Stories come to life through the art of cinema. Join us for a discussion about the art of filmmaking with Elspeth Summers and James Coleman from Tweaking Reality Studios as they discuss their creative process with collaborator Caitlin McCarty of the local dance company Collateral and Co. Program will include a preview of the short dance film “The Space Above.”

The Art Bite lecture series is supported by Nevada Humanities with additional sponsorship and free admission for students supported by the Core Humanities Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

Georgia O’Keeffe famously painted the flowers that grew in her gardens, so how did the tropical and exotic hibiscus and plumeria find their way into her work? Join Theresa Papanikolas, Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art at the Seattle Art Museum, as she traces the genesis and development of O’Keeffe’s floral paintings, follows in the footsteps of her 1939 journey to Hawaii, and reveals how she interpreted nature in modernist terms to reflect her intense—even spiritual—reverence for the American landscape.

Theresa Papanikolas, Ph.D. joined the Seattle Art Museum in 2019 as its Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art. Prior to that, she was Deputy Director of Art and Programs and Curator of European and American Art at the Honolulu Museum of Art, where she led the reinstallation of its galleries and organized the exhibitions From Whistler to Warhol: Modernism on Paper (2010), Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: The Hawai?i Pictures (2013), Art Deco Hawai?i (2014), and Abstract Expressionism: Looking East from the Far West (2017). She was also the curator of the New York Botanical Garden’s 2018 exhibition, Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawaii. At SAM, she is curator of Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstract Variations, forthcoming in 2020.

Dr. Papanikolas has worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Rice University; holds degrees from USC (BA) and the University of Delaware (MA, Ph.D.); and completed a Fellowship at the Center for Curatorial Leadership (2016).

The Art Bite lecture series is supported by Nevada Humanities with additional sponsorship and free admission for students supported by the Core Humanities Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

This program will be held in the Wayne L. Prim Theater.

A specialist in firearms preservation, Richard Moll, Chief Conservator at the Autry Museum of the American West, will discuss preservation for both museums and the private collector. Presentation will include an overview of the methods, materials, and ethical considerations when preserving historic objects.

Ashley Hlebinsky, Robert W. Woodruff Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum, discusses the evolution of collecting since the 16th century, and examines how private passion impacts public display. Hlebinsky explores how collectors have been perceived throughout the years, and how collectors have had a historic role in the establishment of museums and methods of firearm display over the centuries. 

The mythos of the Wild West has long inspired the nation.  During the 30s and 40s, America’s appetite for films about the West seemed insatiable.   In answer, the big studios created a steady stream of big budget Western films with established stars.  Meanwhile, on the back lots of mini studios like Republic and on ranches in the Simi Valley, a sub genre was putting out hundreds of smaller films a year. These were the B Westerns and they would launch the careers of cowboy stars like Hopalong Cassidy, Tim McCoy, Hoot Gibson and The Durango Kid himself, Charles Starrett. This genre of Western film, vastly popular in its time, is nearly forgotten now. Screenwriter, producer and film buff, Tim Kirk, will discuss the careers of Hollywood’s gunslingers and the changing attitudes towards the West.

The Art Bite lecture series is supported by Nevada Humanities with additional sponsorship and free admission for students supported by the Core Humanities Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

Michael Heizer is among the greatest, and often least accessible, American artists. As one of the last living figures who launched the Land Art movement, his legacy of works that are literally and metaphorically monumental has an incalculable influence on the world of sculpture and environmental art. But his seclusion in the remote Nevada desert, as well as his notorious obduracy, have resulted in significant gaps in our critical understanding. Michael Heizer: The Once and Future Monuments spans the breadth of Heizer’s career, uniquely combining fieldwork, personal narrative, and biographical research to create the first major assessment in years of this titan of American art.

Join us as Fox discusses Heizer’s work with Alan Rapp, the Editorial Director at Monacelli Press in New York, publisher of Michael Heizer: The Once and Future Monuments. Rapp is an editor, writer, and visual book developer. He earned an MFA in Design Criticism at School of Visual Arts and formerly served as a senior editor at Chronicle Books.

*Doors open at 5:30 pm. Book signing to follow.

Jack Malotte makes artworks that celebrate the landscapes of the Great Basin, with a unique focus on contemporary political issues faced by Native people seeking to protect and preserve access to their lands. Join us for informal conversation in the gallery before the exhibition The Art of Jack Malotte closes later this month. Coffee, book signing and short film will be offered in the adjacent Founders’ Room. 

NOTE: This is an informal opportunity to connect with the artist Jack Malotte. The book “Jack Malotte” is available for purchase in the Founders’ Room or in the Museum store.

Edi Rama: WORK, an exhibition of the artist and Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, includes a series of new drawings created on documents and notes Rama creates during meetings and phone calls, as well as ceramic sculptures and a floor-to-ceiling wallpaper that emulates the wallpaper in his office at the Ministry in Tirana. Edi Rama’s drawing practice has developed in close parallel with his career as a politician. Rama views his art as an essential element in a functional society. A clear example is his initiative to paint the facades of decaying communist bloc buildings after being elected Mayor of Tirana in 2000, an undertaking Rama has described as “a political action, with colors.” Join us for a gallery walk through with Julia Ballantyne-Way, Senior Director of Rama’s Berlin gallery carlier | gebauer.  

Edi Rama lives and works in Tirana. A former professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts and author of several books, his works have been exhibited in numerous solo, two-person, or group exhibitions including at the Venice Biennale (2017); São Paulo Biennial (1994); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2004); the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2010); the Musée D’art contemporain de Montréal (2011); Biennale of Marrakesh, Morocco (2015); The New Museum, New York (2016); and Kunsthalle Rostock (2019). Edi Rama began his political career in Albania as the Minister of Culture in 1998. He was the Mayor of Tirana from 2000-2011. Rama was elected Prime Minister of Albania in September 2013, following a landslide victory in the general elections, and his government has since embarked the path of reforms that aim to bring Albania closer to the European Union. He is currently serving his second term as Prime Minister.

This event is a FREE program, pre-registration required.

From the beginning, handheld guns have invited the development and application of a wide range of ornamental design and techniques. Far from conforming slavishly to the prevailing conventions in the decorative arts, guns played an important part in establishing original trends and styles, encouraging great artists to demonstrate their full measure.

Dr. Pierre Terjanian is the Arthur Ochs Curator in Charge Department of Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A native of Strasbourg, France, Terjanian obtained a master’s degree in law from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, a master of science degree in management from HEC Paris, and a doctoral degree in history from Université de Metz’s Faculté de Lettres et Sciences Humaines. Pierre Terjanian joined The Met in 2012. Previously, he held the dual role of J. J. Medveckis Associate Curator of Arms and Armor and acting head of the Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture before 1700 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

What makes a gun great? Dr. John Byck joins us from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to explore key aspects of fine historical firearm design. From ingenious mechanisms to beautiful decorations to perfect balance, this lecture will explore key aspects of fine historical firearm design from the sixteenth century through the modern period.

Dr. John Byck is the Assistant Curator in the Department of Arms and Armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Byck holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. A specialist in ornament, he joined the Department of Arms and Armor at the Met in 2015 after serving as research assistant in the Department of Drawings and Prints.