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Nevada Arts Council: Save Outdoor Sculpture!

CAE1206

Summary Note

This archive contains photographs and condition reports of sculpture in Nevada from Nevada Arts Council’s involvement with Save Outdoor Sculpture!, a national survey of the outdoor sculpture sponsored by Heritage Preservation (The National Institute for Conservation) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Biographical Note

The Nevada Arts Council (NAC) is the Nevada State’s official arts agency, a division of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural affairs that is charged with ensuring that state and national funds support cultural activity and encourage participation in the arts throughout Nevada.

Scope and Content

Save Outdoor Sculpture! is a national survey of the outdoor sculpture sponsored by Heritage Preservation (The National Institute for Conservation) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.Each state had a local partner; in Nevada, it was the Nevada Arts Council. Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) helps communities across the United States preserve and promote their sculpture. SOS! began in 1989 by involving 7,000 volunteers and state and local organizations to catalog and assess 30,000 publicly accessible outdoor sculptures. Of that total, 54 percent were determined to be in critical or urgent need of conservation to survive. The data is accessible via the Inventory of American Sculpture database at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The Nevada Arts Council staff and contractors documented 197 outdoor sculptures, including 59 in Las Vegas. The Nevada survey discovered that more than half of the state's outdoor sculpture had been created from the 1980s onwards. Works documented during the project ranged from the Civil War monument titled Nevada's Tribute to Union Soldiers and Sailors made in 1891 to Luis Jimenez's Vaquero at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and Michael Heizer’s Double Negative, and more vernacular works such as Rod McCormick's Coffee Can Chicken in Fallon, Thunder Mountain in Imlay, and Guru Road north of Gerlach.

Arrangement

The Nevada Arts Council: Save Outdoor Sculpture! archive is arranged into two series. Series 1 contains program materials such as correspondence, notes, and reports. Series 2 contains reports for each individual sculpture.
  • Series 1: Program Materials
  • Series 2: Assessments

Inclusive Dates

1983-2000

Bulk Dates

1994-1995

Quantity / Extent

1 cubic feet

Language

English

Related Archive Collections

  • CAE1216: Dennis Parks: International Ceramics
  • CAE2011: Robert Morrison: Artist Archive

Related Publications

Heritage Preservation. A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections. Washington DC: December 2005.

Container Listing by Series:

CAE1206/1 Series 1: Program Materials, 1992-2000

Series 1 contains program materials such as correspondence, notes, and reports.

  • ARCH-FILE 22-1

    • 1-1 SOS! Program Ephemera, 1992-1999
    • 1-2 SOS! Program Correspondence and Information, 1993-2000
    • 1-3 SOS! Conservation Information, 1993
    • 1-4 Project Notes, 1994-1999
    • 1-5 Mid-Project Report, 1994-1995
    • 1-6 Final Report, 1995

CAE1206/2 Series 2: Assessments, 1983-1995

Series 2 contains the reports for each individual sculpture.

  • ARCH-FILE 22-1

    • 2-1 Baker, 1994
    • 2-2 Beatty, 1994
    • 2-3 Berlin, 1994
    • 2-5 Boulder City, 1994-1995
    • 2-6 Cactus Springs, 1995
    • 2-7 Carson City, Not dated
    • 2-8 Currant, Not dated
    • 2-9 Elko, 1994
    • 2-10 Fallon, 1994
    • 2-11 Gabbs, 1994
    • 2-12 Gerlach, Not dated
    • 2-13 Hawthorne, 1994
    • 2-14 Henderson, 1994-1995
    • 2-15 Hiko, 1994
    • 2-16 Hoover Dam, 1994
    • 2-17 Imlay, 1983-1994
    • 2-18 Las Vegas (1 of 3), 1994
    • 2-19 Las Vegas (2 of 3), 1994
    • 2-20 Las Vegas (3 of 3), 1995
    • 2-21 Logandale, 1995
    • 2-22 McGill, 1994
    • 2-23 Mercury, 1995
    • 2-24 Mountain City, not dated
    • 2-25 Overton, 1994
    • 2-26 Pahrump, 1994
    • 2-27 Reno (1 of 2), Not dated
    • 2-28 Reno (2 of 2), Not dated
    • 2-29 Rhyolite, 1994
    • 2-30 Sparks, not dated
    • 2-31 Stateline, Not dated
    • 2-32 Tonopah, 1994
    • 2-33 Tuscarora, 1994
    • 2-34 Virginia City, Not dated
    • 2-35 Wendover, 1994
    • 2-36 Yerington, Not dated
    • 2-37 Negatives and Contact Sheets, not dated

Additional Materials

  • Archive S-Box 25

    • 2-17#82a Contact Sheet 2, photograph, 1989
    • 2-17#82b Negatives 2, photographic, 1989
    • 2-17#119a Contact Sheet 3, photograph, 1989
    • 2-17#119b Negatives 3, photographic, 1989
    • 2-17#157a Contact Sheet 4, photograph, 1989
    • 2-17#157b Negatives 4, photographic, 1989
    • 2-17#194a Contact Sheet 5, photograph, 1989
    • 2-17#194b Negatives 5, photographic, 1989
    • 2-17#233a Contact Sheet 6, photograph, 1989
    • 2-17#233b Negatives 6, photographic, 1989