo. 

Virtual reality is most commonly known for the role it plays in the gaming industry. However, virtual technologies are changing the way many of us explore and engage in the world. Join us for a discussion with Virtual Reality Specialist, Luka Starmer, and Digital Humanities Specialist, Laura Rocke, both from the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries’ Digital Media Technology department, and learn about ways in which virtual technologies can be applied in library and museum settings to engage patrons, make objects and places more accessible and aide in cultural preservation. Following the discussion, attendees are invited to experience virtual reality applications developed by the Digital Media Technology team.

Sponsor: The Art Bite series is supported by Nevada Humanities.

Nevada Humanities presents the Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl keynote event, featuring speaker Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir. 

In Heavy, Kiese Laymon writes eloquently and honestly about growing up a hard-headed, black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. A personal narrative that illuminates national failures, Heavy is defiant yet vulnerable, an insightful, often comical exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship, and family that begins with a confusing childhood—and continues through 25 years of haunting implosions and long reverberations. Heavy, shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal and the Kirkus Prize, was named one of the Best Books of 2018 by the New York Times and other publications. There will be a question and answer session following the reading and presentation, hosted by Dr. Nasia Anam. Heavy: An American Memoir is a 2019 Nevada Reads book. 

A book signing will follow the program. 

Laymon is the keynote speaker for the sixth annual Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl, which takes place on Saturday, September 14, throughout the California Avenue corridor.

For more information about the Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl and for the full schedule of events, visit nevadahumanities.org

This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. 

*Free admission to this program is sponsored by Nevada Humanities and the Nevada Museum of Art as part of the Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl

In 2017 artist Kellee Morgado along with a group of interdisciplinary graphic designers presented an exhibition “SEAM” designed to challenge and modify consumer behavior by altering unwanted clothing. Through screen printing, repairing and re-purposing clothing the group worked to transformed undesirable articles of clothing to pieces of value in a gallery setting. Join us as Morgado shares the observations on waste and consumption in the fashion industry as formed by the project “SEAM.” 

Following the talk, visitors are invited to view the exhibition “Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern.” O’Keeffe’s signature style of dress embodies modernism through form, function and sustainability and features re-purposed, repaired and interchangeable articles of clothing.

Kellee Morgado is an interdisciplinary designer and artist. She received her BFA in graphic design at Appalachian State University (2017) and currently resides in Reno, Nevada as the Redfield Fellow at the Black Rock Press (2018-2020). She has a particular attraction to artist books, typography, printed matter, and letterpress and enjoys exploring this intersection of books, print, and design.

The Art Bite series is supported by Nevada Humanities.

Georgia O’Keeffe saw the modern world in unique ways, including the way in which she perceived the sky. Blue tones, clouds, and unusual perspectives of the horizon characterize much of her work. This talk will focus on O’Keeffe’s representation of the southwest sky in her paintings and fashion as well as in photographs of the artist.

Dr. Brett M. Van Hoesen is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The Art Bite series is supported by Nevada Humanities.

From an early date, Georgia O’Keeffe’s reputation as an artist was tied to her image; a public person crafted principally through photography. Central to this was her relationship, beginning in 1917, with Alfred Stieglitz. But Stieglitz was not the only photographer who made her a frequent subject. Friends, including Ansel Adams and Todd Webb, captured O’Keeffe in more candid moments. This talk focuses on photographs from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s collection. 

Dr. Ariel Plotek is Curator of Fine Art at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Prior to this, he served as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the San Diego Museum of Art, where his projects included Gauguin to Warhol: 20th Century Icons from the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Ron Nagle: Peripheral Cognition, The Art of Music, Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture, Modern Masters from Latin America, and Nancy Lorenz: Moon Gold. He received his undergraduate degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art, in London, and his PhD from the New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts where he studied under Linda Nochlin and Robert Rosenblum. In addition to his research, he is also an artist and writer. 

The period when Georgia O’Keeffe crafted her signature style of dress was also one of great development and change in American fashion at large. Against the background of war in Europe, a worldwide Depression, and the rise of Hollywood, America’s nascent fashion design industry sought to develop a distinctly American style to break free from the perceived dominance of French fashion.  This talk will look at the elements and sources of O’Keeffe’s signature wardrobe and locate them within the larger story of American fashion of her era.

Melissa Leventon, a founding partner of Curatrix Group museum consultants, is a specialist in European and American fashion and textiles.  Formerly Curator-in-Charge of Textiles at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco she has organized exhibitions involving art media ranging from contemporary glass to the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Melissa has been a consultant to museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, The Textile Museum, and the Chicago History Museum. Since 2006 she has also served as a senior consultant to the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok.  

Melissa has authored or contributed to numerous publications and was recently featured as an on-screen expert in the “California” episode of PBS’s Craft in America series.  In addition to her curatorial and appraisal work, Melissa teaches fashion history and theory at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

The Art Bite series is supported by Nevada Humanities.