Discovering Flora with the Nevada Native Plant Society

Learn about the incredibly diverse flora in our region with Emma Wynn, President of the Nevada Native Plant Society. She shares how the nonprofit organization started and ways to engage with Nevada’s 2800+ wild plant species.
 
 
This is part of an Art Bite series featuring local conservation and sustainability organizations, which complements Into the Time Horizon.  

Branches of Life: Forest Resilience and Collaboration on the Truckee River

When we protect our forests, we protect life. Healthy, resilient forests along the Truckee River reduce wildfire risk, safeguard water quality, and preserve the beauty and biodiversity that define Northern Nevada. 

Learn how the Nevada Chapter of The Nature Conservancy is working to improve forest health – before catastrophic wildfires occur – by restoring the natural role of fire, strengthening forest ecosystems, enhancing community safety, and honoring Indigenous knowledge. 

This is part of an Art Bite series featuring local conservation and sustainability organizations, which complements Into the Time Horizon.  

Artist Talk: Myth, Mycology, and Symbiosis with Xiaojing Yan

Debra and Dennis Scholl Distinguished Speaker Series

Enjoy an evening exploring the open-ended experimentation of artist Xiaojing Yan. A Chinese immigrant living in Canada, Yan investigates how nature, an inherent force within traditional Chinese art, transcends sculpture. Yan’s sculpture Lingzhi Girl is featured in Into the Time Horizon, and part of the Museum’s permanent collection.

This program is free to UNR, TMCC, and WNC students.

Fly Fishing, Water Protectors, and River Justice with Autumn Harry

Autumn Harry (Paiute), an artist and a leader of River Justice, discusses how the Indigenous-led project advocates for the just stewardship and riparian health of the Truckee River. River Justice prioritizes river stewardship in consideration of Numu (Northern Paiute) communities downstream who are impacted by policy decisions, planning, and developmental threats to surface water. 
 
Harry is from Kooyooe Pa’a Panunadu, also known as Pyramid Lake, and is the first Numu woman fly-fishing guide at Pyramid Lake’s famed Lahontan Cutthroat Trout fishery.

SOLD OUT: Opening Talk with Artist and Writer Jonathon Keats

Traverse the expanse of time and consider the environmental complexities that led to the concept and creation of Centuries of the Bristlecone with Jonathon Keats, artist, writer, and experimental philosopher. Keats’ conceptually driven transdisciplinary projects explore all aspects of society, adapting methods from the sciences and the humanities. Following the talk, enjoy a ceremonial etching on the clock.
 
Centuries of the Bristlecone is now on-view and was created in collaboration with Phil Abernethy, Brittany Cox, Jason Iceman, and The Long Now Foundation.
 
This public talk is a complementary program to the 2026 NV STEAM Conference.

Michael P. Cohen and A Garden of Bristlecones

Michael P. Cohen will talk about what he discovered about human responses to Great Basin Bristlecone Pines when he wrote his important book A Garden of Bristlecones: Tales of Change. He explores the relationship between humans and these iconic trees, how through scientific study (mostly dendrochronology), they shed light on human and climate history, and motivated cultural stories and artistic representations. He will explore some of these as personal stories, motivations, and controversies surrounding those who studied them and others who made them into cultural icons. These trees have become a lens to examine modern humanity’s interaction with nature. 

OLLI Art at the Museum: Caring for Contemporary Native American Baskets

Explore the Museum’s collection of contemporary Native American baskets from a conservation and educational lens with Cienna WindRiver, Native American archive collections and library coordinator. 

This program is in partnership with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and is hosted every third Wednesday of the month. Support for the 2026 series provided by CJ Christenson.

Postponed: OLLI Art at the Museum: Ikebana in Bloom at the Museum School

Due to inclement weather, this program is postponed to February 25th at 12pm. Register here for the rescheduled program. 

 Travel on a journey of Ikebana, the traditional Japanese art of flower arranging, and- delve into the profound beauty and cultural significance of Japanese floral art with museum school instructor Truus Ten Kate Sharp. This program is in partnership with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and is hosted every third Wednesday of the month.

OLLI Art at the Museum: Photo Book Arts

Take a deep dive into book arts with local artist and Museum School Instructor Bobby Lee, and learn how intimate, multilayered investigations of the environment transformed his photography and art practice. This program is in partnership with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and is hosted every third Wednesday of the month.

Postponed: Remembering Japanese American Incarceration — Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement

Due to inclement weather, this program will be rescheduled. You can register for the rescheduled program here.

In recognition of the 84th anniversary of Japanese American incarceration during World War II, Nevada Humanities and the Reno chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League are holding a special screening of Tadashi Nakamura’s film Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement. The documentary chronicles the life of Los Angeles-born artist, dancer, singer, author, and activist Nobuko Miyamoto, who was sent to the Santa Anita temporary detention center when she was only two years old. 

Following the screening, join us for tea and conversation in the atrium. 

Caption: Still of Nobuko Miyamoto and a crowd from Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement

Image credit: Courtesy of JANM’s Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center and PBS SoCal.