Christmas in the Desert

Christmas in the Desert by Victoria Vallis is a sculpture representing a lonely trailer on a high Nevada desert plateau. Symbolizing what remains after all is taken from a person. Bits and pieces of nothing in perpetual motion flap in the wind reminiscent of torn skin hanging. Picture a lonely trailer at Christmas. The instruments of sound include kitchen items such as a spatula, spoons, graters and gadgets. Other clankers are records, cd's, a dog collar and tags, nuts and bolts, a door knob, and miscellaneous pieces of technology. Hung by twine and clothes pins onto a clothes drying rack, they are allowed to swing freely. Wind is applied in the form of a fan. Electric beaters rotate repeatedly, simulating the cruel knocks life continues to administer. The sounds of clanking become music, which has a soothing effect after it is heard in monotonous perpetuity. An animatronic deer and Christmas doll add movement also, the doll repeatedly clanks a broken record with her lighted candle. For ambiance, more Christmas lights are added as vines of ivy would grow and cover all in time. The overall effect is camping in a back to nowhere Nevada location. In another room multiple dvd's play Christmas themed movies. I exhibited, '"The Simple Life Road Trip", a Christmas present from my son about ten years ago, that I never watched. It also had a pink travel trailer theme. Once at home I missed the sculpture and so it was recreated in the kitchen, see added picture.

Starship Hope

by Victoria Vallis On a typical warm summer afternoon in the 1970’s a group of Sparks High School students were tossing the Frisbee in Dave Swift’s backyard. There were nine of us, Tony Phelps, Kip Newell, Eric Scheetz, Dave Swift, Vicki Vallis, Celine Montoya, Kathy Grover, Tommy Glogavac and Joel Bowen. While taking a break from the exercise, we sat in a circle formation on the cool grass. Suddenly, a spaceship appeared from above and hovered over our heads briefly… One by one we were gently lifted into the air and rose toward the ship. Feelings of exhilaration flushed through our bodies as we tingled from our feet up. Excitement carried us higher as we lifted off the ground with no wings. Straight above into the air we flew, as a gravitational force lifted us towards the hovering craft. Where were we headed? Would we be harmed by funny looking martians with little green heads? Would we ever return? So many questions flooded our brains. Terror never had time to take a grip. The door to the bottom of the spaceship opened and we were being sucked in. Who was flying this ship? Were they green men with intentions of probing and harming us? Would we be victims of cruel experiments? I could just picture my head on a deer’s body or worse… Our answer would present itself soon enough. Quickly we stabilized ourselves on the floor of the UFO. We stared at the modern equipment of lights, sounds, colors and futuristic technological gadgetry. The scene was too fascinating to be scary. A group of young people who looked much like us gathered around. Their leader spoke in English, so we could understand clearly. “Please do not fear us, we are your descendants. We have gathered you here for many reasons. We are curious what our great great grandparents would look like. Yes, we are related to all of you! We crossed the universe from the future to find you. Not really a social visit, we have been sent to warn you! The Earth’s demise is imminent. Your grandchildren will be forced to relocate off of planet Earth because of atomic and germ warfare. Climate change causes a shift in the polar caps so that apocalyptic weather occurrences ravage your existence. Global famine and crisis force World War 111 to annihilate civilization as you know it. Alas, we live on a planet many lightyears away from here in another galaxy. We hoped that if we might warn you in time, something could be done. The only way to save the Earth’s population is to stop all violence towards your planet. Please do not fear us, we mean you no harm. We have only your best interests at heart. We must now deliver you back to Earth and leave. Please pray for peace and take better care of your planet. Good bye, we depart.” With those words to contemplate, we felt ourselves drop gently and gracefully as our arrival had been. Planet Earth looked so green and inviting as we floated home. Back safely in our circle, in Dave Swift’s backyard, we looked at each other in total amazement. Had this really happened? Could we be having a group mirage? As this occurred in the seventies before cell phone technology, and digital cameras we had no documentation, except each other. Dave ran into the house to call his dad, a radio news caster with KRNO. Dave asked his father if anyone else had reported seeing a spaceship. His dad explained that at least 300 others had called him to report the UFO sighting, but because of FCC regulations he could not discuss the incident on the airwaves. As we watched the spacecraft fly straight up into the air, it disappeared. We all knew it was a special day, an unforgettable moment in time, one we’d never get over. Now what could we do with this great knowledge? The end…

