The Art of Giving: trending region artists focus on contributions to Carson City

Artists Debbie and Rachael Lambin are the talk among towns in Northern Nevada since debuting their sculpture collection, “My Thousand Words,” created with pages from books.

Now that the word is out, the mother-daughter team are combining their artwork with community outreach, and supporting art communities in the region including Carson City’s.

“Although we’re from Minden, Carson City is a part of our home,” said Debbie Lambin, 60. “I miss it and we want to be a part of it.”

Together, they also design sculptures to reflect charities. They create specially-designed pieces to support organizations such as St. Jude, The Lacey Dalton Foundation, Abecrombie and Kent “Friends of Conservation” and Doris Day Animal Foundation.

Recently, they donated a sculpture to a local Carson City woman, Louise Fletcher, 90. The sculpture was made out of the pages from one of her favorite novels into an angel.

The gift was even more special as Louise collects angels as a hobby, said her daughter Darci Fletcher.

“It truly had an impact on her,” she said. “She said something kind of morbid but it was funny. She said when she dies, she wants the angel to be cremated with her.”

Community outreach is a pastime for the Lambin family, especially for 26-year-old Rachael. In 2002, she created an educational support program for children with asthma, “Kids Helping Kids with Asthma,” along with her brother John-Henry Lambin. In 2006, she created another program — Helping Obese People through Education (HOPE) — and was featured in Teen Vogue magazine. She also has numerous honors and awards for her involvements, such as Prudential Spirit of the Community Award.

Now that she’s focusing on creating art, she understands the difficulties Northern Nevada artists experience at some venues to display work.

One of the main concerns Carson City artists expressed at the Nevada Arts Council forum in October was to find more space to showcase their work, especially in windows of vacant buildings downtown.

“Reno’s art scene is a bit different compared to Carson City’s,” she said. “Hopefully the motivation for art in Reno will expand out to the valley.”

With their connections, Rachael and Debbie plan to encourage artists in Reno to explore opportunities and network with other artists in Carson City, as a way to strengthen the culture’s foundation throughout the area.

Eventually, they hope to spread the love to Gardnerville, Genoa and Minden.

“Artists in this area as whole have so much passion,” Debbie said. “It’s about helping them get the publicity they deserve.”

“We want to help artists live up to their dreams,” Rachael said. “By coming together, it will contribute to a lot.”

Although the Lambins’ project debuted in October, they’re already contributing to Carson City businesses. For example, The Change Place, a new wellness center in Eagle Medical Plaza on North Carson Street, opened for business in November.

As a part of it’s atmosphere, the owners sought local artwork to showcase in order to enhance the mission of bringing a unique sense of energy to their clients.

To support the grand opening of the wellness center, the Lambins donated a couple of sculptures to display and they were raffled off as prizes during the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The sculptures also are displayed in Artsy Farsty Art Gallery and in the Nevada State Museum.

“We don’t want our art to be in every gallery,” Debbie said. “However, we’re a family that grew up giving back to the community. To give other businesses an opportunity to display our work is one of the ways we like to show support for those kind of venues.”

As the Lambins’ begin their new journey by connecting with Carson City’s art scene and charities, they’ll never forget the advice they received from Carson City muralist, Bob Bucknell.

“He told us to keep showing passion,” Debbie said. “You have to believe in yourself with your art, and help pick up other artists along the way.”