Reno Open Studios tour Sept. 30 - Oct. 2

Over 50 members of our thriving arts community will open their studios to share their technical and creative talents September 30- October 2, 2016. Reno Open Studios encourages visitors to get engage with the participating artists to discover how art is more than creative process, contributing to the area’s economic vitality and innovation culture. People may “get up close and personal’ with art, artists, tools, techniques and materials at over 25 locations throughout Reno/Sparks during this free-self-guided tour.

Recently, Mike Kazmierski of EDAWN published an article explaining how important the arts and culture opportunities are to our area’s economic growth. Reno Open Studios supports that assertion coupled with the quality of life appeal of our region, as arts and culture are a vital part of personal growth and well-being. Local businesses and parents recognize the thrust in education to move from STEM (science, technology, engineering, & math) to STEAM, which recognizes that to be successful in technical fields - and any industry - individuals must also be creative and use critical thinking skills which can be developed through exposure to the arts. Artists not only create the “A” in STEAM, they use all of the other components in the process as well. Mr. Kazmierski’s first bullet point was “Engage in the Arts” and The Reno Open Studios Tour allows interaction with the artists rather than being a spectator.

Visitors can plan their tour ahead of time by either visiting “A Taste of Reno Open Studios” at the historic Lake Mansion where 75 percent of the participating artists have examples of their work on display or by planning which artists/studios to visit using one of the 10,000 tour

booklets with photos and directions that have been distributed locally. The guides are also downloadable at www.renoopenstudios.org.