Confluence—A Temporary Public Art Project for Reno
Materials test on First Street, (detail) 2016. Photo courtesy of Todd Gilens.
By Todd Gilens
I am a writer and visual artist working with ecological themes. For several years, I helped researchers survey streams and meadows in the Sierra Nevada backcountry, and wondered how the dedication and insights of scientific inquiry could translate into everyday situations in the places we live. Expanding from mountain streams, I pursued my own research on the engineering and personification of water in the ancient Mediterranean, water history in northern Nevada, and the design of modern urban stormwater systems.
A design for a public art installation gradually emerged: I could use texts along sidewalks and pathways to describe how water shapes landscapes, ecologists study streams as living systems, and stories orient us to the places we’re in. A prose-poem of over 4,000 words would run continuously for almost a mile through Reno, following the flow of water and structured by block lengths into 20 themed sections.
Planned project routes for texts. Image courtesy of Todd Gilens.
The look of a text carries meaning too, so I created a unique font for this project. After a review of historic documents in archives throughout the West, I chose the handwriting of Claude Dukes, Federal Water Master for the Truckee watershed (d. 1984), whose papers are housed at the University of Nevada Special Collections Library in Reno. Using software technology, the font guides a cutter to create the calligraphy. The lettering will be cut from bright yellow, slip-resistant material and applied to sidewalks and pathways by a team of Reno residents.
Creating a font from historic handwriting. Image Todd Gilens, documents courtesy of University of Nevada, Special Collections.
Flowing cursive, urban spaces, rhyming prose, and a walking pace along the Truckee River: each layer of the artwork addresses the characteristics of water, how it shapes, and is shaped by, all that it flows through. The goal is to install Confluence: Stream Science, Handwriting, and Urban Curbs in the fall of 2023.
Confluence has received critical financial support from Nevada Humanities and the City of Reno, but the balance of funds must now be raised from private philanthropies, business sponsors, and individuals. The Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to connecting people to parks and open spaces, is our fiscal partner. For more information on the conceptual and research background of Confluence, see project newsletters HERE and on my website at toddgilens.com/newsletter. To support this project and learn more, visit tmparksfoundation.org/confluence-art-project.
This program is supported by Nevada Humanities.
Double Down blogger photo courtesy of Todd Gilens.
Todd Gilens has been creating temporary public artworks for over 30 years. His work has been seen on public transit buses and forest paths, in historic prisons, desert washes, public gardens, and private living rooms, among other places. Learn more about Todd Gilens’ work at toddgilens.com.