workshops

Empty Bowls Carson City Project for 2015 kicks off with its first event Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Cops and Kids public safety festival at at the Carson City Sheriff's Office, 911 E Musser Street. Bring your family, friends, co-workers and local groups down for some creative fun for a great cause at this free pottery making event to end hunger in Carson City.

Light sculptures and constructions by Las Vegas artist Pasha Rafat will illuminate the Office eXhibition Series Gallery May 11 to July 10. A recipient of a Nevada Arts Council 2015 Artist Fellowship Grant, Rafat holds a bachelor of science in design from Arizona State University and a Master of Fine arts from California State University, Fullerton. He is a professor at University pf Nevada, Las Vegas where he teaches photography and multimedia courses. The public is invited to an exhibit reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

So, how is everyone feeling today? I’m hoping that you had a great cinco, without over-doing it. Head to the Firkin and Fox this afternoon and join the Nevada Craft Brewers Association to toast the 2015 Legislative session. Sample Nevada´s finest craft brews, mingle with the craft brewers and enjoy live music with the Trippin King Snakes. Keep the good times rolling with even more live music at Sassafras, Living the Good Life, or Glen Eagles.

WEDNESDAY:

• Equality Day at the Legislature

Today is Denim Day. Get the blue jeans out and help raise awareness for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Thanks to Advocates to End Domestic Violence, custom, handmade denim coffee sleeves will be placed on the cups of coffee purchased throughout the day at local Carson City coffee houses: Comma Coffee, Carson Coffee, San Rafael Coffee Company, the Roasting House in Virginia City, and the Pony Espresso in Dayton. For more information on AEDM go here.

WEDNESDAY:

• Denim Day for Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• Customer Appreciation Month: free glazed donut with medium drink at Dunkin Donuts

Artist and painter Paula M. Saponaro presents the final SENarts “Work of Artists” program for 2015 with “RenoScapes,” from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 7 at the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City. Saponaro will share insights of her inspiration for her latest series “NV150 RenoScapes,” a portfolio that honors some of the Biggest Little City’s most iconic images.

Do you feel like I do, Carson City? If you love living here, than the answer is yes. It’s Wednesday in our fair capital city and that means jazz and blues: jazz jam tonight at Sassafras and lunchtime blues and Americana at Comma Coffee. If you’re feeling a little bit country, than head over to Carson Lanes for some line dance instruction in the Eleventh Frame Lounge. For those of you in Dayton, may I suggest you see what the talented students at Dayton High are up to: their annual Night of the Arts is open to the community and showcases art, theater, music, and culinary savvy.

WEDNESDAY: Earth Day

• Nevada Arts Day at the Legislature
• Customer Appreciation Month: free glazed donut with medium drink at Dunkin Donuts
• Last day: ‘Always Lost: A Meditation on War’ in the Second Floor Atrium of the Legislature Building

The exhibition “White Pine County Artistry,” with landscape paintings of Dawn Dot Star debuts at the Nevada Arts Council’s LXS Gallery at the Nevada State Legislative Building in Carson City on April 27. The artist specializes in watercolor and pencil depictions of rural Nevada.

Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell announced Monday the launch of a citywide social media campaign called "CarsonProud" designed to act as a community catalyst and rally as it undergoes a transformation of public works projects slated for the downtown corridor and other areas of the capital city.

The second of two Downtown Carson City street improvement theming workshops begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center. Watch the live video here.

What’s up, Carson City? Hopefully you’ve got your taxes wrapped up for the year. If you’ve left it until the last moment, you can get them filed online or head to the post office until 5 p.m.; for those who need a last minute postmark, the Reno Main Post Office at 2000 Vassar Street will accept tax returns for postmarking up to 12 midnight.

WEDNESDAY: Tax Day

• Oral Health Awareness Day at the Legislature
• Customer Appreciation Month: free glazed donut with medium drink at Dunkin Donuts
• ‘The Observation and Conclusion’ by artist Joseph Watson at the LXS Gallery in the Legislature Building

Considered one of the best of its kind in the world, and lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle as “showcasing music’s future,” the Reno Jazz Festival at the University of Nevada, Reno has been bringing jazz superstars and the finest emerging young artists to town for more than five decades.

Carson City Public Works Department will host a Downtown Carson Theming Workshop as part of the Carson Street redesign project, on Monday, April 20, 2015 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Sierra Room at the Carson City Community Center.

Members of the community are encouraged to use this opportunity to share their opinions on the new theme and feeling of the Downtown Carson City corridor.

Wednesdays are such a good day for music in Carson City. Lunchtime blues at Comma Coffee, Three Olives and a Twist leading the Jazz Jam at Sassafras, tunes to dine by at Z’ Bistro, Glen Eagles, and Living the Good Life. Shake yourself out of the mid-week doldrums with some Line Dancing at Carson Lanes. Check out the list for all your options.

WEDNESDAY:

• Carson School District Spring Break
• Latino Lobby Day at the Legislature
• Customer Appreciation Month: free glazed donut with medium drink at Dunkin Donuts

Artist and painter Paula M. Saponaro presents the final SENarts “Work of Artists” program for 2015 with “RenoScapes,” from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 7 at the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City. Saponaro will share insights of her inspiration for her latest series “NV150 RenoScapes,” a portfolio that honors some of the Biggest Little City’s most iconic images.

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," a production by Youth Theatre Carson City, launches Friday and runs through this weekend in the Bob Boldrick Theatre at the Carson City Community Center.

Watch out, Carson City, April Fools Day brings mischief. Today also brings some cooler temperatures and wind gusts, but that’s no reason to stay at home. Plenty of live music tonight.

