Wind sculptures may enliven arts district

There's art, and there's public art in outdoor places.

And then there's public art in outdoor places where it's really, really windy.

Balancing equal measures of engineering and art, a Reno artist last week proposed a set of 70 kinetic sculptures wind-driven whirligigs for those who didn't take art appreciation courses to clearly mark the city's art district.

Two committees looking for a way to create a brand identity for the arts district liked the idea so much that they unanimously forwarded it to the Reno City Council for final approval.

The first sculptures, which will be installed bannerlike atop existing poles could be in place by mid-summer.

All three proposals heard by the city's Art District Committee and its Public Art Committee made at least a passing nod to the need to ensure that the banner- like pieces would stand up in Reno's wind.

The plan by artist David Boyer, however, does more than simply defend itself against the wind it uses the wind itself to create art.

In each of the pieces that Boyer proposes to create think of festival banners that hang from light poles half would be devoted to a pinwheel-like affair in which scoops catch the wind and twirl.

The other half would be a decorated flat sheet of steel and copper but the decoration includes plenty of holes to allow the wind to flow through.

"Reno is a very windy town," Boyer said.

"We can take advantage of that wind and provide a lot of life and flash to downtown."

The wind was only the largest of engineering- like challenges that Boyer needed to address in his proposal for the arts district identity.

The pieces, for instance, couldn't be installed too close to the ground for fear they'd fall prey to vandals or teens looking to score a cool piece of art for a bedroom.

They needed to be installed to existing tulip-like poles around the art district.

The pieces couldn't be too wide or they'd stretch into traffic lanes where they'd be struck by trucks and recreational vehicles.

The effort to install banner-like pieces to mark the arts district is funded with $20,000 from the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority and $20,000 from the city government.

Joyce Trombley, chairman of the city's Art District Committee, noted that the effort to create a brand identity for the district has been lengthy.

An initial set of proposals failed to satisfy groups overseeing the project, and the proposals they heard last week marked the second stab at the project.

Pumped as the city groups were over Boyer's proposal to create durable pieces of art in a windy city, its members also took quiet satisfaction in the knowledge that their favorite proposal came from a hometown artist.

Boyer, who worked to create theatrical and movie sets in California before coming to Nevada a decade ago, was favored by the group over two northern California artists who made proposals.

"We need to support people who live here and do their art here," Trombley said after the groups made their decision.

She said the effort to create a brand identity for the arts district is intended to let visitors local residents and out-of-towners alike know quickly that they're in a vibrant part of town filled with artistic possibilities.

The arts district stretches more or less along the Truckee River to include the McKinley Arts Center, the Lear Theater, the Wingfield Park amphitheater, the new Nevada Museum of Art, the city library, city hall and the National Automobile Museum.

The City Council may make a final decision the arts district banners as early as next month.