Nevada State Museum Exhibits

Nevada State Museum Exhibits by Victoria Vallis The exhibits focus on Nevada stories at the Nevada State Museum. Collection materials of interest include Nevada art, decorative arts, household accessories including dishware, mining minerals and equipment, Nevada fossils, Native American objects, toys, ceremonial artifacts, and military pieces. The permanent exhibition on Nevada history illustrates the highlights of the state's history, including the lives of the earliest inhabitants of the Great Basin, the desert stretches of the Immigrant Trail, the Comstock era, and the rise of the gambling industry. Temporary exhibitions explore topics relating to Nevada such as photography during the Comstock era, neon in Nevada, the Centennial Celebration, dolls, quilts, and women in the west. Collections feature textiles, artifacts, documents, and maps. The celebration of Nevada’s heritage spotlights the 150th anniversary of Nevada statehood with special exhibits of artifacts representing the settlement of Nevada. Crossing Nevada by the wagon trail of the Donner Party which later became the route of the transcontinental railroad, was also the route into the Sierra Nevada which took John C. Frémont and his party to Lake Tahoe. Years later, Interstate 80 was built along this same route of the Central Pacific. An extensive exhibit features his travels. Frémont was known for his boldness as an adventurer, pathfinder, and topographer, but he also opened up a lot of the West. His explorations in 1843 led him to the Great Salt Lake, of which little was known, and may have given the Mormons the idea of settling in that area. He was the first to tell Easterners about what is now known as the Lahontan Cutthroat Basin and into California in 1843-44, Frémont collected 1,400 specimens. Unfortunately many were lost due to the rigors of the journey. In one case a mule carrying plants rolled down a hillside in the Sierras. Curator of Natural History, Dr. George Baumgardner, creates the scenes to view natural history specimens. As the oldest museum in the State of Nevada, the Society's museum collection consists more than 15,000 artifacts including pottery, basketry and tools Nevada and Great Basin Native Americans. Also included are works of art, paintings, objects related to the mining and ranching industries, clothing, and objects used in the daily lives of 19th and 20th century Nevadans. The Historical Society's artifacts, photographs, documents and maps relate vital stories about life in the eastern Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin. Life in the Silver State was harsh. For over 10,000 years people have been surviving here from the earliest times. Native Nevadans learned to live lightly on the land, taking only what they needed. Lake Tahoe became the center of their spiritual world. Nevada and Utah’s Great Basin has been the source of fabulous mineral wealth for thousands of years. From the earliest times Native Nevadans mined salt and turquoise. A display of the spectacular example of Nevada’s Precious Gemstone. of Virgin Valley Fire Opal can be seen in Our Nevada Stories: Objects Found in Time. Prospectors in the first wave of the California Gold Rush found traces of the yellow metal in streams on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. In 1859 placer miners panning the streams of Gold Canyon in the Virginia Mountains discovered that the blue clay that had been seen as a nuisance was really remarkably rich silver ore. '49ers arrived in droves to find their fortunes in Virginia City, Gold Hill, and Silver City. Miners and their families came to work the rich mines. Owners and speculators prospered and Nevada’s statehood was gained. In addition, the museum collections include numerous artifacts pertaining to Nevada's gaming industry such as early slot machines, gaming cheating devices, neon signage, an extensive textile collection that includes Hello Hollywood Hello show-girl costumes, and souvenirs produced by casinos. The library recently received a donation of matchbooks added to the Nevada Historical Society’s collection. The collection now contains approximately five hundred matchbooks from Nevada casinos, restaurants, hotels, motels, and political campaigns, to name just a few categories. Some of the matchbooks are from Nevada’s past, and the matchbook may be the last physical remnant of an establishment. In conclusion, I found the trip to this museum informative, fascinating and a breath of fresh air for some reason I was most drawn to the giant mammoth skeletal bones which are humungous and simply amazing, and the malachite with azurite mineral sample which has a place in my past too!

