Beck Baumann, Candace Garlock and Austin Pratt

I went to Candace's studio to pick up some discs, and discovered that she's my neighbor, only a couple of miles down the road! When she handed me the first one, it was painted black with one of her ceramic birds attached, and she asked, "What would you do with this?," and I said, "Put a worm on there," but it ended up being a spiny caterpillar made from a piece of green pool noodle from my scrap bin. As I was making it, I couldn't quite decide if the bird would treat it as friend or food. I guess it's up to the viewer to decide. -Beck

Pitch Black Printing Co.

Meet one of our sponsors for this project!

The whole reason we started Pitch Black Printing Co. was to support our wonderful arts community. Neither owner is an artist, but we have a lot of friends who are, and we decided to open Pitch Black Printing Co. as a way to help support all the beautiful work we see being produced in our area and offer another outlet for our community’s artists. That made it a very natural fit to support the immense amount of talent we have here locally at an art exhibition featuring work from across the globe. Supporting artists in our community in every way we can allows us to keep working artists here and foster an ever-growing arts community right here at home. - Megan O'Reilly

Megan, Cody and Maurice

Host for this Project Exhibition

 The Host for this Project Exhibition

Founded as part of the Reno Creative Movement by father-daughter team Kevin O’Keefe and Briana Dolan, the Reno Tahoe Artist (RTA) Awards began as a platform to recognize extraordinary talent in the region. Running in correspondence to the newly launched Reno Tahoe International Art Show, the RTA Awards were created to celebrate individual achievement and the overall ascendency of Reno Tahoe into a national destination for arts and culture.

As the RTIA Show entered its second edition in 2023 with double the footprint from the inaugural event, the RTA Awards expanded to include a segment titled “Best of Show.” Where the regional awards remained jury-led with newly appointed judges, the Best of Show awards were determined by popular vote onsite at the Reno Tahoe International Art Show. 

The Best of Show categories reflected the seven segments of the show, with artists and galleries from around the nation and the world: Galleries & Features, Independent Artists, Heart of Reno, First Nations, Indigenous Peoples, Sculpture (large-scale), Sculpture (small-scale) and Student Art. All winners were announced at the RTA Awards Gala held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center where the RTIA took place. With more recognition and an official 509(a)2 non-profit status, the RTA Awards received incredible community support with the primary sponsor, the Nevada Arts Council upping the regional category awards to $1350 each. All Best of Show award winners were granted $1500 credit for exhibition space at the 2024 RTIA Show and a special edition award- and again almost all categories were sponsored by local organizations, individuals and national media. As the annual RTIA Show continues to grow and strengthen its roots, the RTA Awards- both regional and Best of Show- will grow with it. - Briana Dolan

The Nevada Awe: Tiny Treasures Project germinated at the RTIA 2023 show. Artists wanted to find a way to connect more with one another and to also help the Arts writers around the state. This is a time to show how amazing artists are in Nevada and how we can connect with each other throughout the year and then all come together to celebrate in September 2024!

A special thanks to Pitch Black Printing Co., too. They were the ones that sponsored the Best of Show in the Heart award which made it possible to secure a booth area in 2024 for this project. 

The Beginning

 

September 24, 2023: The NV Awe: Tiny Treasures project details organically developed between friends playing with Gelatin. Austin Pratt, Rachel Stiff and Jayna Conkey joined Candace in her studio for a day of fun using Gelatin plates to create monotype prints. Little did they know they would get roped into a collaboration project!  The little wooden discs were in a pile and everyone just started to press them into the gelatin. Serendipity - the substrate for the project was figured out!  The best ideas come from play and getting together.

 

Connection between Anne and Rachel

Rachel and Anne knew each other through College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas.  Rachel is now a Professor at Western Nevada College in Carson City. She recently learned stone lithography and was looking for a press and stones that she could buy. Anne was looking for someone to buy her press and stones. They both reconnected. These little treasures were created during that time of reconnection.