A Virtual Salon: Valley of the Sun
Sun Valley, Nevada is a small community of nearly 20,000 tucked away in the arid desert hills just north of Reno, Nevada. Populated mainly by trailer homes at its core, with newer modern housing springing up around the peripheries, it was touted in 1938 by the Bureau of Land Management as a land of opportunity where homesteaders could carve out a place of their own. Join Nevada Humanities for The Salon: Valley of the Sun to learn about the history of the region, the stereotypes associated with trailer park culture, and the creativity that is born out of this place. This event was live streamed on Friday, July 17, 2020 at 6 pm PDT.
Additionally, an exhibition featuring work from 11 artists and writers who all have close ties with Sun Valley was on display at The Holland Project in Reno from June 24 - August 1, 2020.
Featured panelists include:
Jonathan Cummins is a historian of twentieth-century America with a specific interest in cities, the western United States, and working class culture. He is currently developing a book manuscript based on his PhD dissertation, entitled "The Biggest Little Trailer Park: Planning, Waste, and Trailer Housing in Sun Valley, Nevada, 1938-1976." Since completing a PhD in History at the University of Nevada, Reno, he has also worked as a city planner for a local government agency. He lives in Reno with his wife and two sons.
Alisha Funkhouser earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Photography and a minor in Museum Studies & Gallery Practices from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2011. She has served as Holland Project’s Workshop Coordinator, Art Director, and now to Director of Education and Youth Programs. Funkhouser is a working visual artist and photographer, educator, curator, and a frequent jury member/panelist for many exhibitions, grant panels, and visual arts competitions in the Northern Nevada arts community.
Jeannette Martinez earned a Bachelor of Arts in art history from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a Masters of Arts in art history at The Ohio State University. Her writing and research focus primarily on visual art and culture that responds to the U.S. Latinx diasporas, especially through a Salvadoran American lens. She will begin a PhD program in art history at the University of New Mexico this fall.
Austin Pratt (moderator) was born in Reno, Nevada, and lived for ten strange and formative years in Sun Valley, Nevada at the turn of the century. He earned a Masters in Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from the University of Tennessee, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from the University of Nevada, Reno. Pratt is the recent recipient of the Nevada Arts Council Fellowship and his work is featured in New American Paintings forthcoming publication #144, 2020. Solo exhibitions include Channel to Channel (Nashville), Gallery 1010 (Knoxville), and Oats Park Art Center (Fallon). Group exhibitions include Unix Gallery (NYC), Coagula Curatorial (LA), and Sahara West (Las Vegas). Pratt currently teaches Drawing at the University of Nevada, Reno.
A special thanks to Sundance Books and Music, our forever partners in the Nevada Humanities Salon Series.