Peter Goin

Peter Goin by Victoria Vallis The Nevada State Museum in Carson City had a lecture and slide show given by Peter Goin, an American photographer on November 21, 2013. Goin is currently a Foundation Professor of Art in Photography at the University of Nevada Reno, and is the author and coauthor of numerous books about the landscapes of the American West, specifically the Nevada landscape. His newly released book, “Black Rock” was discussed as well as a brief history into other projects Goin has worked on. Goin is also co-author of the Atlas of the New West, a collaborative effort with members of the Center of the American West and the seminal Black Rock, a dedicated investigation of the phenomenal desert region in northern Nevada. After moving to Nevada, he became fascinated with the basin-and-range environment. He enjoyed the fact that much of Nevada belongs to the Bureau of Land Management and is removed from private ownership making it open for camping, exploring, and photographing. Intrigued by the effects of humans on the landscape, Goin uses photography to depict landscapes that have been altered. In his book Nuclear Landscapes, Goin presents photographs of various nuclear test sites and power facilities that have been abandoned and the effects these sites and facilities have on the surrounding area. Additionally, Goin authored "Tracing the Line: A Photographic Survey of the Mexican-American Border," "Nuclear Landscapes," "Stopping Time: A Rephotographic Survey of Lake Tahoe. He served as editor of a fifth book, "Arid Waters: Photographs from the Water in the West Project." Goin is also co-author of numerous books, including the "Atlas of the New West," a collaborative effort with members of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder; "A Doubtful River," a project that examines the complex watershed of the Newlands Project, the first federal irrigation dam; and "Changing Mines in America," reinterpreting the legacy and importance of mining landscapes throughout the United States. "Black Rock," describes a previously neglected region of desert in Northern Nevada. Black Rock Institute Press also published, "Nevada Rock Art," Goin's focused study on Nevada's petroglyphs and pictographs. Goin authored "South Lake Tahoe: Then & Now." displaying his long-standing work studying Lake Tahoe. Goin co-authored a two book project with the University of California Press, "A Field Guide to California Agriculture" and "The Nature of California Agriculture" with Paul Starrs, geography professor. Writings and photographs feature more than 75,000 farms and ranches to make up an informative guide to California’s nearly 400 crops, vineyards, cattle, dairy and other ventures, are all covered within the book’s 506 pages. The coauthors have first hand knowledge as Goin’s father had worked as a seasonal farmworker in California, and Starrs was once worked on a ranch. Field Guide to California Agriculture is about crops, and also contains a perspective on California's vast agricultural districts and a fabulous array of photographs, called "The Paradox and Poetics of Agriculture". Antique photographs of Lake Tahoe, America’s most pristine Alpine Lake, made from glass plate negatives that date back to the late-1800s, have been preserved for scientific use by Goin, since he published “Stopping Time: A Rephotographic Survey of Lake Tahoe,” in 1992. After “Stopping Time” was published, people who read the book began contacting Goin about old family photographs and negatives of Lake Tahoe they had of the lake and surrounding areas. Rephotographing is going to the site where an old photo was taken and shooting a new picture from the exact same location and angle. Goin said, “Thanks to the generosity of the people who gave us those glass plate negatives, we now have a surprisingly new dramatic and vast archive of nearly 1,000 of these old photos.” Goin further explained,"To rephotograph the lake as it was captured in the old negatives from both land and water, he and his team of students used a 17-foot aluminum boat or traipsed through the Sierra to get the exact same perspective." In conclusion, Goin and Paul F. Starrs served as co-authors for "Black Rock," which describes a region of desert in Northern Nevada that has almost spiritual qualities. Goin presented photographs including one of his own daughter in a small reservoir of water. He compared random parts of nature such the cottonwood trees to famous artist's works equivalent to Jackson Pollock. Goin drew comparisons between the people of Burning Man to Diane Arbus photographs. He considered an elegant feast on the Black Rock plateau to be comparable to the world's first class dining for location, calling it "welcome to nowhere!". The book was presented at this lecture and opened up afterwards for questions. The questions I asked Peter were if he might be interested in photographing the wild mustangs before they all disappear and if so when? His answer was good questions, he might, when he gets around to it. Black Rock, University of Nevada Press, 2005 (coauthor Paul F. Starrs) Black Rock Institute Press, 2010Arid Waters: Photographs From the Water in the West Project, University of Nevada Press, 1992Nuclear Landscapes, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991 Stopping Time: A Rephotographic Survey of Lake Tahoe Nevada Rock Art, Black Rock Institute Press, 2009 South Lake Tahoe: Now & Then, Arcadia, 2009 A Field Guide to California Agriculture, University of California Press, 2010 (coauthor Paul F. Starrs)

