Efforts to connect creative communities through art, design, and transit are blossoming across the country, and Reno-Sparks is doing similar work right in line with these nationwide efforts. RTC Executive Director Lee Gibson talks about the creative threads informing the Virginia Street Corridor transit project to improve community access to the creative districts near Midtown and Downtown Reno.

Before Erika Harrsch’s exhibition The Butterfly Paradigm closes, join UNR lepidopterists (butterfly scientists) for a discussion of the ecology, habitat, behaviors, and challenges facing Monarch butterflies as a species, a key element of her artistic practice.

The Nature Conservancy collaborated with Downtown Project, Iowa State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas designers to build a 120-square-foot parklet in Las Vegas. The parklet—a tiny intervention called “The Waiting Game” in the downtown district—is a public place for relaxation and enjoyment that transforms a parking space at 180 South 6th Street, near Carson Avenue, into a slice of public urban space where people can come into contact with nature through the parklet’s plantings, have a picnic, play a game, and learn about nearby natural areas and wildlife through concrete engravings. Learn about this project, and join a conversation about how to do more of this kind of innovative place-based creative expression in Reno.

Reno artist Leilani Schweitzer makes extraordinary installations using deceptively simple materials: last season’s paint chips from paint manufacturers. Come hear about the inspiration for her work, and the evolution of her thinking about color. You might learn how to see better.

Australian artist Larry Mitchell talks about his large-scale paintings, sketchbooks, and ephemera in 1?Centigrade, an exhibition documenting the South Pacific island communities he’s spent his career depicting in his art.

Join artist Tamara Kostianovsky for a presentation about her installation, After Goya, inspired by a still life painting by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya, and the history and culture of Jewish Argentina.

From the creative mind of Jessi LeMay comes the storytelling and narrative filmmaking project The Folk & the Lore. This multimedia project aims to collect, archive, and tell stories from Reno and throughout the region through photography, short films, and live storytelling events that will be held regularly at the Nevada Museum of Art. Together, we believe that when you know your neighbor’s story, not only do you feel more connected to your community, but those stories become part of your own. Join this premiere event for an evening of storytelling and films based on the holidays. Doors open at 5pm for social hour and chez louie cash bar. Stories begin at 6pm. This month’s theme is Wanderlust—what happens when you leave Reno, hit the road, and explore new worlds.

From the creative mind of Jessi LeMay comes the storytelling and narrative film-making project The Folk & the Lore. This multimedia project aims to collect, archive, and tell stories from Reno and throughout the region through photography, short films, and live storytelling events that will be held regularly at the Nevada Museum of Art. Together, we believe that when you know your neighbor’s story, not only do you feel more connected to your community, but those stories become part of your own. Enjoy an evening of storytelling and films based on the idea of Geeky Reno. Time to get downright dorky about our hobbies, obsessions, and life.

Doors open at 5pm for social hour and chez louie cash bar. Stories begin at 6pm. 

Artist Erika Harrsch discusses the intersections between art and public engagement in her work on display in the museum and the pop-up art performances happening throughout the community.

Start-ups are all the rage, but for every Warby Parker, GoPro or Uber success, there are thousands of “Friendster” gravestones out there. How does today’s entrepreneur balance risk and rewards? What defines a successful brand? Why is design the key to winning?

At twenty¬five, Ken Carbone chose to “roll the dice” and started a design business in New York City. Now almost forty years later that same entrepreneurial spirit drives the Carbone Smolan Agency, resulting in a world class clientele ranging from start¬ups to legendary institutions. Ken’s highly visual presentation reveals the fundamentals: what it

takes for designers and businesses to collaborate, sustain success, and have fun doing it every single day.

Ken Carbone is a designer, artist, musician, author and teacher. As the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director of the Carbone Smolan Agency, he is among America’s most respected graphic designers, whose work is renowned for its balance of substance and style. Under his design ethos to unify, simplify, amplify, Ken has built a reputation for creating outstanding design programs for a world-class clientele that includes W Hotels, Morgan Stanley, Christie’s, Tiffany & Co., Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, and Canon U.S.A., and celebrated institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and the Musée du Louvre. Ken is the author of The Virtuoso: Face to Face with 40 Extraordinary Talents, published by Stewart Tabori & Chang. The book’s emphasis on human achievement in all walks of life reflects his wide-ranging curiosity. He is also the co-author of “Dialog”: What Makes a Great Design Partnership, a book that celebrates his 35-year collaboration with business partner Leslie Smolan. Ken frequently speaks to audiences across the country about the value of strategic design and communications in the corporate, consumer and cultural sectors, and has lectured at both business schools and art colleges. Ken is a professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and is a featured blogger for Fast Company magazine as well as Huffington Post. A member of the prestigious Alliance Graphique International (AGI) and the AIGA, the professional association for design, Ken’s work has been recognized by the AIGA, Print, Graphis, Idea, Communication Arts, ID, and the New York Art Directors Club. He is a recipient of the 2014 AIGA Medal, awarded to individuals in recognition of their exceptional achievements, services or other contributions to the field of design and visual communication. Ken is also an accomplished guitarist and says he might give it all up one day to play with Amanda Palmer.