It may be a day for pranks, but child abuse is no joke; join the Advocates to End Domestic Violence at the Legislature for the annual planting of Pinwheels for Prevention.

Get a glimpse of the world beyond at the Carson City Library: Dixie and Rob Jennings-Teats discuss their time living in Indonesia and Malaysia.

WEDNESDAY:

The sun is shining, the flowers blooming, the birds chirping, the wind gusting, and Carson City is hopping! Easter fun can be found this weekend at the annual EGGstravaganza at Carson Tahoe Medical Center, the Children’s Museum, the Carson Mall, and the Brewery Arts Center.

Head over to Mills Park for the Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration, complete with military vehicles, exhibits, and more. For demonstrations from soldiers with an even older history, the Nevada Civil War Volunteers will be in Dayton Saturday.

Are you ready to enjoy yourself? The weekends aren't the only time for fun in Carson City and today’s line up proves that. Have some laughs for a good cause at the Brewery Arts Center with Comedienne Kat Simmons and help raise funds for Nevada Rural Counties Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP.) They are the ones that sponsor the numerous carnivals at Mills Park throughout the year, in addition to coordinating volunteer programs and helping seniors stay independent.

It’s a good weekend to be a kid: the Kerak Shrine Circus is in town! Well, it’s in Reno, but that isn’t too far of a drive for elephants, clowns, and cotton candy. Also in Reno, but intended for a slightly older audience, is the Lady Luck Tattoo and Art Expo, coincidentally held at Circus Circus.

For the outdoorsy-types you can join in the March to End Senior Hunger 5K in Dayton; the 5K Glow Run benefitting the Western Nevada College Softball Team; or join a ranger at Washoe Lake State Park for a guided hike.

At 100 years old, Hilman Tobey fashions stone into American Indian art in a form he learned late in life. In a quietly reflective video, Tobey shows an apprentice how his pieces take shape and inspiration for use in traditional ceremonies. A Nevada Arts Council grant helped create “Pipe Makers of the Great Basin.” The film premiered in February and is now online at nac.nevadaculture.org under Nevada Stories.

The average carrot travels over 1,800 miles to get to our dinner plates. Processing and shipment of food accounts for 93 percent of our food cost. University of Nevada Cooperative Extension is offering eight new “Grow Your Own, Nevada!” classes at 12 locations statewide to help Nevadans who want to get on a path to more sustainable, local, healthy living by growing more of their own food.

A Multi-faith invocation will launch “Earth Day” celebrations in Reno on April 26. Religious statesman Rajan Zed will direct this special multi-faith invocation; which will include Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Native American and Baha’i prayers focused on healthier environment and respecting the nature of the planet we live on.

This over 20-years old annual all-day (10 am to 6 pm) free event in Reno’s about 40-acres Idlewild Park is expected to attract over 20,000 people from all over the region in Nevada and nearby California.

I hope everyone is feeling okay this morning; lots of fun was had throughout town yesterday. Please be aware that schoolchildren are celebrating Nevada Moves Day today, and there will be several little ones walking or biking to school.

Enjoy a nice dinner tonight, complete with live music, if you head to Sassafras Eclectic Food Joint, Glen Eagles, or Living the Good Life. The Carson City Symphony is looking for bassoons, French horns, and violas to join them at rehearsals tonight.

A bright spot on the second floor brings life and color to the Nevada Legislative Building in celebration of Youth Art Month. Created by children of all ages during the Arts for All Nevada workshops earlier this year, the works show how, students, some with special needs, express creativity and talents with multi-media on paper.

The Spring 2015 Spiritual Wellness Expo is March 28-29 at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. Twice a year, the Reno Psychic Institute (RPI) brings speakers, healers and vendors from around the region to present information to Northern Nevadans interested in spiritual wellness, natural skin care, local organic food sources, and psychic phenomenon.

The focus of the Spring 2015 Expo is the "Path to Creativity."

If you have the kind of luck that brings rain as soon as you wash your car, please drive over to Squeaky’s Car Wash at the corner of Highway 50 E and Lompa Lane. It’s their opening weekend and they are offering free car washes and raising funds for the Carson City Community Counseling Center.

If you consider yourself adventurous, then the Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry in Virginia City is for you. It’s not nicknamed the Testicle Festival for nothing! If you need some liquid courage, take part in the Ball Breaker Saloon Crawl. The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade heads down C Street at noon.

Gardnerville artist Sonia Carlson hosts a free Chinese Calligraphy workshop at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19 as part of the Nevada Arts Council’s “Work of Artists” series at the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City.

The event runs until 5 p.m. in Room 3100. All “Work of Artists” presentations are free and open to the public.
Growing up in Zhangzhou, China, Carlson learned calligraphy in school and folk dances from her family.

The middle of the week, and if you’re like me, you are still adjusting to the time change. Get the blood pumping with some live music. Head to Sassafras for a Jazz Jam headed by Tom Miller, or maybe to Living the Good Life where Mick and Lynne will entertain you. Cowboy boots are not required if you want to get in on the country line dance lessons at Carson Lanes. If you’re a musician, the Carson City Symphony is looking for violinists and French horn players to join them at their rehearsals.

The University of Nevada, Reno’s College of Business announced this year’s winner of the Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition Monday, March 9. Nevada Dynamics, a hardware and software safety solution for unmanned autonomous systems, was the winner of the $50,000 award given each year to the student team who presents the best business plan.

“Sontag is one of the largest awards for a student business competition that exists at a single American university,” College of Business Dean Greg Mosier said.

National Grammar Day is celebrated across the United States each year on March 4, as established in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. I've attached a Weird Al Yankovic song that I believe best pokes fun at the sentiments of the day.