Art expo to raise money for V&T

Board member of the Northern Nevada Railway Foundation and Dayton resident Steven Saylor is working to help the reconstruction of the V&T Railway while bringing together businesses and organizations from three counties.

He and other members of the foundation and numerous partners and volunteers have put together a tri-county answer to Reno's Artown, all for the benefit of the V&T reconstruction effort.

The Railway Reflections International Art Expo runs from Wednesday through Aug. 17 and includes a unique collection of events to raise funds for the reconstruction of the historic V&T Railway.

Those events begin this week with a monthlong art show and sale with a reception Wednesday at the Nevada State Library Gallery in Carson City. To kick it all off, there will be a film festival of railroad-related classic movies and a performance of "Peter and The Wolf" and classical excerpts by the Sierra Nevada Ballet at Piper's Opera House in Virginia City.

Dayton is getting into the act too, with a Taste of the Town event and a Misfits play.

"For our first year, we're pretty pleased with how this is coming together," Saylor said, adding that in the future he hoped to get businesses and organizations from Reno and Douglas County involved as well.

The future is what Saylor is focused on, believing Railway Reflections could become as big a draw as Artown, Hot August Nights or the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, which he said started out small.

"They all struggled and they are not multimillion-dollar enterprises," he said. "This can become that kind of event."

Saylor said he understood the reticence of some Carson City residents to pay increased sales taxes to pay for the railway, but said it is necessary.

"No one wants to be taxed," he said. "But if the train doesn't come, services will still have to be provided, so property taxes will eventually go up. If you don't want to create something that adds sales tax, they have to get the money from somewhere."

For their part, however, Saylor and Northern Nevada Railway Foundation President Janice Ayres say they hope to raise $100,000 this year.

Events include a railroad-oriented film festival at Piper's Opera House on five different days, starting with Cecil B. DeMille's "Union Pacific" film on Thursday.

Stephen Drew of the California State Railroad Museum, whom Saylor calls the foremost expert on the V&T, will give a talk introducing the film. All the other films will have a lecture preceding them as well.

A hundred special commemorative silver medallions will be pressed at the Marshall Mint in Virginia City on Aug. 2, available for purchase and the first edition of an annual release, with all funds going to the foundation for the V&T reconstruction.

The Sierra Nevada Ballet, which performs at Reno's Artown event, which features dancers from age 7 to adult, will perform "Peter and The Wolf" at Piper's Opera House on Saturday, and parent volunteer Mindy Breeding of Carson City said the dancers are excited to be performing in the historic hall.

In Carson City there will be a railroad antique and memorabilia show, a wine-and-cheese train in Mills Park, a golf tournament and luau, a model railroad show and a railfest, part of which is in Virginia City.

Also in Virginia City is the film festival, ballet, microbrewery tasting at the Ramada Inn, a Rock the Rails concert by Kevin Cadogan, who Saylor said was donating his performance, and the minting of the medallions.

Dayton will pitch in with "Taste of the Town" at the historic Carson & Colorado Depot, featuring dishes from various Dayton restaurants and a play by the Misfits Theater Troupe.

But the anchor event, and the one Saylor believes will raise the most money, is the On-Track Art Show and Sale at the Nevada State Library Gallery. Artists from around the world have donated paintings, which will range in price from a few hundred dollars to $5,000. The V&T reconstruction effort will get 30 percent of the profits from the sale.

There will be an artists reception at 5 p.m. Wednesday, and the show will formally begin when Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons cuts the ribbon on Thursday.

"Ultimately we want to build a catalogue and put on the Web site so people will still be able to buy the art after the event," Saylor said. "We'll keep adding to the catalog. We think this will be a major fundraiser."

There are about 100 pieces of train-related art in the collection, including two "Can you find the train" pieces done by an artist from India. Other artists come from Carson City, Dayton, Reno and Virginia City and from Altoona, Pa., Tombstone, Ariz., and Utah.

Ayres said the effort was given a $50,000 grant from the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau to allow them to set up the Web site where people can buy tickets to various events, and for advertising. They did a lot of international marketing and it paid off, Saylor said, as people from 54 countries have expressed interest in attending the events.

- Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadasapepal.com or call 881-7351.