Friday art news roundup

Nevada art festival season shows signs of life

This week, the Life Is Beautiful festival in downtown Las Vegas announced its 2021 dates, Sept. 17-19, and its music lineup, including Billie Eilish, Green Day, and Tame Impala. Tickets went on sale this morning. As of this writing, three-day passes had already sold out, and one-day passes were slated to be available soon. The visual arts lineup has not yet been released.

Officials for Reno’s Artown announced in February that the festival is on this year from July 1-31. Traditionally, much of the festival’s main programming is held on the compact lawn of Wingfield Park downtown. This year, activities will center around the larger Rancho San Rafael Park and include social-distancing modifications such as 6-by-6-foot pods.

Burning Man officials have yet to make a decision about whether to hold their event Aug. 29 -Sept. 6. Their latest announcement was on Feb. 18.

 

Reno artist launches regional digital sales platform

Reno artist (and information security analyst) Micah Turner recently launched Digital Arts Now, a unified platform to sell original art, print on-demand merchandise, and manage fan subscriptions. It’s something like a local Etsy, only in addition to being a sales portal, the site helps artists with branding and donates a portion of proceeds to local non-profits.

Through March 16, Digital Arts Now is asking artists for auction donations to benefit Our Center, Reno’s LGBTQ+ community center, in exchange for a one-year premium vendor subscription. To donate, or to learn more, email support@digitalartsnow.com.

For more about the genesis of the project, check out Frank Mullen’s article in this week’s RN&R Extra.

 

UNR art history prof wins major research award

In December 2020, UNR Assistant Professor of Art History Caitlin Earley, who specializes in Latin American art, was awarded a research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. As part of the organization’s $32.8 million in grants for 213 projects in 44 states and territories, Dr. Early will receive $30,000 for her research project, “The Captive Body in Late Classic Maya Art.” She was the only Nevada grantee in 2020. Congratulations, Dr. Earley!

 

Clark County to offer free public art workshop series

Clark County Public Arts announced a new professional public art workshop series to help local artists network and learn skills that can help them better compete for public art projects in the Las Vegas Valley. On Tuesday, March 23 from 1-3 pm, public art consultant Mark Salinas will give a talk, including a one-hour Q+A period, along with Jen Krava from Forecast Public Art.

The workshops are free and online. You can register here.

 

Great Basin National Park residency deadline approaching

The application deadline for the first Great Basin National Park Foundation – University of Nevada, Reno Artist-in-Residence Program is coming up soon. The two-week residency—open to visual artists, literary, and musical artists in the Nevada/Utah/Great Basin region—occurs between June and September. The deadline to apply is March 15th. Selected artists will be announced in April. More info here.