JunkeeAntique Store sound tour into the past...

The tour begins at the store's entrance and carries one into an erie journey of discovery through sound and visual.http://www.junkeeclothingexchange.com/

Paul Baker Prindle Lecture

Paul Baker Prindle is the new director of University Galleries the University of Nevada, with plans to update other art galleries and spaces on campus and fill those spaces with a variety of art. He’s a curator, scouting the world for the best new artists. He predicts that Reno will become more of a cultural center. As a practicing artist with diverse curatorial and exhibition experience, he offers a fresh perspective on the contemporary art collection program. He feels is exhibition spaces should reflect the quality of the institution and a focus for supporting statewide art. On October 24, 2013, Paul Baker Prindle lectured with a slide show at the Sheppard Gallery in the Church Fine Arts Building. His research focuses on contemporary photography; queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender art practice; contemporary art made by Indigenous Americans; and Outsider art. He began by pointing out the contemporary photography often over photoshops artwork. He stressed that images are often not truthful, aside from basic cropping far too many alterations are performed on photographs, to a point that the viewer is often unsure of reality. He asks who is in the picture? What are they like? He feels that photographs are an intoxicating love for the object, combined with a loss of the past, as it will never be the same. He calls this phenomenon, melancholy repetition. He explains this as returning to a process that fails. Current fashion magazines reflect a triumph of consumerism, according to Prindle. The example he used is photoshopped models of the real versus very real people. Thus Prindle embarked upon his journey to travel and photograph places where cruel and inhumane murders occurred toward gay men. His images portray a strange sadness and awareness of the event. His investigation of how a place bears the mark of subculture and trauma, is thearaputic to filling in the gaps, and working through the sorrow. Prindle compares these murders to the Jewish holocaust victims of Nazi, Germany. Through midrash or oral history storytelling, the parts that are missing are explained. Memory is about filling in the gaps, and it changes with time. His works attempt to put sad places into public view until the shocking no longer has that effect. Until homophobic killings cease, hate crimes must be brought into awareness. He does not attempt to spell out what the viewer feels, but rather he allows them to draw their own conclusions. Therefore the viewer steps in and finishes the story, and imagine what this experience would be like. Prindle explains that rebels risk things, and asks the viewers to be uncomfortable with the situation. He’s an artist and photographer, looking at social issues through a camera lens. “I photograph hate crime sites,” he says. “I look at how mythology of the West is tied up to the gender of the landscape. The construction of the American West.”“Visual arts are one of few disciplines meant for growing ideas outside of the brain.” He refers to Reno’s “post-gambling” economy, addressing the decline in tourism and the popularity of local business and arts. Creative thinking helps tackle a community’s problems such as poverty, discrimination and inequality, according to Prindle. Questions to ask Prindle are how long will it take to increase the cultural foundation of Reno and how will he go about it?